5 Days left.

"Washington is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." - Horace Greeley

Well thank you very much for the kind words Mr. Greeley, don't mind if we do. So as you all know by now, Ashleigh and I are buckling down for our cross-country trip. Although Greeley's description of Washington at the time is probably now more applicable to our final destination (Los Angeles), we are still feeling a pull to bask in the sunshine of the city of angels. Many of you are still wondering "why there?", and all I can reply with is "why not there?".

There are no delusions of a Horatio Alger version of the American Dream, and there are certainly no ideas of dropping into the Hollywood machine. If you have seen Ashleigh or I act, you'll agree there are no opportunities there. I am currently trapped in a typical brown paper grocery bag, and I have been trying to act my way out of it for weeks. Really, what it amounts to is that Ashleigh has never lived outside of the D.C. area, and feels it's time for change. I can only say that my move from Tulsa to D.C. has only ended in wonderful things. I found my wife. That's big.

I feel everyone should do a big move at least once. We were considering New York City (it's closer, for one), but after a brisk February visit, we decided that somewhere warm would better suit us. The wind whipped up the avenues, slapping us upside the face brutally for the entire weekend. Besides, I have an unhealthy fascination with surfing, and the waves in the upper NY bay are less than stellar. The best you can hope for is some wake from the Staten Island Ferry.

As for now, we have five days left. Once our movers arrive today, we will be packing light for the next month. Our trip across the US of A is going to be fantastic. We are looping down to the deep South, circling back up into the buckle of the Bible belt (Tulsa), and then West. We are definitely excited to see all the friends and family along the way (including an as-of-yet unborn neice/nephew in Tulsa), and also excited to do some exploring. I have been a huge fan of Kerouac for years, so this is our mimic of his "On the Road" years. We are definitely open to suggestions, so if you know of the biggest ball of twine in America, let us know.

The movers are on their way, so I should sign off for now.

Cheers,

Jeff