T Minus 7

Seven more days until I leave Phoenix and head towards Florida, the first stop on my new, more adventurous life.

For the last few days I have been fretting over the route I'm going to take to get to Florida. The quickest route is I-10 all the way across the country. However, there are two factors which pointing me to a different path. First, I-10 runs through Houston which is still reeling from the hurricane season. I've already been through a town that was devastated by a hurricane (Punta Gorda, Florida only 2 days after Charley ripped through it in August, 2004) and I don't really look forward to seeing that suffering. Secondly, my mother would like me to visit her in Arkansas.

I think I've found an ideal route. It's not efficient, but its a route I've never driven before and that is almost as important as achieving my objects. The first few days of my adventure should begin by discarding the "optimum path". If I had more money I'd probably take a less direct route... something that let me see even more of the country I am soon departing. Alas, money is still a factor in my life.

Anyhow, I celebrated my coming departure with some former co-workers and friends this evening at the Tilted Kilt. It was great to see them again. Its a little sobering to think I'll probably never see most of them again. We had some drinks, ate a light dinner, and jawed about movies, work, and life. Same thing we would have done if I weren't going off to see the world. I rather like that... while the topics may have been trivial they struck me as "more real". Kind of like eating comfort food.