Today I started to do all the things you can’t do when you’re constantly on the road. Finally a car wash!

The drive was very windy. Even with the anti-sway hitch, the truck thought I was a bad driver.

Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling so well so I didn’t see much of Amarillo. Just passing through.

Today I did laundry and checked out the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The museum was a mix of immersive set and traditional gallery.

Today we drove to Oklahoma. I am not sure that I’ve been here before. I think that I finally got the Andersen no-sway hitch correctly setup correctly. It’s very obvious that this trailer is longer and heavier when driving. I really need to pass though a truck scale to make sure the weight distribution is correct. 

Georgia was excited for her new toy too.

This week was spent rolling around Texas with a friend visiting. Georgia made a new cave under the trailer.

Today I prepared the trailer for sale and gave Georgia her first bath in a number of months. She’s fluffy and shedding like a monster.

Since you’re here, you should by my trailer :)

Our welcome to Texas was a large rock hitting the windshield. The crack grew to be 18”. Unfortunately, the cost to replace was less than my deductible. Safelite wanted a week and a half to do the work but the Ford dealer connected me to another shop that was able to do it today. Because of the ADAS system I still have to get the front facing camera calibrated.

It’s kind of silly though, I’ll have to pay a Ford dealership $100 to enter a single diagnostic code and drive the truck 20 miles on a road with clear lane markings. Some ADAS systems require special markers and a closed shop setup to be re-calibrated. I have FORScan and a OBD adapter but I suppose it’s not a good idea to re-calibrate a safety system yourself.

The old trailer also arrived from NC and I’m trying to figure out the best way to sell it.

Finally, I stopped by the registration/title center in Texas. I was able to get a temporary tag and just have to get the new trailer inspected Monday to get a plate. Hurray!

Unfortunately I only had 10 days to get back to Texas so that I could register the new trailer and I started to run out of time. I had to rush through the drive. We traveled 1159 miles in three days. Not very fun.

Dollywood was an incredible park full of theming far beyond what I would have expected from a regional amusement park. The food was great, the employees were generally very friendly too. The coasters were intense, fun and unique. They even have different costumes for each ride!

 Pigeon Forge Tennessee is weird. It reminds me of the area around Disneyland if there was more camo and pickup trucks. 

I’m staying at jellystone. Yes that one. 

A friend recommended I check out the dinosaurs. I can’t believe someone built this this thing.  It’s a boat ride. But the boats are on rollers and big metal arms push it along from the side. Exit signs vomited all over the thing. It was so bad it was good.

I also installed my hitch on the trailer. I hope I did it correctly.

Just an intermission today. I’m getting tired of these short stays.

Today I cleaned out House of Cow 1.0 to prepare to send it back to Texas and sell it.  

And I had a chance to see two friends that I didn’t realize lived nearby. 

And enjoy a thunderstorm.

I also visited where Pepsi was created.

I’m not sure that I have mentioned that my divorce finalization and final day at my last job ended up being on the same day. It wasn’t intentional. I had picked a last day two weeks out but the HR combine asked me to stay a couple more days for an exit interview. 

On the last day, I sat at the lab/office for most of the day waiting for an HR call. Eventually it was determined that the combine had changed its mind and didn’t want to talk. So I met my manager and handed in the laptop, keys, ID and phone. And I walked myself out. When I got home that day the divorce papers had arrived in the mail.

I mention this today because we bought a new trailer today, one large enough that Georgia and I could live in full time. Eventually. It’s also the day the media embargo ended for the thing I spent the last few years working on. I’m not sure what it means but It’s a strange synchronicity. 

We drove a lot today.

But it was definitely worth the view tonight. 

There was this weird gas station along the way too.

And ball time!

We spent a night in Fort Mill but it was mostly a recovery day. I almost went to Carowinds but ended up sleeping and throwing ball with Cow instead.  

This one is just all pictures.

I neglected writing about Orlando. I have an extensive history in the area and wasn’t feeling the daily update. I lived there in 2006-2007 and again in 2013-2015 along with some other short visits and a billion and a half visits to Walt Disney World. I spent the week in the Four Corners area which is technically part of Clermont.

I was able to see a bunch of friends/coworkers during the week who I miss. But more importantly determined that I did the right thing leaving Disney.

It started a little moist on moving day.

But we got situated in the swamp at Thousand Trails. I’ve determined I’m not a big fan of these private equity firm owned campsites. But it seems natural in the city of Amway and Camping World.

I took a trip out to SeaWorld Orlando. I have wanted to check out the penguin experience for a number of years. After going on the roller coasters it was clear where their new priorities land. The dark rides were in need of some work and the coasters were intense. The new water rapids ride with a vertical lift was nifty. Fit and finish isn’t really a thing here but I suppose most people don’t notice.

A particular strange point was that all the coasters don’t permit any loose articles, even a wallet or cell phone. But they want you to pay for a locker for each attraction.

Fishing was fun too.

Georgia is a social animal and we’ve had a lot of fun here at Sawmill Campground.

Georgia rediscovered lizard hunting today but was ultimately not successful.  

I went hunting for bug remover. Two Walmart locations, 1 Publix and 3 auto part stores later I had found this:

It works magically but apparently can burn your paint off if you don’t mix it correctly. 

And then we searched for more lizards.