Whirlwind

The past week has been a total whirlwind! I packed up the essentials from home in New Jersey, loaded them in the car, and prepared for the 1,600 mile drive to Dallas. During the week leading up to my departure, I got to see several friends and celebrated with them. The hardest thing about this move is definitely shifting local friendships to "long distance" friendships. There has been some heartbreak and I'm really sorry for any pain that I've caused as I've made the choice to move. I look forward to having lots of visitors come to enjoy the Texas sunshine very soon! Plus I'll be back in NJ every so often, too. One disturbing thing was the total meltdown of one friendship before I left. It's unfortunate that as some gay men age, an ugly side emerges. Times like these really bring into focus who our true friends are, and are not.

So on to the drive. I left NJ on Wednesday the 16th and drove straight through to Hickory, NC Along the way, I found the scenery especially beautiful in western Virginia, where spring was in full bloom and cattle grazed in verdant green fields. After a slightly terrifying drive down I-77 in North Carolina (so steep and curvy, it featured THREE runaway truck ramps, but also fabulous vistas), I arrived in Hickory for the night. I met up with my best buddy from Charlotte. Needless to say we were happy to see one another! We enjoyed a meal at Carabba's and were served by a highly caffeinated waitress. After breakfast at Cracker Barrel the next day, I headed west on I-40 through the Appalachians into Tennessee. TN is 450 miles across. Let's just say it was a long day, and not a very interesting one. By nightfall I crossed into Arkansas. I was shocked to see the extent of the flooding in the areas west of the Mississippi river. Perhaps this is why there is so little development of any type between Memphis and Little Rock. Whenever I am in Arkansas, I am always struck by how underdeveloped the state is. At about 10pm I reached my destination for the night, the Residence Inn in Little Rock.

The next morning I was on the road by 9am, driving out of the rain as I approached Texarkana and crossed into Texas on I-30. As I continued heading southwest, the clouds parted and my drive through the piney woods of Texas was filled with clear blue skies, sunshine, and lush green fields nourished by recent rains. After a nightmarish traffic delay on LBJ freeway in North Dallas, I rolled into my temporary apartment around 3pm and began unloading! About an hour later, my cat was delivered by the pet mover service, and we began settling in! I'll post more soon, including some photos.