Farewell Dallas Texas, Hello Tamarac, Florida

Nine months (three contracts for Lane) in Dallas came to an end way to quickly for me, but time to move on.  I know Lane enjoyed her time at the hospital emergency room there, but I also know she was ready to move on.  So.. to where...?

Tamarac, Florida is next.  I had lobbied her hard for somewhere in Florida for the winter, and this came up.  Time now  for me to really do my job. Finding an apartment there, getting the electricity set up, getting renter's insurance set up, that kind of stuff, and planning the actual move. Lots of time spent on Google Maps led to the knowledge that the trip there was going to be either three very long and hard days of driving with two nights in motels, or four easier days of driving ( 4 hours, 9 hours, 9 hours, and 6 hours) and three nights in motels.  We chose the four day plan.

On her last night of work in Dallas I got her home by 2 am.  We had already packed as much as we could and I had already begun loading the trailer as much as I could.  After getting some sleep we finished packing up and I got the trailer all loaded.  By mid afternoon Wednesday we were all packed, the apartment was all clean, and we were on our way.

The F-350 and utility trailer just prior to beginning the loading,

Daisy and Piper settled down for the trip, in the back seat of Lane's F-150.  "Mom, Are we there yet?"

After several hours driving, our first night was in Bossier City, LA, a suburb of Shreveport.  Since beginning this adventure we have been staying nights in LaQuinta motels, since we found out most all of them allow pets with no restrictions or extra charges, and we used La Quinta for this trip also. A full day of driving Thursday got us as far as Mobile, AL.

Scenery along the way, courtesy Lane using the camera while driving.

Friday got us from Mobile, AL, to Jacksonville, FL.

Lane and the girls following behind me.

Going through a tunnel under Mobile Bay.

Finally into Florida, but a long way yet to go.

We spent Friday night in Jacksonville, and then Saturday morning started the last leg of 6+ hours to Tamarac.

We haven't seen moss on a tree like this in a long time.

Passing by Daytona Beach.

Finally arriving in Tamarac.

We spend a while in the apartment complex office doing the paperwork and paying the remaining deposits and fees.  I chose this apartment complex partially because it is very close to the hospital where Lane will be working, and partially because it is managed by the same Lincoln Property Corp that managed the place we stayed at in Dallas and we had a good experience there.  Finally we got to our new home for the next several months. 

The girls explore their new living room.

Our kitchen.

The bedroom has a sliding glass door leading to the patio.

And a nice walk in closet.

The apartment is on the ground floor, so that made for a simpler move in. It is much more light-filled and airy that our Dallas apartment had been.  And the patio is larger and feels more open than before too.  By Saturday night we were tired, but moved in.  No cable yet so it will be just DVDs for several days until Comcast gets here to set up the cable and internet.  Sunday was a day of rest and exploration.  It turns out the nice quiet road our apartment complex is on also runs right by the back parking lot entrance to the hospital where Lane will be working. So we are a nice two mile trip from there.  Beautiful area, loads of nice shopping, and easy to get around.

Monday was Lane's first day at the new hospital emergence room.  She says it is much smaller and way less busy than where she just left in Dallas, and where she last worked in Raleigh before that.  I say good, she deserves some time with a slower, more relaxed pace for a while.

New adventures from sunny south Florida to follow...




"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman

Transportation Turnarounds

A quick rundown of the logistics or our traveling, since being in charge of the logistics is one of my main House-boy duties...

When we began this adventure we both were unsure if this would really work out like we planned... i.e: me being able to keep my sanity with being a House-boy as my only job and not get immediately fired, since I had worked in law enforcement in North Carolina for thirty years and there was no real house-boy experience on my resume.  And we both realized this was going to be the most time spent together - no children to raise now - we had ever spent.    Well, I'm happy to report all has worked out fine.  I have kept my sanity (I think), and have not been fired, and she has not killed me yet.

Because we were not sure if this was going to really work out, we decided to sort of start out taking baby steps, so to speak.  I had bought the closed in utility trailer to carry our minimal stuff we needed, and we left Franklin headed for Dallas pulling it behind our Toyota Highlander.  We were in Dallas with just one vehicle that had over 100,000 miles, and I was worried it had been straining a little too hard pulling that trailer, .  So when we went back to North Carolina we bit the bullet and bought a new F-150 pick up that would not only easily pull the trailer, but would also let me bring the Suzuki motorcycle back to Dallas, and give us a new, reliable, under warranty vehicle in addition to the Highlander.  So we returned to Dallas with the Highlander and the F-150 and the Suzuki motorcycle.  And you probably already read about the fate of the motorcycle.  Oh well, best laid plans...

From long before we ever began this adventure Lane and I had discussed off and on the possibility, feasibility, and financial wisdom of getting a travel trailer or 5th wheel trailer and living in that as opposed to renting an apartment everywhere we went.  Through the winter and spring months in Dallas we continued to look into that... going to many dealer lots, going to RV shows, and lots of looking and reading on-line.  I did some calculations and determined if we got a travel trailer or a 5th wheel trailer, the one like we would get would be either just at the upper limits, or exceeding the limits of what the F-150 was rated to tow,  We individually reached the same conclusion: if we were going to switch to doing this adventure while living in a travel trailer or a 5th wheel trailer, we would need to replace the Highlander with a truck large enough to do the job, and keeping the new F-150 as our go-to every day vehicle.  So that's what we did... the Highlander got traded for a F-350 turbo diesel pick up.

So that's where we are now.  An F-150 for every day use and family outings, and an F-350 for towing the utility trailer now and if we ever get the travel trailer, towing the travel trailer.

No pics... just boring transportation talk this time... sorry.




"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman

Two Sides Of The Same Coin

As I said from the beginning, this is my chronicling of my and my sweet travel nurse's adventures around the country as we live out this adventure.  Lane and I initially discussed doing this blog jointly, but we could not even agree on the title, so...... well...you know...

Lane decided do write her own blog to give friends and family her own perspective on things.  Hers is Code Brown: Seeing the Country One Bedpan at a Time.  Here is the link:  http://countrygirlernurse.blogspot.com/      As I understand it the "Code Brown" is an inside nurse joke.  I can only imagine its meaning... ughhhh.

I have read it and have to admit she is much better at this than I am, so I highly recommend checking it out for yourself.            Enjoy!




"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman

Catching up, and our trip to Houston and the Johnson Space Center

I have been very slack and fallen very far behind in posting.  Going to try to catch up, but will just be hitting the highlights.  In July Lane got a second extension on her contract at the hospital in Dallas kept us there until the first part of October.

During our trip home to Franklin in April,I had brought back my Suzuki motorcycle.  The idea was I could ride it some on days Lane was working and that would help keep me occupied, since truth be told my house-boy duties do not keep me fully occupied every day.

My 1999 DR350

I guess it was just not meant to be though.  Just after I got it here it had a flat tire while I was out riding and Lane had to come pick me up.  And then a few weeks later it had some kind of breakage inside the transmission and was completely out of commission.  I eventually hauled it back to Franklin.  Oh well, so it goes for a house-boy.

In September we already knew we would be leaving Dallas in October... just didn't know where at the time.  We decided to make one last trip out to explore more of Texas before we left, since we don't know if we will ever be back.  We loaded the pups up and headed south to the Houston area.  In particular we were headed to see the Johnson Space Center.

The girls really love traveling.

Along the way we began seeing signs for Buc-ee's gas station.  Lane had heard about it and so we stopped.  It was really big and had all kinds of stuff, but their gas prices were kind of high.

Buc-ee's

Houston skyline.  The Space Center is on the south side so we had to pretty much go straight through Houston.

The next day we spent most of the day at the Johnson Space Center. There was so much to see there. We took a ton of pictures.  I am only going to touch on the two bigest highlights for me.  First was their Saturn V rocket.  Since I was a child watching the Apollo missions I have always been in awe of the size and power of the Saturn V.  One of the few remaining unused Saturn Vs is on display here.

Standing next to the 1st stage.

Three of the five engines on the base of the 1st stage.

The base and five engines of the 2nd stage.

Look closely at the bottom of the picture and you can see me looking up at the single engine of the 3rd stage.

Looking from the capsule back toward the base.  It is so long/tall it is hard to make out the base.

The other big thrill for me was an unexpected surprise... they have the freshly restored actual shuttle craft Galileo that was used in making of several episodes of Star Trek (the original series).

As it appeared in one of the actual episodes.

The prop was in bad shape when some collectors acquired it and began restoration.

And after restoration.

So what can I say... I have always been a huge Star Trek fan.  I couldn't pass up the chance for these.

We had a great day at the Johnson Space Center.

We spent part of the next day hanging out at the Kemah Boardwalk.  They have a neat boardwalk, lots of shops, and an amusement park.

Its easy to spot a happy travel nurse.

We had a nice lunch at The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  Interesting decor, and great food.

That's all I have to say about that.

Later we went to Galveston Beach. I guess Lane and I are spoiled by the beautiful North Carolina and South Carolina beaches, but the Galveston beach was a little disappointing.

House-boy always at work.

We had a great trip.  Lots to see.  Good food.




"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman

July 2014: Texas Hill Country and San Antonio

In July we loaded the pups up and headed out for a three day trip to the Texas Hill Country and San Antonio.  So much of what we had seen of Texas so far was pretty flat and lots of straight roads. We had heard and read about the Hill Country north east of San Antonio so we decided to check it out.We have really enjoyed the beauty of our North Carolina mountains and have missed them at times.

Texas Hill Country

It was not exactly the same as being back in good ole' North Carolina, but it was beautiful none the less.

Daisy and Piper really enjoyed the trip also.

A Travel Nurse and her House-boy in the Texas mountains.

We enjoyed several nice pic nic lunches

Our second night was spent in San Antonio.  We stayed within walking distance of The Alamo, and after getting checked in and getting the pups settled, we walked there for sights and good food.

The Alamo, in the heart of San Antonio.

We had a great supper in a restaurante right along the river walk,
The scenery was great.

We came across this stretch of road with old boots and shoes on top of all the fence posts.  We wondered how that got started.

More posts to follow, hopefully a little quicker.  Have to speed this up or I'll never get up to date.




"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman