So I got up this morning at five thirty, took a shower, got a pot of coffee rolling, started taking stuff from bedroom to kitchen.  It wasn't long before everyone else was out there as well, sitting around laughing and making jokes at me and bidding me a goodbye.  It wasn't really that hard for me, but I know at least a couple of them weren't all that happy to see me leave.

Whatever the case, kept remembering things. I can get a pond going over there pretty quick if I have the stuff to do it with - so yes I brought everything to start a pond except the pond itself.  Then I remembered this morning it would be cool to take some pond plants, not too much cause' who knows if they'll survive the trip and anyway, I had no room in the car.

Shook hands with everyone, George took some pics and posted them on my Facebook wall and yes I was out of there.

Nine hundred miles later I am in a Motel 6 in Abilene, TX.  Just got to the grind and got it going.  Generous speed limits out here - eighty for quite a bit of the interstate outside of civilization.  Spent half the day in the car dealing with - what else - kid issues.  Yup, Josiah and starting trouble today with mom and then mom finally saying no to his gf coming over tomorrow.

And then I was dragged into it.  Josiah contacts me via texting and says we need to talk.  Uhhh, son, I am not a child, don't talk to me that way.  This went on for hours.  While that was going on I had this person following behind me for literally hundreds of miles.  Just interesting.  Something like three hundred miles and then they went off on Interstate ten while I veered off to the twenty.

I am not going into the whole Josiah thing today and with m'lady and all of that, the end of the story he apologized to her some 6 hours later and he still isn't having his gf over tomorrow and tough shit.  Get rid of the attitude and the anger.  His girlfriend had the gall to tell Josiah to tell us today that even though she can't come tomorrow, that still counts as a visit. M'lady ended up calling her mom and letting her know all of this wonderful infromation.

Anyway, it's bedtime. Duke took it as well and an old dog that hates to travel in a car could. I had him out several times stretching, but in the end? I brought him up here into this hotel room, laid out his bedding, he laid down and crashed.  I mean that fast. He is out of it.  I hate to put him through this but what else was I going to do? NOT leave him, that's for sure.  That dog is totally attached to me, I don't think he would live if I had done that to him and anyway, there is no way I would do that to a beloved dog friend!

That's it for today.  About four plus hours of driving tomorrow and this trip willl be done. So no big hurry to get up early! Woohooo!

G'nite.

ben