Rest Stop Theater

One in Massachusetts:

One in Connecticut:

Only about 17,000 more to go! Road trip, babie!

How Rude!

DUDE! Did you just stick your tongue out at me? How rude!

No, it couldn’t be. You are a prim and proper little lady, aren’t you. Good kitty.

Get Used to This Stuff

We’re not hitting the road for another four or five hours, but I went out and topped off the gas tank this morning…

So get used to pics like these, my kind, brilliant, lovey readers and only friends.

Staring Contest

Things We Need to Do

We’re leaving for Florida a day and a half from now. What do we need to do before we leave?

Tonight we’re packing. I did all of the laundry in the house over the last couple of days. We need to sort, fold, and put away what isn’t going with us, and pack what is.

We need to pack toiletries. Everything that is coming along that isn’t going to be needed tonight or tomorrow needs to be packed.

On Friday morning before work I need to go to the grocery store and pick up some stuff. Bottles of water, maybe some Gatorade, and ice for the cooler… assuming we’re taking the cooler. Maybe we shouldn’t. It’s going to eat up a lot of room. I might be changing my mind on that one. I also need to pack up a ton of protein bars and sugar free snacks. I also, also need to figure out how to keep that stuff from melting in the car. Maybe the cooler is coming after all. I have an insulated lunch bag that I can throw an ice pack into that should work on a day to day basis, but we’re talking about a multiple day drive. I will also need to bring a stash of stomach safe foods to the parks each day, and I will need to have some for the drive home. That’s a lot of protein bars. I don’t know. I need to think about this.

What else? Chargers for our iPhones, Apple Watches, Air Pods, and laptops. All that needs to be packed. I also need to figure out exactly what my camera needs will be. One digital (my Nikon Z5) and one film (my Nikon FG-20, I think). Do I bring two lenses for the Z5? How much film should I bring for the FG-20? I also need a back pack to hold all of this stuff while I journey through the parks each day. I think I know what to do about all of this. I just have to pack it up.

Should we get an audio book for the long drive there and back? We’ve done that before. What book though? Do you think Jen will be down to listen to Isaac Azimov’s Foundation? Am I down to listen to that? Probably not. There’s a new Stephen King short story collection coming. Is that out yet? Maybe just go with the old standard and listen to a Harry Potter novel? I would be fine with any of them, but 3, 4, and 7 are my favs.

This seems like a lot of things to take care of before we go, but it’s really not. We’ll have everything set long before we load up the car and head out on Friday. The only real question I have is, will this place be open when we drive by?

Traffic

Traffic heading into the office this morning was pretty bad. Fortunately for my schedule, I left the house super early and made it to work with plenty of time to spare.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend here in the United States. The expectation is that everyone and their uncle will be out on the highways at some point. We’re likely going to see them all. We’re driving from Massachusetts to Florida. The traffic is going to be epic. Or at least the potential for it is there.

I’m just prepping myself for the worst while hoping for the best. We’re giving ourselves a ton of extra time for the drive, so even a slew of awful traffic won’t put us off our schedule. We’re ready and we can hack it. I just hope we don’t have to.

Traffic sucks, man.

Could Be a Bad Day

I mentioned a little stomach trouble last night after dinner. I ate too much too fast and it made me nauseous. I was pretty sick for about five minutes and then I was okay. Problem solved.

Or so I thought.

I woke up with a mild stomach ache this morning. That lead me to the usual question, is there something wrong or am I just hungry? I can’t tell the difference. I had a bottle of water while I was jogging (pronounced yogging) in place this morning. I felt a little better for a little while but the mild stomach ache came back. I ate breakfast and felt a little better for a little while but the mild stomach ache came back. I… ummm… spent some quality time in the bathroom (TMI!!) and felt a little better but the mild stomach ache came back.

So I think we’ve answered the question, is there something wrong or am I just hungry. The last time I had a persistent, mild stomach ache in the morning it turned into a super stomach ache and all night nausea shortly after lunch.

Uh oh.

Well, if I am going to have another round of chaos like the last time, it’s better that it happens now than during the drive to Florida over the weekend, or during our week in Disney World, or during our drive home. Still better would be for whatever this is to go away. Yeah, that’s what I am rooting for today. Go away, you stupid stomach ache.

For now though, here’s a picture of the freshly filled bird feeders in the back yard. Miss Robin Sparkles the cat is already sitting on the window sill stalking any birds that come over for a snack.

Strike a Pose

Miss Robin really came through for me.

It was just a few minutes after I got out of bed this morning. I went to the kitchen to fill up a bottle of water. Miss Robin Sparkles the Cat saw me coming and ran to the window and looked outside. It was almost as if she were posing for me. She knew I wanted to get today’s photo-a-day pic out of the way early because I had to go into the office and she wanted to be the subject.

Pout babie, pout!

Music Fail

I wrote a post the other day detailing all of the musical stuff I wanted to get done over the weekend. Care to guess how much I accomplished? Go on, guess. Did you guess absolutely nothing? If you did, you guessed correctly. Good work.

Nothing.

There was a facebook messenger chat yesterday where our former singer, who I wasn’t sure if he wanted back into the band or not, started talking about where to book gigs. Does that mean he officially wants back in? Feels that way to me! Here’s hoping our singer search has ended. I’ll let you know.

Anyway, I took pictures this morning in the hopes they will guilt me into playing some guitar tomorrow before work. Cross those fingers, Mr. Red Head.