I haven’t updated TFMA in some time now, and for that I sincerely apologize. It hasn’t been due to a lack of desire on my part, just a rather extreme deficit of time and energy. I’ve been gearing up for a move to Texas after a lifetime spent in California, and it’s turned out to be a rather more difficult undertaking than I had originally envisioned.

I won’t get into every last detail about my useless hitch installation, my cancellation of the U-Haul trailer, my ugly experiences with the same company that have left me baffled as to how they’re still in business, storing and giving away more or less every piece of furniture that I own, or the nightmare that packing up my apartment turned out to be. After a divorce and having only just gotten all my belongings out of the prior residence, I’m sure you can understand that packing an entire apartment into a single car load is an exercise in frustration. So we’ll just say the whole ordeal has been difficult, confusing, and is ending with a car filled to the absolute brim with crap that’s now being driven by me across the country.

Currently, I’m in Tucson, along with my girlfriend who has graciously decided to make the trip with me. After a somewhat uncomfortable drive down to Irvine the first day, the eternally generous Charlotte and Rodney gave us a place to stay for the night. (They’re two of the loveliest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing in many years, and I’m looking forward to seeing them tie the knot in Indianapolis come September.) Tomorrow, we head out of Arizona into Texas itself, probably to stop at El Paso or a little further down the line.

The first two days had their trials, but also their glories. The car is so tightly packed that comfort is an impossibility, and our itinerary requires a drive of between 7 to 9 hours each day, but we’ve gotten to see a lot of gorgeous countryside, including a heavily snow-laden Grapevine as the car chugged its way into southern California, which was a pretty sight indeed, and one I’ve certainly never seen before. Arizona’s beautiful cactus-dotted plains I do remember, but it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve seen them.

I’ll post a final summary of our adventures just as soon as we reach Fort Worth, but for now, I go to get some much needed rest while my girlfriend texts away to her gaggle of admirers. Kids these days … you’d never know she’s older than I am.

[This post originally appeared at theflyingmonkeyapparatus.com.]