My arrival in Jacksonville was no where near as fortuitous as Rocky Mount. The hotel allowed cats because it was a wreck and no animal could make the rooms worse. No Dr. Biggly to meet either. :( After the lesson learned in Winchester Kentucky on the way to HC00, I will never stay in a scary room again. Nice people at the hotel but still, no way. We checked another hotel and then I remembered seeing a billboard for a Holiday Inn Holidome. I had learned from Shawn and Melissa on the return from HC99 about the Holiday Inn "domes", Todd from CT had turned us on to a great holidome in Pittsburgh when we went to see Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. I held out a hope for this Jacksonville Holidome like a light in a storm while the mosquitoes began to make a meal of me. Oh, yeah, insects. The one thing we all love about winter in the Northeast is how it kills all the mosquitoes. The vet had prescribed Frontline for Rock, and I had Avon's Skin So Soft in my "go" bag- thank goodness. Preparing for the south meant an inventory of bug repellents and treatments and preparation for Men In Black-sized flying cockroaches and many of them flying kamikaze into my windshield. Feel better now? The CB saved me again as I made friends with the truck drivers, it was like having a TalkAbout and talking to my Z3 friends. Well, sort of. I got a kick out of hearing them talk about me, and then surprising them because I had my "ears" on. They always called the car a little "BMW". Always "BMW". These folks don't mistake it for a Boxster or a Miata or anything else. Oh the way they talked... "Hey driver guess what you have headed your way! Blonde chick in a little BMW, keep an eye out for her...". The cars at the Holidome were very grand, all Mercedes and Cadillacs- even a Prowler. Good sign. Parked up to ground floor rooms that opened onto the cars. Another good sign. Unfortunately once again the rooms stunk. I called the front desk and asked if they had a concierge level and sure enough they did. As they gave me the key they let me know that usually they don't allow pets on the concierge level. I don't know why they allowed me to go there with Rock but I was grateful- and exhausted. We ended up with a smashing room, a great view of Emmy, and Rock having his first meal in those South of the Border bowls. I had wondered if I'd be able to travel with my cat, now I don't know how I ever did long distance without him. He is just the best cat in the world. He kept an eye on Emmy too. and Emmy looking back up at Rock After that incident with the mosquitoes I decided to give Rock the Frontline treatment at the hotel instead of waiting for Naples. He managed to get some in his mouth and went about the room puking. I was following with a towel and soap- worried that the hotel would ban us for life if we messed up a concierge room. Then we watched my new favorite comedy show, the Weather Channel. It was Ground Hog Day in Punxatawny, PA. Look at all those freezing cold people watching a groundhog praying for an early spring! That used to be ME! ;D They listed all the cities where the temperature was going to drop 30 degrees- each one I just left. Snicker. Yes, I took the sunshine with me when I left. Hey, I stayed up there as long as I could.... I had a nice chat in the Concierge Lounge with a traveling salesman (did you hear the one about the traveling salesman who gave directions?). He said that if Traffic Pro was routing me south to Orlando on I 95 before southwest to Naples on I 4 and then I 75, I should consider disobeying and heading west on I 10 and then to I 75. I looked at a map (wow) and saw he made sense. At checkout I asked if they would have me and Rock back again, same room and made the reservation. (Whew) The clerk explained that all the fancy cars were there because they were hosting a Baptist ministers' convention. One more time shoving the cat into the Sturdi Bag, one bag of cat litter down and 2 Wonderboxes left at hotels, just one left for the new house.

9 Zodom and Gamorrah Part 1 Triple Packing~~ Part 2 Cat In a Bag~~ Part 3 Baltimore~~ Part 4 Virginia~~ Part 5 Dr. Biggly I Presume~~ Part 6 Zouth of the Border~~ Part 7 South Carolina~~ Part 8 Georgia~~ Part 9 Jacksonville, FL~~ Part 10 Road to Zodom~~ Part 11 Garage Gamorrah~~ Part 12 God Bless You, Steve Borsse~~

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