Surprise! I'm in South Carolina! I mean Michigan!!!

This kind of travel is tough.

"I think you have too much stuff for this mobile lifestyle," Kady said and, yeah, she's right. I was short on prep-time so most of my life came with me to New Orleans. This translated into a harrowing task when it came to loading up the car which was located two spiral staircase flights down in New Orleans heat.

Apparently, I was so miserable and sweaty from this treachery, a woman on the sidewalk was compelled to give me a twenty dollar bill. I'm still decoding this interpersonal experience.

We were on the road by 3pm heading to Atlanta to spend the night. It would be an easy enough drive and an even easier one the next day into Darlington. About twenty minutes in, a feeling of unease set in as Kady and I began to have this discussion:

K: So... what's the plan?

S: I don't know.

K: I mean, like... what is this job? Where are we reporting for work on Monday?

S: I don't know. You haven't talked to Reed ("boss")?

K: No. You haven't?

S: No...

Just under an hour in, we stopped for fuel as Reed phoned. To the tune of "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego", he sing-songed, "Where in the world is Kady and Summer?" and promptly asked us to reroute to...

Birmingham Michigan...

... taking our route from this (749 miles/ 12 hours) to this (1,126 miles/ 18 hours).

A few highlights from the trip:

We picked up a hitchhiker.

He was kind of dirty, but we had no room in the back...

We took turns driving so the other could rest peacefully in luxurious comfort.

Operation "New Mommy" was finally completed.

We surprised Kady's sister Kelly by knocking on her front door outside of Toledo, OH.

We saw and crunched around in Autumn leaves (a valid concern is that we would get no fall {yeah I know- poor us}).

We arrived yesterday evening at "The Suite Life," our furnished apartment modeled after the Golden Girls set...

and drank the last Abita "Jockomo" beers in honor of New Orleans.

This is no French Quarter apartment with 14 foot ceilings and Troy, Michigan is no New Orleans, but we do have:

• separate bathrooms!
• freshly-cleaned pristine everything
• a deck!

I'm still mourning New Orleans, who has been ripped from me far too soon, but I think we're going to be just fine for the next couple of weeks before we start our next assignment  for a completely undetermined amount of time that we have absolutely no control over.