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.
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| The F-350 and utility trailer just prior to beginning the loading, |
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| 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.
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| Scenery along the way, courtesy Lane using the camera while driving. |
Friday got us from Mobile, AL, to Jacksonville, FL.
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| Lane and the girls following behind me. |
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| Going through a tunnel under Mobile Bay. |
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| 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.
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| We haven't seen moss on a tree like this in a long time. |
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| Passing by Daytona Beach. |
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| 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.
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| The girls explore their new living room. |
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| Our kitchen. |
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The bedroom has a sliding glass door leading to the patio.
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| 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
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