A Pleasant Morning

Following up on a tip from Keith, this morning I had a Private Stock #11 cigar with a couple large cups of coffee--and I really enjoyed it!

Yes, that sound you heard was me actually enjoying a Davidoff cigar, something that has not happened previously. The Millennium blend I had as my first Davidoff experience was mild and under-flavored--not bad, but there was no way it could justify the $14 price tag for a "short robusto." My second experience was with another Private Stock cigar; again, not bad, but not something I would actively seek out or keep in my humi on purpose.

So, I had a little extra time this morning. Work was slow and it was raining outside. I sat on the front porch watching the rain. It was about 50 degrees outside, just the lower limit for long-term comfort while smoking a cigar (any colder and it starts to really get to you after 20 minutes or so). My coffee is the Trader Joe's Columbia Supremo (gonna miss that stuff when I run out) and I brewed it strong. I had a pleasant time, smoking a fairly mild cigar with a fairly strong coffee; the two complemented each other nicely. I listened to the Blowin' Smoke podcast with the BurghHerfers. It was a great morning...of course, now I have to get to work.

Uh...okay...

I am at a loss for words as to what to say about this particular magazine and website, Modern Drunkard: promoting the "functional alcoholic's" lifestyle. I don't think I'll be subscribing, but I think I know a few people who might like a gift subscription for their birthdays!

A Month Gone By...

At this point a full month has come and gone since we moved to Dayton, TN. Luanne and I are both happy with our new home and very happy that we moved away from California, but we do miss our old friends there and wish they would all just spontaneously decide to move here. Here are a few more pictures of things we've done and seen in the last month...

This is the famous courthouse in downtown Dayton where the "Scopes Monkey Trial" occurred in 1925. Famous blowhard attorneys, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, fought it out in the hot, pre-airconditioning August weather, the issue being the recent Tennessee law again teaching evolution in the classroom. Bryan (upholding the law) won the court case and celebrated by dying 5 days later. The local Christian college is named after him.

On Friday, January 23, our PODS container was delivered after having successfully traversed the country. I am pleased to report that very little was damaged in the journey.

On Saturday, January 24, we decided to take a break from the moving, packing, unpacking, lifting, etc. and take Luanne's parents to see some of what East TN has to offer. One of the most beautiful natural scenes around here is Fall Creek Falls, the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The state park is located about 40 miles from Dayton.

This is the oldest jail in Tennessee, located in Pikeville, the town where my mom and her two sisters grew up. The car is considerably newer than the jail.

My home office space setup is very much like it was in California...

But the view is better!

Our minibarn arrived on a trailer behind a big Dodge truck.

After the delivery man expertly set it up, we were able to empty the POD into the barn and get our driveway back.

And now comes the joy of home ownership...we will be shortly starting our early 2009 projects, including painting both bathrooms and sanding and painting both the back deck (shown in the picture above with the barn) and the front porch. We would love to do some planting around the property, put some extra braces under the living room and office floors to prevent them from creaking, and entirely re-model the small of the two bathrooms (and about a hundred other things), but for now we love our house, we love our neighborhood, and we love our new home state (no state income tax!!!). We look forward to visits from many friends--you are always welcome here!

Days 4 and 5: On to TN!

The last two days of our epic, cross-country move actually went by pretty quickly--after getting past the third and longest day of the trip, everything else seemed like a piece of cake!

The original plan for Day 4 was to drive to Pearl, MS, just outside of Jackson and spend the night there. We would finally drive out of Texas, where we had been since the end of day 2, through Louisiana, across the Big Muddy, and about halfway through the state of Missississississippi (I think I got too many "iss"s there--check on that, get back to ya later!). We left the Dallas area fairly early and got through the majority of the day so quickly that we decided to go an extra hour or so to Meridian, MS. We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel on the way and our waitress was kind enough to take our picture.

Just after passing Jackson, MS, and the hotel we would have been staying at, we ran into a huge traffic jam. Not knowing what was going on--and being completely unable to find a local radio station--we stayed on the freeway, reasoning that they couldn't shut down the freeway completely for too long as it would really screw up traffic. We were wrong about that! The freeway had already been completely closed since 7:00 a.m.--about 10 hours at that time--because of a fuel truck overturning, killing the driver and spilling hazmat everywhere. We were detoured off the freeway (eventually) and through a little side town. Overall, the delay was almost 2 hours, but then it was free sailing to Meridian, and when we got there, we were quite tired.

That set us up for a fairly short day on Wednesday, January 21: Meridian to Dayton, TN. We woke to the coldest morning so far with ice all over both cars. We drove an hour or more until we ate breakfast, then didn't stop for very long the rest of the day. We were out of MS within about 20 minutes and Alabama didn't take long to traverse, either. We got to see the Mercedes plant just outside Birmingham and experienced possibly the worst interstate highway in existence: I-59 north of Birmingham. I can't speak for the south-bound lanes, but you definitely don't want to drive very far in the right-hand lane going north-bound. Feels like that road has needed re-paving for about 20 years!

After crossing the northwest corner of Georgie, we arrived at our new home: Tennessee. Another hour down the road--through Chattanooga and up the Tennessee River Valley--and we were in Dayton. My dad was waiting for us on the front porch of the new house and we immediately set to unloading the truck in about 40 degree weather. We worked for about an hour and a half before deciding to break for dinner at my parents' house. We had a nice spaghetti dinner there and slept like rocks that night. It was a long, sometimes exciting, sometimes boring, sometimes arduous trip, but we were home.

I think there's one more installment in this travelogue--we did some siteseeing in the area that first weekend, we bought a barn, and we've made considerable progress in making this house we bought feel like a home. I am hopefully to have that post done tomorrow.

A Message from Your New Attorney General

Our newly minted Attorney General, Eric Holder, appointed by our newly minted President, Barry Obama, officially shot his mouth off for the first time in his new position yesterday, calling the United States "a nation of cowards" when it comes to dealing with "unresolved" racial matters. I have a message for Mr. Holder:

Sir, during the course of my life, I have had friends, co-workers, and acquaintances from many races, nationalities, and creeds. I have treated them all with respect where it was due and taken them to task for problems when they arise. Ask the Coleman brothers if I am afraid to confront the issue of race in a conversation. Am I racist? Probably to some degree, but so is every other person I know: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, whatever. And you, sir, are racist, too. I have sense enough not to shoot off my mouth when I shouldn't (most of the time) and I try to be intelligent enough not to offend people maliciously like you did yesterday. Mr. Holder, you can kiss my pasty white...well, I probably don't need to finish that sentence, do I? Wise up, do your job right (as constitutionally provisioned) and have a nice day.

The Longest Day, January 19

This beautiful shot was taken by Art Black outside our motel in El Paso as we prepared to leave for the day. It was going to be a long day and we started it early so we would not have to end it too late.

Soon after leaving El Paso I noticed some mountains rising in front of us. I figured we would be going around them, but that was not the case. Instead, we drove right through them in what was the highlight of the day that we began in Texas, drove until after dark, then ended in Texas. By the time we reached Van Horn most of the excitement was over and shortly thereafter we reached the Interstate 20 turnoff for the long, slow, flat slog to Dallas. There are some beautiful parts of Texas (I'm sure there are--people must love the state for a reason), but I-20 through Odessa, Midland, Abilene, etc...let's just say there's not much to see. I ran into a tumbleweed during the afternoon, which may (or may not) have contributed to some car trouble issues that are just being diagnosed today (brake hoses leaking, steering pump leaking, plus a couple other funs items--so much for that tax refund!).

We arrived in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex after dark and the traffic was still pretty bad. I know every area has it's share of stupid and rude drivers, but it seems like DFW just has a higher percentage. I don't know, maybe too many people moving from other parts of the country or something. Almost a month later I can still vividly remember two extremely rude motor vehicle operators and remember the rest as being a blur of bad drivers.

The Motel 6 we stayed in that night (in Duncanville, a suburb of Dallas) was absolutely the nicest looking of all of the ones we stayed at. The rooms had been recently remodeled and came with large flat-screen TVs. The beds were very comfortable--something fairly unusual for Motel 6. But the motel was in possibly the worst part of town that we stayed in at any of our stops. Before 8:00, the lobby was closed and you had to conduct business through a bullet-proof window. There were numerous signs about locking your cars and not leaving valuables in them. The deadbolt to my room had been forced open and the screws were hanging out of the wall. So, you bet I had my gun loaded and ready that night.

It was good to get that very long day behind us, though, even with the less-than-ideal motel location. With this day of travel, we had officially passed the halfway mark. And the next day we would actually see another state or two.

Phoenix to El Paso, January 18

First a credit: the pictures I am including in today's entry were taken by my father-in-law, Art Black.

Because we didn't have a huge distance to go, and because we were ending in the same time zone as we were beginning the day, we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn on Sunday the 18th. We got up fairly early, packed up the cars and got back on the road--definitely early enough to miss what was probably destined to be a big traffic jam before game-time in Phoenix. After leaving town I was struck by how open and desolate Arizona really is in some places. And New Mexico, too. I know both states have their beautiful areas, but the scenery was really just like the first picture all day.

The second picture was taken at a little travel stop in the middle of no-where. Actually, it is somewhere: the Continental Divide! They had restrooms, lots of trinkets and trash for tourists, and a huge room of fireworks. We didn't buy any fireworks, but I needed a pick-me-up for the afternoon drive so that's when I posed for the "endorsement shot" with 5-Hour Energy. Does it work? For about 3 hours.

We rolled into El Paso just after sundown and were able to get a great view of Juarez, just across the international border. After checking in to our lodging for the night, we went next door to eat. I don't know about you, but when I'm in El Paso, Texas, right down there within walking distance of the Mexican border, I can't help but think of Chinese food. Seriously, though, we saw 2 large, lit-in-the-style-of-Vegas Chinese restaurants on the way to our motel and there was another next door where we ate. It wasn't great Chinese food and there wasn't an Asian in the house, but it filled us up.

We all got to bed early that night as the following day, Monday, January 19, promised to be our longest and hardest travel day. We would wake in El Paso, drive for 11 hours or so, and go to bed in the Dallas area. The most driving in any one day and we wouldn't leave the state of Texas!

Leaving La Mirada

Saturday, January 17, was a busy, busy day, especially that morning. We all got up early to get the loading of the truck done--something I thought might be finished in an hour or so, but that in reality took about 4 hours. Keith and Kim came over to help finalize the process, something for which we will be eternally grateful.

We made some sacrifices--what could we leave behind? What did we absolutely not need? What could we have sent or brought to us later? Keith and I ended up running over to Whittier Cyclerly to have Luanne's bicycle disassembled for easier transport. By about 11:00 we had everything packed as tightly in the truck as we could get and we were ready to roll down tree-lined Mansa Drive one last time. We paused to take some pictures first:

Keith, Art and I worked mighty hard to get everything into the truck and we were all proud to pose with our accomplishment. I also have to give a big shout-out to Paul Morgigno, without whom we would not have been able to get the truck packed. He took a vacation day from work on Friday expressly for the purpose of helping get us loaded and ready to go. Again, "thank you, Paul."

Finally, we said our last "so longs" to Keith, Kim, and Luanne's sister, Darla, and we were on our way...all the way to La Habra where we stopped for lunch at Carl's Jr. Then we finally got to the freeway. We didn't stop again until out past Palm Springs at a rest stop. And that was pretty much the end of regular "traffic" for the trip (there was some traffic, but nothing like L.A., O.C., I.E. traffic). We got on the freeway a little after noon and drove into the next time zone and halfway through Arizona before stopping in Phoenix for the night. Unfortunately for us, it was the night before the big Cardinals playoff game so the hotels were packed full. We did have reservations, but it was still crowded getting in that evening.

We unloaded the cats and set them up for the night (something we would get very good at before the trip was over) and headed to IHOP for some dinner. The first day of driving was the shortest one and fairly uneventful once we left La Mirada. We got a good night's rest and were ready for Day 2...

That Second Special Cigar

Time to start telling the story of the big move to Tennessee, but where should I start? At the end, of course!

We arrived in Dayton, Tennessee at around 4:30 on Wednesday, January 21. It was sunny and cold, the high that day being 38 degrees. I led the way in the Camry with our two indoor cats, Sunshine and Mikey; Luanne's parents were next in line in the big moving truck; Luanne and her son, David, we in the chase car with the outdoor cats, Tiger and Molly. We drove up to the house where we found my dad waiting on the front porch swing.

We immediately started unloading the truck, working for about an hour or two before deciding that was enough for the evening. We ended up going to my parents' house for a spaghetti dinner to celebrate our first night at our new home. The new house was too much of a mess to even consider trying to eat in that first night, but things soon got much better. By mid-day on Thursday, we had emptied out the truck and were taking it Cleveland to return it, the satellite TV had been installed, and everyone was quite tired. Friday the PODS container showed up and we got a few things out of it, but not nearly everything as we had to wait to get our mini-barn before that could happen.

Saturday we spent the day more-or-less relaxing. I had rented a minivan to take Luanne's parents back to Nashville International Airport for their flight home; we had the use of it for Saturday, so they, my parents, Luanne and I all went to Fall Creek Falls State Park to eat and do a little sightseeing "East TN Style" (I'll try to remember to post some pictures of that at a later time). Sunday we drove Art and Garnette to the airport, stopping at Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch on the way. That's where I was able to score a half-price deal on the bright orange Vols cap you see me wearing in the picture below.

So, through all this activity, I had no opportunity to sit still and have a cigar. I got my desk and computer set up to get back to work. I unpacked boxes. I moved furniture. But I didn't smoke a cigar. Until the afternoon of Thursday, January 29. I finally had a chance to relax and sit still for an hour and a half or so. It helped that it was sunny and moderately warm (about 50) when I finally got the chance to smoke, too!

I relaxed on my new front porch in one of my favorite patio chairs, poured a glass of Maker's Mark, and lit up the second of two Casa Fuente Churchill cigars. Was the cigar good enough to pay $25 for? Honestly, probably not. But the connection to the old patio and to my last time gathering on it with my friends was priceless. I enjoyed my first cigar in the new house. After not smoking for a week, it was a little on the strong side and I couldn't smoke it down as far as I normally would, but that's okay--it was getting cold by that time anyway.

That is the ending--and a new beginning, too. I'll relate some of the other tales of the road and of getting moved in and set up in the new house over the next few days. The area is beautiful...I wish you all could be here!

Soon and Very Soon...

The dust is settling from the long process of moving the Jones family from the Left Coast to East Tennessee. One of these days, and it won't be long, I will get back to posting to this space regularly. I've got many things I want to write about, but not a huge amount of time to devote to putting down these thoughts at the moment. I want to talk about the trip, my first cigar in the new place, things I've seen and experienced since being here, and much more, but for now, I'll leave you with this picture of me, having secured a 25 round banana-clip magazine for my .22 rifle, something that was illegal to buy in California...Life is good!

P.S. In case you're wondering...yes, I did shoot this gun in my own back yard a couple days after this picture was taken.