So — we are here in South Carolina. I noted some random thoughts I had during the trip:

• The movers showed up on Monday morning and charged me $1500 LESS than what I was expecting. When does that happen? They also showed up in South Carolina the day we did… no waiting for our stuff!
• Kansas is absurdly boring to drive through.
• Gas station bathrooms are almost certainly nasty.
• When all you can pick up on your radio is fundamentalist preaching, it is not all bad.
• Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Missouri is a cool, albeit expensive, sight to see. It would be cooler if they let the patrons drive the Jeep.
• Driving on a two-lane bridge with no shoulder over the Mississippi River while a semi is barreling towards you is unnerving.
• I am not sure why there are so many elderly couples driving along in Buicks in the Ozarks. Peer pressure?
• There is an all-gospel, all-bluegrass radio station in Paducah, Kentucky.
• A family of five can eat at Cracker Barrel for the same price as Arby’s.
• Driving through Nashville at 5pm is not recommended.
• I am pretty sure that the $7 fee I paid to have my dog at the hotel means that I do not have to pick up the poop.
• Any cross country road trip that does not include at least one trip to the ER is really lacking. (BTW, Luke is just fine.)
• The kids think that any hotel room is the coolest thing ever — that is awesome.
• For some reason, I-24 leaves Tennessee, enters Georgia, and then re-enters Tennessee a few miles later.
• Finding postcards in gas stations is harder than it seems it should be. Fortunately a free state map at the Visitor Center seems to suffice as a souvenir.
• If one spends several hours in a car with a dog, then one begins to smell like said dog.
• Talking on walkie-talkies is fun; especially if you say stuff like: “cut the chatter, red two,” “roger,” “10-4,” “niner,” “copy that gold leader,” “over and out,” and other such garble.
• It does not matter where you are going — when you get there, it is pretty much awesome.
• Mandy tells me that the movie Elf is just as funny if you can only hear it and cannot watch it.
• German cars were made to be driven fast and that’s just all there is to it.
• One of my favorite realizations is when you understand that what is happening RIGHT NOW is a memory that you will not forget for a lifetime.
• If you are moving to Anderson, South Carolina and you hit the Georgia/South Carolina border on I-85, it is time to party… because you are almost there.
• It really does not matter where my mail gets delivered; if I am with my lovely bride, then I am home.
• Our house is still on the market — we are anxiously awaiting that sale so we can buy a house here. Patience!