So I truly have emerged from the dark side of the moon.

Or have I?

Driving across the country wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it was by no means easy in any sense. I ran out of music at the end of the 1st day, so that was a bit intense. Staying awake during the boring parts of certain states was the hardest, I think. Watching my thermometer jump every day was interesting. I think I saw 26 degrees as the coldest somewhere in the desert.

I'll recap the states as I saw them:
*Florida truly never ends, especially when you're going west, all the way through it.

*Alabama -- the last time I rode through Alabama was coincidentally ALSO at night, but as I marveled at the perpetual nighttime of Alabama, it started to sprinkle, I drove through a tunnel, and then saw a car engulfed in flames on the highway.

*Mississippi was pretty straightforward, no frills or explosions, unfortunately.

*Louisiana was by far my favorite. Why? First hotel stay, best hotel stay. It was 50 degrees, I only had my child's snow jacket, and then Louisiana girls in the breakfast area said "DAMN, GIRL?!" remarking at how I could wear such a jacket on such an average day. Kinda made my day. They all looked at Jared and me the whole time we ate. It was weird/funny. Then we went to Wal-Mart and got provisions.

*Okay, now, who DOESN'T hate driving through the widest part of Texas? Seriously, most boring 2 days of my life. Stayed at a LaQuinta that was highly disappointing and terrifyingly overpriced compared to the Baton Rouge Ramada. Louisiana wins again. Texas was miserable. The end. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

*New Mexico and Arizona should be one state.

*Jared and I ended up in 2 different directions after 2 hours without incident. In our respective and opposite directions, since we were in two different cars. Thanks guy at Hollywood Video that used HIS phone nav system. Ugh. A few tense moments and then we stayed at the Days Inn on Ventura. Renovated and really nice for what it was -- renovated. The next day, we used Panera's Internet, drove around, got a mailbox, took a walk,

and I realized how unprepared, naive, and truly clueless I am. It was probably one of the harder lessons I've learned in the last 6 months, but probably one of the most freeing and terrifying lessons of my life. Yeah, all epic and shit.

Jared and I are sleeping on our Louisiana Wal-Mart air mattress. It's actually quite stellar, I highly recommend it. Currently, we're both still jobless. I've been trying to keep busy with The Must Stash.