I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. - Louisa May Alcott

Hello and greetings from Southwest Florida!

Yes, we made it. We're all well and getting adjusted to a cooler climate. It is indeed much cooler than it was back home.

Question to self: How long until a new house is home?

So, the trip and everything...

Traveling cross-country in a Buick with two kids

We encountered storms, rain and hail and that was on our first night of travel while we were still in Arizona. The electrical storms were awe-inspiring. Wild. Incredible. I could have spent all night sitting in the sand and watching them. At least until it started to hail. I was NOT dressed for ice.

On day two, we crossed New Mexico and went into Texas. Spent the night in Shamrock, a place I'd never heard of, in a delightful establishment called the Irish Inn. We enjoyed the hot breakfast, there, and the Inn was a welcome oasis on the road.

Day three saw us pushing hard to reach Tennessee. This would be Saturday night. On Sunday, we sighed mightily in relief and met with mein Vater, The Crunch, for lunch and then it was on to Mum's house for a couple of nights. Tuesday morning saw us heading south. I waved to laughwithme as I drove through Atlanta. Okay, we didn't actually drive through Atlanta. We sat in traffic and moved forward by minuscule increments. It was awful. How DO you Georgians manage??? We stayed in Lake City, FL that night and made it to our new house on Wednesday. Whew.

None of this sounds too bad...but we had a few problems on the way.

* At my brother-in-law's house, his dogs munched on Scooter's sipper cup. This was the only cup Scooter would use to drink his milk. Once the cup was munched (the lid, really) he wouldn't drink milk any more. We have tried new cups, a duplicate cup, putting milk in other drinking devices, but to no avail. Scooter still hasn't had any milk. Yes, it's been weeks, but he also got sick (throwing up and everything) in Tennessee (sorry, Mums!) and then he had the hard time adjusting here in Florida, so we didn't push the issue. It's hard enough on a little guy to have to change his whole house, never mind fighting over drinking devices! So. Today we begin the Scooter WILL relearn how to drink milk campaign. Wish us luck.

Oops...Someone's having a temper tantrum and I am ignoring him, but I need to take myself away and, oh, maybe do some laundry...

More later!