Florida

Georgia

Tennessee

Kentucky

Illinois

Missouri

A touch of Kansas

Nebraska

Wyoming

Utah

Idaho

Oregon

Washington

If we had been able to drive straight though without stopping the trip would have been 52 hours on the road. Detouring to stop at as many State and National Parks as possible made the trip take nine days. But the pictures of Alice across the nation were worth it. She had a blast the entire time. We blew gallons and gallons of bubbles and camped out in the Winnebago, well sort of camped, in the most beautiful places. We saw awesome wildlife and tons of flowers. I may or may not have let Alice pick wildflowers in a few national parks. I'm almost sure it was illegal, but I really wanted to have be able to press the flowers and save them in her baby book next to the photos of her picking them.

We made it! Forks is now officially home. And since apparently I'm a planning and moving genius we arrived right on time, 5 pm Friday. I've got the Winne parked on the street since it's too long for my drive way. There were no signs indicating parking on the street was a no-go, so I'm just hoping the neighbors don't mind.

The kept the mini-fridge stocked the whole way here, but I didn't buy groceries yesterday so it's kind of slim pickings tonight for dinner.

"Alice, what do you think about Noodles and Green Beans for dinner?" Her blue eyes always light up at the mention of Green Beans. So, microwaved Chef Boyardee Lasagna and canned green beans are on the menu tonight. After our semi-nutritious meal of prepared pasta and vegetables, about a billion books, and a litter box change we're ready to settle in for the night. I'm especially looking forward to setting up my fancy new litter box. It connects to the water line by the washing machine and cleans the litter after cat visits. The pee and poop just wash down the water line. It's going to be such a treat to never have to scoop again. Since I'd found out I was expecting again I've just been dumping the whole litter box every other day instead of scooping – while road-tripping I've dumped it everyday. I'm pretty sure I've already been exposed to toxoplasmosis, but I didn't want to risk it. I guess I could have gotten the blood test done or had Vermont tested to see if he's carrying those nasty little amoebas but I never did. James was never any help with Vermont when I was pregnant with Alice so at least this time I won't spend a fortune in cat litter with having to dump the whole box all the time.

Hopefully the movers get here early tomorrow. The realtor said she'd be by around 8 am with the key. I guess her usual routine is to leave the key under the mat or above the door frame, but I didn't want to risk anything since I'm on my own now. I'm not nervous about living alone, but it seemed like a bad idea to leave a key out. She assured me the town was very safe and all the neighbors look out for one another here, but I still wasn't convinced. I've got James' hunting rifle in the back of the Rover just in case but, it's locked in the soft-sided gun case and I'm pretty sure the key is in my jewelry box under a pile of luggage. So really the gun isn't doing me any good, but I feel marginally better about our safety just knowing that I do indeed own a weapon.

I locked the door but left the Winnebago running so that we'd have air-conditioning and snuggled in with Alice on the full size bed in the back. She's so tall now, just like her dad. The pack and play was fine for naps, but she got too cramped up in there and wasn't sleeping through the night in the pack and play so she's been sleeping with me in the big bed every night. Thankfully the bed was all the way in the back against the wall so the set up made it kind of awesome. Alice on the inside, me on the outside.

After being on the road so long it felt insanely good to go to sleep knowing that there was no more driving to be done. I fell asleep thinking about paint colors and curtains and where to put my books.

BAM BAM BAM

What a horrible way to wake up. What time is it? phone, phone, phone, FIVE IN THE FRICKAFRACK MORNING?

I wanted to get up in a huff, but somehow Alice had stayed asleep while Mr. Rooster outside banged on the side of the Winnebago. I got up slowly so that the bed didn't move too much, made a pillow fortress around Alice so she wouldn't fall off the open side of the bed. I put my big cardigan over my nightgown and unlocked the door.

"Who in frickafrack do you think you are for Pete's Business? You can't bang on someone's door like that in the middle of the night, um, this early in the morning" I felt myself losing steam. It's hard to keep your anger momentum when forced to whisper scream anyway. Finally I looked up. "Uh um uh" I'm so impressed with myself. Truly, I must possess a brilliant linguistic mind. Standing in front of me is the most furious looking handsome man with his knocking hand still raised like he's about to bang on the damn door again. Now we're both just giving each other our best goldfish impressions.

"Lady, you can't be parked here. Someone's moving in today. You need to move your RV because they'll be here soon and I'm pretty sure the family that's moving in is coming from a long ways out and they'll have a lot of stuff. Truck loads probably. Movers," now he's running out of steam.

Oh my goodness. This rude man is apparently actually a gentleman, and he's trying to look out for us by waking me up at this unholy hour!

"Thanks for the info," I smile in reply. I was just about to launch into my introduction, but now he's starting up again about how I need to move and he wouldn't mind if I parked my RV in front of his house across the street but that I'll need to be sure to leave enough room for the movers to swing wide and on and on he goes. I wonder why he just keeps rambling. Am I making him nervous? Maybe he peeked into the Rover and saw the gun? Do I have a boob out or something? What is this man's problem?

Figuring the only way to make him stop is to interrupt, I step down out of the Winnebago's doorway. He immediately backs up since I'm completely crowding his personal space. Now that there's a bit a room between us I shove my hand out in greeting.

"I'm your new neighbor, Bella. I am the family moving in today. Me and my daughter camped our way crosscountry in this RV. The movers are showing up today. Later today. Like after sunrise." I can't help but chuckle a little after I finish because now that we're done shaking hands he's giving me the "um um um" treatment that I gave him a couple minutes ago.

"Sorry about the RV, I know it looks weird. The realtor is bringing us the keys this morning." I tend to fill the silence during awkward moments. I'm not really much of a talker most of the time, but for some reason when I feel uncomfortable during prolonged pauses I start gabbering. Why hasn't he spoken yet?

"My name's Edward. I'm your neighbor. Sorry."

Just when I thought we were getting things on track, he turned around and walked across the street, up his front steps and straight inside his house without a backward glance.

I guess I'll have to look outside of my new neighborhood to make friends.