Monday Sept 8th 2008
And so begins the 'epic' road trip of Xomba founder Nick Veneris and his girlfriend as they travel from Jacksonville, Florida to San Francisco, California.

We woke up at 5:15am this morning (a time I haven't seen for quite awhile).

We were pretty much packed and had already loaded the car with some stuff the night before. It was just a matter of waking up and preparing the apartment to be uninhabited for several weeks. Unplugging all the electronics was first on the list. After checking news, looking at Hurricane Ike and scarfing down some breakfast we were off.

We left the apartment at 6:40am heading toward I-10 which intersects I-95 in Jacksonville.

We are being navigated by my father's GPS. We call it "Mother" not because it sounds like mom, but because it sounds like the computer system (named Mother) in the movie Alien. We actually talk to it like the crew did. Watch the original Alien movie and you will see what I am talking about.

After a quick trip to Starbuck's we get on the interstate. The sun hadn't even risen yet, I can't believe we made it out so early.

The trip is pretty uneventful with the only funny sign being
"Dirty Dick's Crab House". By the time we stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel (which is this southern chain restaurant) our car was covered in squashed bugs.

The Toyota Camry is doing nice on gas. Getting an average of 30 miles to the gallon.

We rolled into our hotel at Jackson, Mississippi at 4:00 EST.

Our heads kept repeating the lines:

"We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout,

We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out.

I'm goin' to Jackson, I'm gonna mess around,

Yeah, I'm goin' to Jackson,
Look out Jackson town."
-John Cash and June Carter

I have no idea what the hell Cash was talking about. Jackson is pretty small and there doesn't seem much to do, but after riding through Alabama we were happy to see civilization again. The landscape is beautiful though.

We're now in the Central time zone and this is the farthest west I have ever been. We ate dinner at Olive Garden (Soup and Salad) and walked around Target just to stretch. Crashed at the Hotel pretty early and booked our hotel in Abilene, TX tomorrow night. Waking up early for a 9 hour drive. That means we'll be in Roswell, NM, our first actual destination, by Wednesday. Woohoo. Can't wait.

I'll let you guys know all about Texas tomorrow.