And we're off!

Before departing Guymon, I had a goodbye breakfast at 6AM with my family and two good friends, Leslie and Renee. Chocolate Chip Pancakes from the Pancake Haus was the start to a great trip!

Travel was excellent; we made good time. Friday, we were in the car for fifteen hours covering 960 miles. We crossed Oklahoma, Arkansas, the corner of Tennessee, Mississippi, and spent the night in Birmingham, Alabama. Saturday, we reached Orlando approximately 8pm another nine hours in the car and 550 miles with a time zone change in Georgia. The second day was full of rain; I believe it rained on us the entire time we were in Georgia. The Sunshine State was not sunny upon arrival, but the following day had a high of 75! Beautiful!

And, everything fit in my car! I was a tad bit worried that it would not all fit, but, my mother is a do-it-all mother and she strategically packed and repacked the trunk (and the backseat) until it fit perfectly. Of course, before we picked Kaitlyn up from the airport, we unloaded the backseat and half the trunk and will make two trips from the hotel to move in during check-in.

Nick was the navigator for most of the trip; he seems to think his droid has better GPS than my TomTom.

One frustrating thing when it comes to traveling in my Jetta VW – it’s diesel. It’s fantastic on mileage, we averaged 47 MPG. That’s not the frustrating part, it’s finding car pumps with diesel – I typically end up on the semi side having to hold the nozzle the entire time because its sensors are made for huge semi tanks. Then, you have the store clerks and semi drivers questioning you that you are putting diesel into your car. One gentleman approached my mother, “Now I know you know more than I do, but you do know that’s diesel you are fueling your car with right?”

On our relaxing day before check-in, we ventured around the area and stopped in the Orlando Premium Outlets and the Florida Mall. These places are huge and I picked up maps for both places so I can return later in my venture. I also purchased a book called “Top 10 Orlando.” Now I can start planning my days off, right?

Tomorrow is the big day – check in, move in, meet the other roomies, learn job location, work/training schedules and a housing meeting.