And they're off!

Ten years and he lived to tell the tale! Marshall has officially finished school/residency and is ready for a break. So we packed up the Tahoe and are heading out of town tomorrow morning. We've already changed the itinerary and are planning to stop in Pensacola for the night. We'll take the scenic route and drive through Florida beach towns on the way. Apparently, there is a mecca of kitsch I need to see on the way: Alvin's. Should be a hoot.

The Great American Road Trip

This blog has been a bit quiet lately but we’re expecting to give it a workout over the next few months. As you probably know, Marshall and I are about to embark on our next adventure: moving to Bethel, Alaska! It has been a crazy few months preparing for the move, but we are finally about to get underway. Our furniture is already on the way (and will travel via truck, barge and plane). Our beloved cat Tibby has settled into his temporary home; he would be miserable in the car so I’ll retrieve him once we have a place to live. And we have a P.O. Box in Bethel, so all of our books are in the mail. Marshall joked that we’re mailing ourselves bit by bit to Alaska.

Marshall was able to set his start date for work and we decided to take advantage of the flexibility; we plan to take almost a month to drive across the country before settling into our new community. It has been a dream of ours to do this and we are ecstatic about seeing so much of the country on our way north. We should leave sometime in the next few days and our itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Leave Orlando and stay somewhere in Florida

Day 2: New Orleans

Day 3: New Orleans

Day 4: Lafayette, LA

Day 5: Lafayette, LA

Day 6: Lafayette, LA

Day 7: Little Rock, AR

Day 8: Lawrence, KS

Day 9: Rocky Mountain National Park

Day 10: Rocky Mountain National Park

Day 11: Salt Lake City

Day 12: Somewhere in Nevada

Day 13: Lake Tahoe

Day 14: Lake Tahoe

Day 15: Yosemite National Park

Day 16: Yosemite National Park

Day 17: Sequoia National Park

Day 18: San Francisco

Day 19: San Francisco

Day 20: Somewhere along Pacific Coast Highway/border of Oregon

Day 21: Portland, OR

Day 22: Portland, OR

Day 23: Somewhere in Washington

Day 24: Seattle

Day 25: Seattle

Day 26: Seattle

Day 27: Fly to Bethel, AK

We’ve mapped the trip in our trusty road atlas, but left open the possibility to change our mind on stops or routes; we also built in wiggle room for car trouble or needed relaxation. Depending on internet service along the way, we might only post a picture or quick comment on the day, but I hope to blog at least every other day. This will be a diary of our trip and life in Alaska. There might be random book reviews and hospital stories thrown in as well. Who knows what we will end up writing about once we make our home on the tundra, but it’s guaranteed to be quite a change from our current life in Florida. Thanks for reading!

Went on our hot air balloon ride this morning. Thanks for the gift Joel.

Proof of the pigs I work with in the ED (in FL). They leave their trash around the break room all the time.

Susan bought us a brand new road atlas for the trip. Time to finalize our route across the country.

Last Vegas Pictures and Vacation Wrap Up

(Susan here) Well, we're back in sunny (and HOT) Orlando. As you can tell, we had a fantastic time in Vegas and can't wait to go back. We are already looking at hotel rooms and packages for our next trip.

After the Grand Canyon trip, Marshall really wanted to cruise up the strip in the convertible. It was chilly and the traffic was insane, but it was really cool to see the lights at night. We ate a phenomenal meal at Wofgang Puck's that evening, and then rested up for our last day.

We woke up early and hit up the buffet at Rio. The sheer amount of food and number of choices were overwhelming. It wasn't the most impressive meal in the world, but it was all good quality and fueled us up for the final push. And we got our Vegas buffet experience! I think we waddled out of the hotel because we were so full.

We spent the rest of the day trekking around the central strip, visiting our favorite casinos. Thankfully, the wind died down and we were able to catch the volcano at Mirage and 3 Bellagio fountain shows. We were big fans! (The midnight finale was The Star Spangled Banner - very cool.) Most of the day was spent at Harrah's and Paris, specifically at the Mississippi Stud tables. We found our game and had a whole lot of fun with it. Wayne the dealer (at Paris) was a highlight; he kept us laughing the entire night. We didn't get back to our hotel until around 5am, just in time to catch a gorgeous sunrise over the mountains.

We woke up early on our last morning, planning to have a leisurely breakfast before heading to the airport. Instead, we grabbed coffee and cabbed over to Harrah's for one final bit gambling at our Mississippi Stud table. We have the bug! I ended my stint with a hundred dollar hand of blackjack, just to say I did it. Well, she dealt me a 21! What a way to end the trip. We also played some slots in airport before our flight. I love this town!

Here's the sign that blew away due to the intense wind.

In front of my favorite casino. Well, that was before I visited Paris!

We saw a bunch of celebrity impersonators on the Strip. This guy looked just like Samuel L. Jackson and was very cool to chat with.

The volcano at Mirage was more impressive than I expected. There was fire! And smoke!

The absolutely gorgeous Bellagio. We caught multiple fountain shows. Loved them.

No trip to Vegas is complete without a picture of Elvis! Notice my matching glasses. :)

5:30am Finally back at the hotel. About to watch the sunrise. Saw the volcano at the Mirage and a couple fountain shows at Bellagio. Played some more Mississippi Stud and did very well. Leaving later today.