Do you know where your snow is?

No snow plows so we are blocked in. Supposedly we will get some at some point.

Still have power and Internet so that’s good. More as it comes

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UPDATE: I think my son does not enjoy the cold

You would think the world is ending

Atlanta is expected to get 4-6 inches of snow.

My son’s daycare closed early.

I went to Kroger to buy salmon to cook dinner. The guy in front of me bought 25 loaves of bread and 6 gallons of milks.

Bedlam.

The grocery store ran out of eggs.

The local news is covering on the minute coverage with some dude in a mall parking lot describing the texture of the precipitation.

Strong times

http://www.wsbtv.com/live-stream

Its weird. And its crazy. Bask in it. And never forget the words of house stark. Winter is coming.

Update: winter is coming 

Today, dear readers, I bring a departure from my chronicles of the move. Today, I bring a wine review.

I was informed that Georgia has its own vineyards up in the North Georgia mountains. I requested some of their fine wine as a christmas present for two reasons:

1. I couldn’t believe that you could grow grapes up there.
2. I love wine. And I was ready to drink after all this madness.

So, my wish was granted and I received two bottles of Stonewall Creek wine.

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2015 Yukari

The grower notes that its a Provence style dry rose. And I love a dry rose. The nose on its rock solid, legs look good, aroma is exactly where it should be for a rose. The initial palette hit is on point, crisp, dry…..then it hits you.

I have no idea if this is true, but a wine grower in Sonoma told me that it takes forever to get grapes right because the soil is all screwed up for the first few years. You can get the right vines but it will still turn out weird because the soil isn’t ready.

I cant begin to say if that’s for sure, but the finish on this thing is abysmal. It kind of tastes like a cross between sweet manure and WD40. It has the kind of finish regular Budweiser has. Long. Strong. And lasts forever. It was on my palette long after I had my dinner. I couldn’t finish my glass.

2015 Boriana

The grower notes that its 100% Petit Manseng, which is a grape I am not familiar with. Dry whites though I love. My favorite vineyard, UNTI in Dry Creek Valley makes a Fiano and a Vermentino and Grenache Blanc blend that I love.

So, I was excited to try it. Unfortunately, more of the same. Everything at the beginning was fantastic. Until you really drink it. Initially, the dryness hits you like a truck, which I like. Then the aftertaste. This was some how even more metallic and longer lasting than the Yukari. If the previous one was like Budweiser, this is like Old Style. It makes you question why humanity exists in the first place.

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A few things with both of these reviews.

I dont pretend to be a wine expert by any stretch. Its just something I love.

I am also not a snob of expensive wines. My favorite vineyard sells, at the highest, $40 a bottle wines. My current favorite all day drink is a $9 Pinot Noir from Trader Joes. Snooty I am not. I just know what I like, and brother, this aint it.

That being said, I will continue my journey down the Georgia Wine Trail and Ill let you know.

The countdown is over. No more dates in the title. 48 days from signing to sell to cashing out.

The house has sold.

And I cant believe it happened that quickly. But we found the right buyer. All cash, close in 7 days. No contingencies.

Its insane. But its done. And I still cant believe it.

I am cashed out. No debt. But, my wife, son, and I are now vagabonds. Crashing at the in-laws till we find steady accommodations.

I am sure I will be more articulate and have grandiose thoughts. For now though, the blog will start its slow transformation to being less about the chaos and more about the oddity that is Georgia.

I have a post I want to put up about that…may happen tomorrow…

For now…the celebration…

The following happened today

• Visited daycares for the little man
• Little man decided he only wanted to eat cake and no other foodstuffs
• After 3000 miles, my father-in-law decided to back into the Prius on his way out to buy soup. Tail light and bumper smashed
• In my hurring to get stuff done, I fall with my wife’s phone in hand, shattering the screen

And of course

• We accepted an offer above list on our house with no contingencies with close 7 days.

Thats right. Done by the end of 2016. Freedom 17 in full effect. No ties to bay area after the end of the year.

A bit of logistics between here and there but nothing we can handle.

Looking Good Billy Ray, Feeling Good Lewis

No pictures from the last leg of the drive. Had to blast home to get to my son.

At the time of this writing, Ethan has made a miraculous recovery and is now perfectly fine. No fever all day. Kind of surprised, but hey, so it goes.

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The drive to Atlanta from Louisiana is pretty quick. No issues.

Alabama has some odd town names. Citronelle, Nymph, and Georgiana to name a few. All sound like stripper names.

First time I saw confederate flags all trip was at the Alabama state line. So, there you go.

Also, the US automotive industry is alive and well. Just so happens to be foreign corporations opening plants down south.

2,932 miles

Thats what I drove in 4 days. I spent most of yesterday comatose and unpleasant to be around.

What I learned from the trip is simple. Dont attempt to power drive across the country.

But, Im glad to be in my new home; where I will not leave for hopefully quite some time.

Picked up my dad from LAX with no problem. LAX is kind of a zoo. Too many people for even how gigantic the airport is.

We left at 4:30am from our luxurious accommodations at the Hampton Inn in Banning, CA. Through rage, the power of combination electric gas engines, and the deliciousness of Ruffles All Dressed chips, we made it to Kerville, TX. About 60 miles outside of San Antonio. 1,213 miles on the first day.

Notes from the road:

• Once you get past LAX, other than a quick run through Tuscon, Phoenix, and the behemoth of El Paso, there is literally nothing.
• West texas is the end of the world. 27 degrees with a 20 mile an hour wind. At one point, my dad tells me, “Son, I love you. But you getting yo ass outside this car to fill it up with gas. Im not doing it.” This was part of the reason we decided to blast through the trip.
• Early in the day I decide to buy a little hand held CB radio. I get it in the car…all I get is static. I cant figure it out. I adjust all the settings, nothing. We stop at a truck stop for gas, food, and toilet. Before we leave, my dad grabs the CB and it works no problem. We are pumped, get back on the road. The second we start down the road, static. My dad figures it out first, and I google to confirm. The RF interference from the Prius’ engine makes CB communication almost impossible. You have to get a mounted external antenna to get it to work. Rats.
• I made a 16 hour playlist for the trip. It worked swimmingly.
• I missed the thing in the desert. But maybe someday. 
• When you are driving in west texas in the middle of the night, you hit random trash that just blasts across the road. You think it may be an animal, you would be wrong.
• Every single gas station in between the major cities, we had a line to get to a pump. Open a gas station in west texas, make money.

We pulled into Kerville, TX at 12:30am. I blacked out the second we pulled in.

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The next day was significantly easier. Because it was basically road I had already travelled. Once you get to San Antonio, its decent enough sprawl all the way to New Orleans to where you dont go 10 miles without seeing a town.

Easy drive. Nothing odd on the road. Was smooth.

I get in and find out my son has gotten worse. The virus or whatever he has is causing him to spike big fevers. All plans have changed, and I am now heading out to atlanta this morning after I see my grandparents. Hes ok for now, but I need to get back. Such is the life on the road.

I found that last night I had trouble sleeping. Couldn’t get rest, so I woke up extra early. Bought enough supplies for a small army, loaded the car, and started my journey.

I would think it would be hard to drive away from Los Gatos for what is probably the last time, but it wasn’t. I guess I have already transitioned and the drive just makes it official.

Its weird to drive across the country in a Prius. For one thing, when you think of road trips, you think of refueling. You will need refuling before the Prius will. I was used to holding tight till I ran out of gas. Can’t do that with the prius. Not at all.

Plus its odd design, compact yet roomy on the insight, doesn’t feel the same compared to the other cars. Its hard to fully articulate. Ill think about it more as the journey continues.

Other observations on the first day of the drive (Los Gatos, CA to Beaumont, CA)

• I-5 is an odd interstate. As its that mega-rural part of California that gets culturally consumed by the Los Angeles area and the Bay Area. But it is massive.
• I saw a sign that had pasted over “Trump” with “THANK YOU” so it now read “Thank you for making America great again!”
• The thing about I-5 is that it smells like shit. Its 100% agricultural. So if the wind drifts a certain way, you get the odeur of pure cow feces. It lingers. If you dont switch to interior air circulation, you smell cow shit for a 100 miles.
• You have to stop before you get on the grapevine. For the uninitiated, its the road where central california ends and the LA sprawl starts. Once you get on the grapevine, you are sucked into the gravitational pull of LA, never to escape.
• I still dont understand how one lives in the LA area. If you get on the wrong side of the LA traffic gods, you are smited for your insolence. I have been on the bad side too many times. This was definitely one of those days. Long trek to the hotel.

With Ethan sick, I am trying to shorten my trip to make it across the country in 4 days. Not sure if its possible given the circumstances, but I am going to try. More news as it develops.

 

Life comes at you  pretty fast. I think thats the theme of the blog so far.

Updates.

• House is on the market. Its an odd feeling to have a house for sale, but I mostly am ready to just be done with this part of the Freedom 17 plan. And I think we will be soon. Have some good traction so far. Lets see if it keeps up.
• I published a big paper for work. Im proud of it, and was the accumulation of all the actual stuff for my job I had going on in the background of this madness.
• There is a tradition in my household. Everytime I leave town, something happens. Either some kind of logistic fails, or A flight is missed or some such thing. This time around, Ethan got sick. Goes to pediatrician tomorrow (been sick for 3 days now).

Right now, I am back in the bay area for just one day. Tomorrow morning I finish up some logistics here, then I start the long drive.

More than anything else, I am ready to see what Georgia has to offer. Ready to spend more than one day in my new (temporary) home. So lets get this thing started.

When we started thinking about the move, we started with a simple plan. 

Freedom 17

Free in 2017. Trying to remove as many worries and problems from our lives as we can.

Following that plan lead to today. Our house goes on the market Monday. Everything we need for the short term is shipped, and now we depart ourselves
A giant leap for our little family. But a leap for the better

Freedom 17 is in full effect