Friday, August 9, 2013 –
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Here
we go!!! I am on my way to CA to work at Riverside Unified School
District at John W. North High School as an Assistant Principal. I am
very excited to be making the move to CA. I love SC but I wanted
something different and a change of pace. Maybe if I would have left the
state for college, I would feel differently but I have completed two degrees in
SC (USC, Furman) and am working on completing the third through Clemson.
This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time but have not
been brave enough to do or had the contacts. This position really
"fell" into my lap in June and I never thought it would
materialize. I think a lot of this has
to do with the efforts of one of my dearest educational friends, Michael John
Roe and his hiring in this new district. For those of you who I did not see before I left please know that I am sorry but this all went very quick. So I am off on a brand new
adventure and one I am embracing with open arms!!! I am hoping to learn a lot of new skills that
I can share with my friends in SC and bring new ideas to the district / school
I will be working at and my new colleagues that I am excited about.
This
move is being done in two stages. Stage 1: I have to get out there
and get started. I am technically jobless at this point. I am no
longer employed at Lexington-Richland District 5 and will not be approved in
Riverside until Monday, August 12. If approved, I start on Tuesday,
August 13. While the higher ups tell me there is not going to be a problem,
for those of you that know me, I do worry about things like that and there is
nothing I can do at this point but wait. I have been told that my
paperwork is fine and the approval is just a formality so there will be no
issues. That is what I am counting
on!!!! Stage 2: I have to move
into an Apartment. Rachel Traynham
called all over the area to find me an apartment while I packed boxes. Thank the lord for Rachel. She found about three locations and then let
me choose. The apartment is a ground
floor, two bedrooms, and two-bath place with a pull in garage and entry from
the garage. When we called and I
was suppose to be able to get into the apartment on Aug 24th but the
complex called the evening of Aug 8th and told me the present tenets
will not be leaving until the 23rd and therefore the apartment will
not be ready until August 29th.
Not good… So I will be staying with my friends until. So I am
jobless until August 12th at 6:00 pm and homeless until August 29th.
Ummm..... Adventure....Yes, it is.
It
has been a very difficult 2 ½ weeks. I
had to resign a position that I loved, not tell anyone until this was
completed, work on tying up loose ends and prepping for the new coordinator,
packing the house and saying good-bye to people. I am not good at good-byes, I just
cry!!!! It is not because I don’t want
to go, it is because I hate leaving my friends even though I will make new ones
and will see my veteran friends later; they are coming to visit!!!!!! If you are reading this and I did not
personally say good-bye to you, please don’t take offense and know that I do
treasure your friendship and influence in my life and hope to see you
soon. It truly was that everything
happened so quickly and there was so little time to see everyone.
The Trip
So,
I left SC on Friday, August 9th and began the drive to CA at 1:30 pm after
saying good-bye to a few people in Laurens.
The plan was to drive as long and as far as possible to get to CA by
Sunday. I have to be at Riverside
Unified School District Office by 1:30 pm on Monday so it would be nice to be
able to get there and get some sleep before going. The route chosen is I-20, I-10, I-8, I-15,
and I-215. Things started off well
enough, although slow. I stopped in Cola
to give my mom a hug one more time and then off to CA. Things were going well. Made it out of SC and into GA with no
problems, just a little rain. I was able
to avoid rush hour traffic in Atlanta but the rain hit and that slowed the
speed of individuals on the interstate.
On the eastbound side (opposite side of the interstate I am traveling)
there was a car that flipped and caused the “Rubbernecking Delay,” which almost
caused several other accidents. Once
passed this accident the speed picked up and all was well. Alabama was the next stated and to tell you
the truth, for the short time there, it truly is a beautiful area. Now mind you, I was only on I-20 through
Alabama but there was lots of trees and greenery, very lush and pretty. My friend Clark went to school in Auburn and
as I drove through, I wondered how many times he made this trip and noticed the
scenery. I must remember to ask him
about this!!! Clark – I know you are
going to read this – is Auburn like this????
From Alabama, the state knows as M, crooked letter, crooked letter, i,
crooked letter, crooked letter, i, humpback, humpback, i. You got it Mississippi!!! This state went really fast and next it was
onto Louisiana. Now, apparently there is
no Bon Temps or Fangtasia here so therefore no Eric. I was willing to spend some time her to go
and visit the sights from Charlaine Harris’s books but they don’t really exist
so that plan was shot. The one city
referenced in the books that was here included Monroe of which I drove through
at night so all I can say is the lights were pretty. From LA, TX was the next state. Now, let me say that at this point I am
feeling pretty good. I mean there are 9
states between SC and CA, including SC and CA.
I am officially through 5 of them and it is 4:00 am in the morning so I
have only been in the car really 14 hours.
I must be making great time!!!!
Then
Texas happened. OMG!! Who let Texas be so big? That state really does need to be cut into
four smaller states or at least two states. Guess how long I spent in TX
driving – go ahead – guess. If you
guessed fourteen hours you are correct!!!!
The really cool thing about TX is that you can FLY in a car. I mean what other state lets you go
80???? You know that to me that translates
to 5-10 miles over the speed limit so 90.
There was no traffic anywhere in TX on Saturday so it was easy to make
really good time. Granted there were
many bathroom breaks, gas fill-ups, a few food stops and a picture of the Fort
Hancock exit sign (where Andy sends the postcard to Red before he crosses the
border) but at 4:15 pm, TX was behind me and that included the two-hour time
change. I immediately decided that since
TX was behind me that it was okay to stop.
So I had the pleasure of staying in Las Cruces, New Mexico that Saturday
evening. Now, let me say that I have never heard of
Las Cruces, New Mexico but it is a cute little town. I asked the manager of the hotel for a good restaurant
and he directed me to Andele, a local establishment known for its Green Chili
Enchiladas. OMG!!! This was the best Mexican food I have ever
had. I would seriously consider living
here just to be able to eat at this local family owned restaurant. I wonder if they can ship the sauce!!! The night proceeded uneventful and I was able
to get some sleep after watching the Disney movie Cars to wind down from
literally 28 hours in the car.
I
woke up that morning and had breakfast at the hotel. Did anyone else know that the Holiday Inn has
a pancake machine? If I ate pancakes a
lot then I would want one of these at the house / apartment in the
morning. Tooooo cooollll!!!!!!
 |
| The Pancake Machine |
At
7:00 am, I was on the road to CA again only to have to go through a Boarder
Patrol check. Now, let me say, I was
slightly excited about this. What were
they going to ask, what would they look for.
I am obviously clean and have nothing to worry about so my interest in
this was purely educational. When you
enter the border patrol checkpoint, the cars and trucks go to two different
lanes. As this yellow car pulled into
the car lane, the car in front pulled off and the boarder patrol officer
stepped to the car. All he asked was,
“Are you a US citizen?” The answer of
course was yes and the office said, “Thanks, have a nice day,” and waved me
on. Now, I gotta tell you I was
disappointed. Really…. That is all…..
Either I look really innocent and honest or they were looking for something
specific. I guess I should be happy but
they did not even confiscate my fruit as they did a few years ago when I
entered CA from Nevada.
 |
| New Mexico from I-20 |
After
about 45 minutes in NM, I entered Arizona where there are more police in the
first 30 minutes in the state then I have seen in the previous 7 states I have
driven through. Arizona has such
beautiful mountain / rock landscapes. I
think I could spend some time here as well.
Along the way, it was noticed
that Tombstone was close by so a detour was made for a couple of hours to see
where the Ok Corral shootout took place. On the way to Tombstone, there was a cactus and
of course I had to stop for Benetta and have a picture taken because we did not
get that done on the way to Vegas (Sorry B!!)
I do think this one is a bit bigger than some of the others along the
highway from the Grand Canyon to Vegas but since the ATC girls never got out
and measured them, I am not completely sure.
 |
| Cactus for B |
Now, let me say that this is an interesting
town for the simple fact that Tombstone is really a working town with a high
school (the home of the fighting Yellow Jackets). In addition, this is not an amusement type
area. People who live there and really
do dress up due to their love of Western History run all the stores in the
vicinity in the small town. There was
one guys who said he came and visited when he was 18 from Ohio and loved it so
much that he retired there and has been there for 35 years working in the town
of Tombstone and doing various things as his retirement. I would probably think
that was very odd if I were not driving across the country to move to CA
because I love the area as well.
Hmmmm….. I stayed long enough to
see the Ok Corral shootout, which was done with two cowboys rather than four
because the other actors had some other event with their family. Yep, not Disney at all. LOL!!!
I did buy some vinegar while in the area and some veggie rub because the
town is supported by the funds that are brought in. So I feel like I have contributed to the
small businesses in AZ now. After a few
hours in Tombstone, it was time to get on the road again so off I go to
CA.
 |
| Tombstone |
Arriving in CA was a bit difficult at times. There is a LONG stretch of highway through
Arizona into California that makes it a long ride. There is nothing to see in front of you but
rocks that you NEVER seem to get to.
They just continuously tease you because they look like they are getting
closer and closer to you but they are never there.
 |
| I-10 going into CA!! |
I
finally made it to CA and to the hotel the evening of Sunday night. It was a long journey across the states but I
am happy to be here. This was my view during
the evening.
Let
me say thank you to some key individuals who made this trip go quickly and
checked in on me during this drive.
Jamie, Tara and Clarkie – thanks for the laughs across the US. I truly appreciate the humor and images to
keep me awake. Thanks Kristen and Rachel
for the phone calls. Thank you Michael
and Jessica for checking on me and making sure I was safe during the travels as
well as letting me be part of your family over the next few weeks.
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