Launching the Journey

                                               Theo rides shotgun


Theo needs his 5 Hour Energy Drink!



                                      All loaded and ready to launch our jouney!

It took a week to stack all that we planned to bring on our journey in the corner of our garage. Throughout the week thoughts would creep into the mind and we immediately added more stuff to the pile. By Thursday morning, our packing day, we wondered where everything would fit. I wrote out a plan for things that would be of immediate use like tent needs, food, and toiletries. These were accessible from the side doors. Other stuff like golf clubs and wet suits were clear in the back. I tried to keep all items on the lower level but soon realized a lot more items had to be thrown on top. So when everything was packed and windsurfers were put on top, we felt like the Beverly Hillbillies taking to the road!

We took highway 75 towards Gainesville.  For a Thursday morning we met up with heavy traffic with lots of trucks and campers in a steady flow of traffic.  For a time we played hopscotch with a truck carrying brand new Volkswagens. It was easy to pass in the fast lane and eventually slide to the slower lane only to be passed by the huge leviathan again.  To take our mind off the passing game, we started noticing the billboards.  The two categories most prevalent were the anti-abortion signs and the Cafe Risque where the waitresses wear little clothing.  Somehow these two categories were polar opposites which tells a bit about the mental state of Florida thinking. Our minds were open to see what was in store for the rest of our travels and to place what we encountered on the table for future reference.