Stops Five and Six

On our way to Kansas City we spent a night in Gallup, New Mexico and and one in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Not a lot to report, just motel rooms on the way to somewhere else. Hot as hell there as it has been everywhere. Both towns are located on the historic Route 66. The whole area seemed a little sad to us. Lots of closed businesses. I'm sure there were places of interest, but unfortunately we had two cats in the car and we weren't going to leave them in the heat while we explored.

So instead of pics of desert towns, I present pics of: Cats in Motel Rooms!

You may notice in some of the pics they no longer have their harnesses on. This is because Christer thought he would take Emma for a walk while we stayed with our friends in Prescott. Let's just say Emma took him for a run. and then leaped over a large rock and out of her harness. Luckily, a dog started barking on the other side of a fence and fascinated, she paused to check it out. Christer quietly approached her and snatched her up! Whew! That was Emma's big adventure. :)

We made it!

After one last final five and a half hour drive from Gallipolis, Ohio we pulled into Greensboro, North Carolina around 5:30 p.m on Saturday, July 7th. Our friend John (in-game name Shinjuku Chan) met us at our new temporary home. John has been the driving force behind our move. He introduced my husband to his job opportunity here and while we were on our travels he happened to close the deal on a duplex he and his father, Bill bought for rental property. They kindly offered to rent it to us on a month-to-month basis while we get to know Greensboro and find the area we want to settle down in.

John and Bill put in new carpets, new counter tops and sink in the kitchen for us and had it freshly painted before our arrival! I wouldn't mind staying here, but it's a corner lot and one side is a very busy major street. It's also a slightly iffy neighborhood, but safe enough for now.

Our first night here. Hurray for air mattresses! We're not sure when our furniture will arrive. It could be another ten days. We'll find out more on Monday.

Our first night we immediately went to the nearest Big Lots and bought a table and two camp chairs along with other basic necessities: trash can, larger litter box, sheets, pillows, and two fans. So now we have our bed set-up and a place for our computers. For the two of us geeks that means: Life is Good!

Obligatory weather check: today's temperature 100 degrees, 52% humidity

Stop Four: Prescott, Arizona

Prescott, Arizona: we stayed here for three nights.We finally get to meet Jon (Janda in game), an old Asheron's Call friend that we have known for 10+ years, but we've never met in person and his beautiful wife Annglia. We've talked on the phone, but this is the first face-to-face meeting.

A very awesome and beautiful mountain town. We had no idea what a nice town Prescott is, it reminded me of the area around Lake Tahoe, NV. Did you know the elevation of Prescott is higher than Denver? I didn't. We liked it so much we actually looked at the craigslist ads for housing and jobs. Housing met our price range, but there's not many jobs available. :(

So much fun we forgot to take pics. John and Annglia were so much more than the perfect hosts. We love you guys! Oh yeah, and they turned us on to Double Chocolate Vodka. From the first sip you knew it was T-R-O-U-B-L-E, but oh so delicious trouble!

John,you are an awesome chef! We had barbecued marinated pork loin for dinner, scotch eggs for breakfast and much more. We actually had so much fun we neglected to take pics, so here are pics of their kitties taken by my husband during morning Mimosas ( ignore the blurriness). Splatt is the dark Norwegian forest cat and Garlic Salt is her baby. Black Pepper was camera shy. 

Obligatory temperature reference: Just above 100 degrees, but easier to handle because of the breeze during the day,

Nearing the end of the journey

All the stops along the way! If all goes well we will be in Greensboro NC tomorrow... 3253 miles.

Click here for a map of every town where we spent the night.

So close to new home

We are two days away from the new home (Greensboro NC), still trying to catch up on the road trip in progress. We have lots of pics and it's been lots of fun, but not a lot of time to document it. In Indianapolis tonight....and yes another day over 100 degrees. Can't wait to share more of our journey.

The third night: Blythe, CA

We're trying to drive a maximum of 4-6 hours a day for the comfort of the cats. Found a nice old-fashioned motor inn with palm tress and a big swimming pool in Blythe, CA. From our room we can see smoke from the Edison Fire just outside of town. It's 106 degrees there that day.

Stop Two: Banning CA

Day 2, June 21: We stop in Banning, CA to visit a good friend of my husband, Christer that he used to work with at his job in Santa Cruz. Not too many things to take pictures of in Banning, just Missy and us getting together, giving her a well-needed break from her family and having a good time. :)

Our friend Missy and I in the air-conditioned motel room in Banning. It's 104 degrees outside.

Missy's kitty with little ones.

Just opening their tiny eyes, so cute.

The first stop

First stop for the night (June 20) was Kingsburg, CA. Why Kingsburg? My husband, Christer is Swedish and we'd been told that Kingsburg considered itself a "Swedish Village". We had always wanted to check it out and this was our last chance. It was also a short distance (3 hours) for our first day of travel and gave our cats a chance to get used to the road. We got to the motel about 6:30 p.m and after the cats were settled and we ventured out to see what we could find for dinner. It was justbefore 8:00 p.m. and we went next door and walked in as the restaurant was closing... It turns out ALL of Kingsburg had shut its doors and gone to sleeep for the night except for a pizza parlor and a bar and grill next door to it. We had pizza and went back to the motel and snuggled the traumatized kitties.

The next morning: The Stockholm Bakery is one of two places we saw to get Swedish food. We ate at the Dala Horse restaurant.. Christer had Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and I had a Swedish waffle. Good, but way too expensive in our opinion.

Down the street, we found a Swedish gift shop. The owner greeted us in a folk dress from the province of Dalarna, which made Christer feel like home.

Vika Knäckebröd, according to Christer, the best kind in Sweden

This is a picture of Swedish Christmas Ornaments, the Swedish Jultomte and his Nissar. (Santa and his Elves).

The Beginning??

This journey obviously started before the blog commenced. So a little history.

I worked at a job I loved so much for eight years at St, Joseph's Catholic Community and as it happened everywhere at that time my job was downsized. I was cut to working 7.5 hours a week.I was looking for work, but so was everyone else in California. Two years passed ,tons of applications and I had some interviews. I learned that every job I applied for another 75-100 people applied too. We talked about moving to some place cheaper, but we didn't have the savings to move or the promise of a job offer, both things we needed to move. Especially the guaranteed job.

And then I got a job! It was part-time, but such a great position. I really liked them and they really liked me!! I ended up working for SCCAR, Liked became loved for me, such a great job!


My husband worked for Bayside Center, a day program for adults with developmental disabilities. A job he loved, but unfortunately didn't pay well and had no benefits.


Sadly, Santa Cruz and a lot of Cali is way crazy where the cost of living is concerned and we will never live more than month to month there. So a friend offered Christer an opportunity for employment in Greensboro NC that offers a great beginning, Rent is freakin' cheap. Christer has promised me in two years we will be able to afford to buy a home.

Ironically, we both left jobs we loved more than anything else. My husband left a job that is his passion. He is so good at it!


I have never left a job I loved so much, but so it goes. Adventure is on the horizon!

Wow it's hot out there!

We have traveled through seven states in ten days (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri) since we left Santa Cruz. Starting at our first stop in Kingsburg, CA it has not been less than 100 degrees. It was a beautiful 75 degrees in Santa Cruz today.....sigh.

I'm a little freaked out. I'm not used to this kind of heat. We are in Kansas City, MO today and had a wonderful lunch with Balgus and Indira (their gaming names). We also happily met Nadialya and Xenadon (Martin and Nick). All long time friends from World of Warcraft.

We had plans to go to Blooms and Booms tonight with them, but Christer had a heat-related headache and I had an anxiety attack after driving around in the heat after we left them today. So the two of us wimps are holed up in our air-conditioned motel room.

Kansas City: June 29

Traveled from Pratt, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri today. It was hot and it was very windy. We are eating at a lot of drive-through restaurants because we don't dare leave the cats in the car in this heat.Wish we could try some more mom and pop type restaurants. Maybe we could order food to go?

Met two gamer friends from World of Warcraft. They met in-game just as we did and they'll be married in two weeks. (Christer and I met in Asheron's Call.) They took us to Oklahoma Joe's BBQ for dinner. The line was outside the door and wound around to the order station (and when we left the line was just as long).  OMG, awesome ribs. We bought extra so we could have some for breakfast. Anthony Bourdain lists this as one of the top places to put on your food bucket list. I feel so soft and squishy knowing Tony's spirit was sharing ribs with me. It's not the most exciting venue. One of the best BBQ places in America is located in a gas station!

The start (a little late)

This is a blog about two cats, (Emma and Zoey) and their slaves moving from Santa Cruz, California to Greensboro, North Carolina. This post is also a test as we have never written a blog before. We started a week ago so we'll need to catch you up. Checking in tomorrow to figure this out more.