Yes! I knew this would work out one of these days!

Sorry to hear about your puppy, Mama. I just got one last week, he's half Lab, half golden retreiver and he's really cute, but he has to live at Damien's house. Mom said no more dogs here, and well...I can't take him to school with me, so Damien's place was the next best thing...well, maybe not, but we'll talk about that later.

I'm SO excited to see you guys...I can't believe this is FINALLY going to work out!

Love Love Love

WE HAVE TICKETS!!!!!!!





and some other dumb whore got my puppy, may they rot in hell as Satan's ass monkey.

Going with Orbitz. Buying ticket tonight-ish. Love love.

Okay, I've decided Hotwire is the devil and must die. Or something less dramatic, but that's what was in my head. The point is, they don't tell you what your times are or what airline you're flying until after you pay for the non-refundable ticket. I don't like that. It makes me antsy and leary and a host of other uncomfortable type words.

I mentioned this to my parents, as I am desperately trying to get this settled as soon as possible for as little as possible. They thought it was madness, too. My mom told me to use Orbitz because that's what my dad uses when he goes out of town. Why my dad didn't tell me this, I do know and can explain with the simple fact that my mom's got a much bigger mouth than he does. I checked Orbitz, using Madison and Milwaukee as starting points - Chicago's out of the question, between finding someone to drive me and having to leave four hours before my flight, no thank you. Madison was more expensive so I went back to Milwaukee, which was my first choice anyway. I'm familiar with the airport, I know where it is and it'll be a lot easier to convince Justin to go to Milwaukee than Madison as he sort of works in Milwaukee.

The flight that looked the best to me is non-stop both ways. I leave at 11:25 am and get to Memphis at 1:05 pm. There are a couple of other flights that are several hours later - and one that leaves at 6:00, which is just inconceivable - but it'll give me more time with Whitney and more time to sort of settle in so I can get some sleep for that god awful early morning call. Be careful, I've been known to hit. The flight back leaves at 6:35 pm and gets to Milwaukee at 8:12 (how did they get 12?) both nice and reasonable times. I'm going to confirm with Justin and my parents tomorrow, make sure I have a ride, my grandma might take me if it comes down to that, and then I'll order the tickets.

TICKETS!!!! Tickets are BIG SOLID WRITTEN IN STONE TRIP THINGS!!!! *is deliriously happy because she's gonna see her girls*

Whoa...this is so cool, it's actually going to happen!!

No Mama, no digital camera here, but if you could bring your Mom's that would be cool. I really liked Whitney's idea to leave there early since it's probably about a 8 or 9 hour drive and you guys could nap when you get here if you feel the need and we still have plenty of time to do stuff. I'm all squealy and excited now! Love Love Love!

Oh, I'll fine for the morning. It was all mornings in South Dakota. Mostly I'm either quiet or loopy and both work since the quiet tends to go away pretty quick and loopy's just part of my genetic make up. I'll look into the flights, see what I can dig up. I don't mind weird hours or layovers so hopefully that'll help keep the cost down. That's really the only thing I'm worried about with this trip. I don't have a job to replace the money and you know me, I'm stingy to the nth degree.

I might be getting a puppy!! His name is Tipper and he's a Jack Russel Terrier/Whippet mix, completely adorable, and so so doable, in a very 'good lord, this might actually work' kind of way. It makes me happy :D I just got an e-mail back from his foster mom saying she liked my application so I still have to talk to my parents tonight, but *squealy noises* puppy!!

Oh, and do either of you have a digital camera? Or should I beg my mom to let me bring hers because I am so documenting the hell out of this trip. My South Dakota trip? 378 pictures (which you will get to see/be forced to watch with toothpicks holding your eyelids open) This trip will be even better. Sure there won't be any dead people carved into gigantic rock faces, but who the hell cares? Not me. Been there, done that. Didn't buy the chincy t-shirt. *realizes she's babbling* Just let me know.

Okay, the place I found the $187 for a roundtrip ticket was Hotwire.com. Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz all basically had the same rates, around $254. But I agree on the train thing being a little iffy. It just takes soooooo long, and I know you don't want to be stuck on that stupid thing for hours on end.
I figured we'd leave on the 6th, sometime in the early morning, 6-7? We can always change that if you're not feeling too well. And then I figured we'd leave probably mid-day or later on the 11th. And then I'd just shuttle you wherever you needed to go to get back on the 12th. It basically all depends on what works best for your traveling arrangements.
Just keep searching and let us know, and if I think of anything else I'll post. (I'd thought about a bus, but I think it might cost just as much as a plane ticket. Plus, I don't know about you, but I think I'd hurl after just three hours on the thing.)

Oh yeah, yesterday was Ty's birthday. He turned 22....Hoorah!! (Yeah, I know that was kind of uneccessary. Heh.)

Umm... the train is scaring me. It says I have to leave at 2:55 to get to Chicago at 6:10 (it's a 2 hour drive!) and then I have a 2 hour layover which is just dandy... THEN I get back on the train at 8:10 only to arrive in Newbern at 3:56 IN THE MORNING!!

Irony of irony, I just checked the fares and... wait for it... wait for it... it's exactly $187. I shit you not.

Whitney, tell me where you got the plane stuff so I can look at that. I need to know when I'll be flying/training (I don't know what to call it!) before I can set anything up and the more in advance I do it, the cheaper it'll be. I figure I'll be traveling on the surrounding days, like the 5th and the 12th since we have to account for driving time and I have no schedule to keep. I'm not sure if the 6-11th plan includes driving, I thought it did, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. But if I fly down on the 5th, crash on Whit's floor, we can leave in the morningish hours to drive down. And on the way back she can just hand me off to some trucker who's heading towards the airport, after we verify his deep and never ending homosexuality. Remember, must. keep. planning.

$187 isn't bad, but I do have to go both ways. The train might work. There are stations near by and plenty of people willing to give me rides. I'll look into that, check times and prices and such.

And Whit? When you finish a post, click on 'Publish Post' not 'Save as Draft' Okay? It's just Blogger being stupid and changing everything around to confuse us.

Aww! I miss my hammock! *mourns the death of hammock* Not that I'd get much use out of it right now, too much rain, tornadoes... not much in the way of hammock-friendly weather. God help me, I'm looking forward to some sunshine, even if it does come with insane heat.

My parents are cool. At dinner the other night they were talking about going to Napa Valley in October. I said I might be going to Louisiana in August and my mom was like, okay, and just kept eating. I knew the whole 21 thing would come in handy sooner or later. Actually, I was going to a get a 'perfect' marguerita today, but ended up passing. Not much of a marguerita fan. Give me an amaretto sour or Chi Chi any day.

I'd like to drive with you, Whit, if that's okay. I have no clue how I'll get down to you, but I think it'd be fun to roadie down to Louisiana, kinda adds to the trip. Plus it's more time to spend with one of my girls. I love my girls. We better make this work!

Also, completely in love with 'Anthem Of Our Dying Day' by Story Of The Year. Download. And Finch. Kisses to Finch and 'What It Is To Burn', such a good song.

no hiking, I promise. We'll spend as little time in the heat as possible.

Just let me know what the easiest way for y'all to get here would be.