Leaving South Florida in 8 hours!

Safe travels! Watch out for the weather and that Jeepers Creepers guy!

You went zipping right by us. We're in Lenoir, NC, for the week at our hot rod club's annual meeting.

And yes, the weather has been pretty nasty.

The likelihood of you getting a ticket? Very low, actually. I've driven nearly 2 million miles without getting one. Got the last one in 1983.

So far no tickets. I did run into what seemed to be a speed trap town. I pulled into this somewhat run down little town a bit south of Mt. Vernon, IL to get out of the car and walk around for a few minutes. As soon as got off the ramp, I immediately noticed that the streets had the speed limit changing every couple hundred feet it seemed. On one street, it went from 35 mph - 30 mph - 25 mph - 20 mph around this school - back to 30 mph.... then jumped to 50 mph and then back to 40 mph.... back to 30 mph... etc etc. This was just on one road on a 4-5 mile span. I saw at least one person getting a ticket. I know it and the main street had this random speed limit thing going on. I don't know if it was like this across the whole town or not, but I'd be willing to bet it was.

I kept changing my speed to match the limit and people behind got fairly irritated and passed me despite the large yellow signs saying "NO PASSING". lol. I wasn't going to go so much as 1 mph over the limit though no matter how ridiculous it was. While it could be that it just was really bad planning, I got this feeling that it was intentionally set up like that to maximize tickets.

Maybe I'm paranoid. Who knows.

I've seen the weather reports for your last leg. Severe storms with high winds likely all the way so I wish you the best.

Tennessee is big on huge fireworks stores. It's for all the fireworks lovers who live in adjacent states where they are banned.

I'm glad your trip's going smoothly so far (except for the antenna thing, but that's not too bad)

I never go over the limit if I'm in an unfamilier area. At least if I know the lay of the land, I can wager a good guess at where the speed traps are, but an area I don't know, no way.

Sending plenty of good weather and safe drive for the last leg of your trip.

Glad to hear it's going well so far!! You should be there SOON!!!

Not a bad idea to keep your speed in check especially since you have an out-of-state license plate. I'm paranoid too, I've been stopped 3 times and got tickets twice (not actual speeding tickets- 'failure to follow traffic signs' tickets. less $$, no points, no insurance reporting, etc. I got lucky.) and am afraid of getting a real speeding ticket so I never go more than 5 mph over the limit.

I've found that not being a speeder is a good excuse to not have to do the driving on a long trip if you're with someone. "If you drive, we'll get there quicker!"

I am glad to hear things are going well for your trip. That is quite a long ways to travel. The story of the gas/fireworks/liquor store was pretty funny. I would have been laughing too.

Originally Posted by gemlady

I've seen the weather reports for your last leg. Severe storms with high winds likely all the way so I wish you the best.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I woke up yesterday in Champaign, IL to a severe thunder storm and was in a tornado warning at the hotel. So, I waited a few hours for the warning to end. I looked at the reports afterwards, and it looked initially like I was clear to go. It would be rainy, but that was it.

So, I'm driving, and it was raining, and then I hear the NOAA report while passing through Bloomington, IL. Another line of severe storms was headed right for me. lol (wasn't funny at the time).

I listened some more, and came to the conclusion that if I just didn't stop, I could out run the storm, even just going the limit of 65 mph. So, that was what I did until I reached Madison, WI. I stopped to get some more gas there. After about 30 miles past Madison, the weather cleared up. I heard a report as I got up about 3/4 through WI that there was going to be severe weather in MN, but I didn't see anything when I got in. I heard some thunder overnight, but I never saw rain.

Overall, I got lucky and outran all of the storm systems with severe weather.

It was an anxiety filled last leg though. Driving through the top half of IL where everything looks like the set from the movie "Twister" while there are tornado watches and warnings not far was enough excitement for me for a while.

It's over though. I got into Minneapolis around 6:00 PM. Around midnight I finished getting the boxes in my car into the apartment. I spent today getting supplies and also got Ally and Ollie a temporary litter box and some litter for them to use in the hotel when they arrive on Sunday. I also got them a little temporary cardboard kitty condo to use in the hotel so they can take their time to get comfortable with not being in their safe zone anymore and starting over with getting comfortable (unfortunately, then they move from the hotel to the apt, but it should be all over in a week for them). Tomorrow I'll work on cleaning the apartment so I can really get started unpacking the stuff in the boxes.

You made it! I bet it will feel real good to get home and get your kitties! Almost there! Have a great weekend! Ally and Ollie are gonna go NUTS when they see you!

Glad to hear you arrived safely! Good luck getting settled in the apartment with your babies.

I'm glad to hear that you arrived safely. I bet you can't wait to get Ally and Ollie and see your mom.

Good luck with law school and in Minnesota. I hope things go well for you.

Good to hear that you made it to your destination safely.

Glad you arrived safely! Keep us posted on how the kitties like the new place and good luck in law school (at the University of MN?)

Glad you arrived safely and missed the worst of the storms - those storms were interesting in Chicago land last night! Best wishes for a very happy homecoming for the furballs and an easy transition for all of you.

Ally and Ollie are now here in Minneapolis. They're exploring the hotel room right now but will hopefully calm down in a little bit.

They get to hang out in the hotel while the apartment gets furnished. I'll move in with them probably later this week.

Aww, a reunion with their daddy on Father's Day.

Lawguy, what's going on? Have you moved in yet? How are the kitties? How is the apartment, and how do you like the city?
Keep us posted!!

I started my vacation on the 12th and totally missed this thread. Are you and your furbabies settled in yet?

Sorry. Haven't had internet since my last post. Just got my Comcast internet set up today.

Ally, Ollie, and myself are doing well. We've moved into the apt. My mother went home on Sunday so we're on our own now. The cats seem very happy. Ally in particular seems to like the apt more than the room she used to live in. It's about 2 times the size. I got them 2 little inexpensive bamboo cat condos to hold them over until I find something that I like for them. They also have a new sisal post with a tetherball on it.

I'm just working on getting everything done ASAP in this apt. It's a lot of work. More work than I remember the last time I moved.

Other than that, everything is good though.