Driving eastward on I-70 on a clear December morning, I looked toward the spot on the windshield where the rearview mirror is usually mounted. Nothing there. I remember that I have a giant box behind me containing all of my worldly possessions. I look to the left mirror, then over to the right mirror, making sure the road is clear enough for this big ass Uhaul truck to switch lanes. As I look in the side mirrors (that are spectacularly effective in eliminating blind spots) I see nothing but empty road behind me. Also, off in the distance I see the front range slowly shrinking away to nothing. I catch myself staring at it a little too long. Oddly, I am not sad to be moving away from Denver.
Even though the view of the front range from Denver is one of my favorites, I do not feel the slightest anxiety about leaving it behind. I lived in Denver for seven years. I made a lot of great friends that I am sure I will talk to for the rest of my life, but it just felt like it was time to move on. I've never stayed in one city for so long. Can't handle all the baggage that accumulates when you stay in one place for so long. It felt good to throw out all my trash, pack up my necessities, and hit the road. I take one last look at that beautiful view of the flatirons to the northwest and pikes peak to the southwest, and let it go.
I look out towards the high plains in the east and jam my foot down on the pedal. Time to haul ass through one of the worst stretches of highway in the country; I-70, Denver to Kansas City.
I get off I-70 right before Salina and head towards Wichita. I'll be there for the holidays, so I have to unload my Uhaul at my sister's house and return the truck. After two weeks in Kansas, I will rent another Uhaul, repack it, and drive to Memphis in one day, Atlanta the next, catch a Widespread Panic show with Matt Hynes and his fiancee, Christy, on New Years Eve. Then its on to Tampa on New Years Day to start a new job and a brand new life.
Christmas goes well enough with the Shoffner and Rice family. The highlights include successfully babysitting my nephew and niece without setting the house on fire, my 4 year-old niece walking me through the steps of constructing the perfect bean burrito, seeing one of my crazy cousins at the christmas party when we all thought she was in jail, and listening to a cousin at my other family christmas party sing a song in Italian with a ukelele and kazoo as accompaniment.
The lowlights were making my nephew cry after beating him in video game football, and contracting pink eye and a severe head cold on christmas eve. All in all, a good christmas though.
Two days before new years, I rented my second Uhaul and set out for Memphis. An easy 9 hour drive through Oklahoma and Arkansas. Much better than driving through Kansas. I crash at a hotel one block from Graceland. I had every intention of stopping by the next morning and chatting with Elvis. Alas, I slept in and had to get on the road post haste because I had to get to Atlanta before dark to meet Matt Hynes. Sorry Elvis.
I stopped once at a Super Wal-Mart in Birmingham, Alabama to restock on my driving foods: broccoli, baby peeled carrots, red delicious apples, bananas, deli turkey, bread, and dorritos. Actually, that is my typical shopping list even when I'm not on the road. Although, I might get crazy and throw in cereal and milk when I'm at home, but I digress.
I drive out of Birmingham around 2pm. Two more hours to Atlanta. Should get there in plenty of time to find Hynes, rest a little, and go to the show. But something strange happened on the highway. the first of many strokes of bad luck that I would have to endure over the next 72 hours. It was just a little thing. But it sort of snow-balled after that. And it was the strangest thing. My phone clock jumped ahead two hours. I crossed the Alabama/Georgia border and I entered the Eastern Time Zone. It was 3pm. I had anticipated that. Then, as I was approaching the outskirts of Atlanta, I looked at my phone clock again and it jumped ahead another hour. What the hell happened? I just lost another hour. Did I just cross into Super Eastern Time? Is there something going on in Georgia that they won't tell the rest of us about? Seems likely, considering how many times I've seen Georgians behaving strangely. A month has passed and I still have no idea what the hell happened. Best explanation is that I drove through some sort of worm hole just outside of Atlanta.
Anyway, instead of arriving in Atlanta at 5pm. I arrived at 6pm. Damn! No time to rest. Gotta find Hynes and immediately get to downtown Atlanta for the concert. I drive my big ass Uhaul through the thin side streets of Atlanta looking for a street sign at dusk - the time of day that it is nearly impossible to read any street signs - and I'm driving ten miles an hour with about 200 cars inching along behind me. I can't find the god damn street sign that Hynes told me to look for. I call him up again and I talk to one of his local buddies, and the local informs that Hynes told me to look for a street sign that doesn't exist. sweet. the local gives me the proper info and I eventually find my way to the house I'd be crashing at after the show.
As soon as I park, there is a cab in front of me. I get in and we go straight to the show. I'm exhausted. Just drove 17 hours in two days without cruise control. I've been jamming down broccoli and talking to myself and swearing at other drivers for two days. And I gotta drive 8 more hours tomorrow. What the hell am I doing going to a concert?
the first set is great. I drink tall draft beers and relax to an acoustic set. The second set is even better. They play a couple of good songs and we ring in the new year. Then they play a third set. I'm done. I forgot to eat any dinner. I can't sit down or I'll fall asleep. I'm too tired to get another beer. so I just stand there and try to stay focused on the music. I'm barely conscious when they finish at 2am.
We trudge out of the arena and into downtown. Us and 20,000 other people try to flag down a cab at the same time. Somehow, one of our local friends procures a cab after only about a 20-30 minute search. I'm not certain, but I think he dropped a hundee just for the right to get in the cab. I owe that guy. big time.
I get to sleep around 3am. Wake up early because I am excited to get to Tampa and see my new home. I get on the road around 9am. Every passing mile the temperature gets a little higher and my excitement level grows a little higher. I drive through Macon, Gainesville and show up in Tampa around 5pm.
I crashed at my exgirlfriend's apartment that night. (she stayed at a neighbor's place). The next day I got up early to secure my new apartment and I found out that the owner didn't sign the contract. I spend 4 hours sitting in an office waiting for a real estate agent try to track down the guy and convince him to rent me the place.
We finally reach an agreement that allows me to break the lease after 7 months if my new job doesn't work out, and in return, he gets to keep the place on the market and try to sell it. If he sells it, I have 30 days to vacate.
I get the keys and drive my Uhaul over to my new place. When I arrive, I find that my apartment is on the third floor and in the farthest corner from the stairwell. So I will have to unload my $hit up 3 flights of stairs and over 300 yards of hallway. And the only person I have to help me is my little exgirlfriend, who I am bitterly angry at because she didn't want to stay with me in her apartment the night before.
I spend most of the evening unpacking. I get quite a lot accomplished. and my little exgirlfriend does surprisingly well at helping me with a bed, futon, chair, coffe table, entertainment system, and a few other awkward items. And we didn't even get into a big argument about the state of our dying relationship.
when she leaves tho, I realized just how alone I am here. I knew one other person in town at that point and she was at the Orange Bowl in Miami. I didn't start work for another week, I had no electricity in my apartment, I returned my Uhaul and I had no vehicle, and the "entertainment" district that I moved into turned out to be not so much of an "entertainment" district as it was just a bunch of dirty bars and dance clubs that were completely empty because it was right after new years and it was the coldest it has ever been in Tampa (25 degrees at night). The whole city felt empty. And there I was right in the middle of it, in a dark, empty fucking apartment.
I felt like I was in a ghost town. No electricity. No one on the streets. No one in the bars. I even went to a movie and I was the only person in the theater. It was creepy and depressing. One of the loneliest moments of my entire life.
After a couple of days of calling my family and friends incessantly, spending hours upon hours in starbucks, chugging down coffee while I charged my phone and laptop, then calling all my friends and family again, I finally got electricity, and I finally started my new job.
I bought a pickup and began exploring the city. I found an ultimate frisbee league and a sunday morning pickup game, and I've already made a couple of friends through that avenue.
Tomorrow is the big annual Gasparilla festival in Tampa. 300,000 people gather around the bay to watch a bunch of mock pirates sail into the bay and take over the city. There is a parade, bead tossing, and lots of drinking. I'm going with my new friend from Boston and a bunch of his college buddies. I am not planning on seeing the exgirlfriend. Should be a good day.
I'm still not sure if I will like living in Tampa, but everyday gets a little more interesting. And if anything interesting happens tomorrow, I'm sure there will be a story posted on this site shortly after.
