Return To Florida After Driving Cross Country In Historic Winter Storm - Why I Decided To Keep Going
The End of Winter 2021 Cross Country Road Trip
Transcript
0:02
welcome everyone out of the woo here
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today's adventure
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is in celebration florida my east coast
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home there's a van going by there was a
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time in my life that
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for a few years that i slumbered every
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evening
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and lived out of a van very similar to
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that one
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it was a ford e150 i don't believe that
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is
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that now currently i have two very
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humble accommodations not a hole not a
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whole heck of a lot of space in either
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one of them but on the west coast and
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the east coast
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and i'm paying basically the same amount
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of money
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as i was when i lived in hollywood
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california
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which kind of blows my mind a little bit
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when they do the math on it
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for one apartment then i am paying to
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live in orange county
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california and celebration florida
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but it happened and i got a lot of
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things settled
1:00
here before i went to socal
1:04
and got everything dialed in downsized
1:07
went from a bigger place to a smaller
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place all that
1:10
is all completed and finished and i am
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very
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very happy that that has transpired
1:17
and now that when i arrived back in town
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late last evening well not too late but
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into the evening after
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sundown came down the turnpike wells
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across i-10
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for the last five or six days
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give or take and when i left when i
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departed
1:34
from california i had no idea what i was
1:37
getting myself anyway
1:39
to ramble a little bit i'm inviting you
1:41
to join me and listen
1:43
about my my experience in this last week
1:47
let me get a coffee first shall you
1:50
current temperature is in the high
1:51
70s and i believe it's going to rain a
1:53
little bit later
1:55
as of right now the storm clouds are
1:58
starting to formulate i know
1:59
all about storm clouds right now it
2:02
doesn't appear to be
2:03
too bad as i stand underneath this limb
2:07
looking down upon market street which is
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kind of like reminds me of main street
2:11
usa
2:11
disney disney world had a big hand
2:15
in the construction of this town
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the city of celebration and it has that
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vibe they they no longer are part of it
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but they did they really had
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the whole reason it exists is because of
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disney you call it a disney
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town in a lot of ways it reminds me of
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the truman show oh they are
2:37
at the paper man right there going by
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they just threw something out of that
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little golf cart i think it might be the
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the paper guy i think it's a paper guy
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or they're doing something they're going
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to throw something out nope they're just
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throwing wires
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but maybe it was the paper man
2:54
but nonetheless i am back there is no
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snow on the ground
2:55
i am not cold i do not need to stomp my
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feet i'm wearing shorts
3:01
and that makes me very content now over
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here is a starbucks which i have there's
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a few places
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around the area down at the end down
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there is a
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deli and not a diner but a deli that has
3:14
certain items and they have coffee
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there's a couple other coffee
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establishments but the one i probably
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frequent the most is
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over here on this corner the starbucks
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there's none of the scooters out today i
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was gonna
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rip one of the newt scooters and do a
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little
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ride and talk but i said i'll do like a
3:30
walk and talk oh my gosh there's a
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there's like an old school bug up here
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volkswagen
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here's like a map here of the terrain
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i've showed a lot of this before but it
3:40
is good to be back
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the last time i was here was just after
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new year's and at that time frame they
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still had the
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the holiday train was out the christmas
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tree
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was on market street they had just taken
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that down before i went back to
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the oc in california that's awesome
4:00
right
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over on the corner of bloom and french
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street
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see what kind of piping hot caffeinated
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beverage i can procure
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you know it's kind of funny i'll
4:13
whenever i go in to order a coffee at
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pretty much any coffee place i will
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always still ask what my name is and
4:20
i'll say adam and then i say 80 a.m
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so i'll say adam adam and sometimes
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people will say why do you why do you do
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that
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well the reason is sometimes i didn't do
4:30
it this time
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and ended up becoming gavin
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and i got a large pistachio
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because adam mcgavin kind of sounds kind
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of similar
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i'm not gavin i mean there's a lizard
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down up it just disappeared there was a
4:50
lizard down there was hoping i could
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show that show that lizard
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oh yeah there are the pylons the spires
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over there of the
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celebration movie theater that is not
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quite operational there is an
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interesting backstory on that since i've
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since i originally started residing here
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a few months ago even though i haven't
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really been here
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i heard some some stories about why that
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is not open
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and some say it is because
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there is another competitor down the way
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that is paying to rent that and to not
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have it open i don't know if that's true
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or not i also
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need to consume this
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all right take a walk over this way and
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then kind of start
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sipping on this beverage as well you
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know i think i could also walk over here
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and show
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at the fountain where there's a southern
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california marking
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kind of from the general area i was just
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at not precisely
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orange county but burbank you know not
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too far 30 miles away give or take i
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don't think that mileage is correct
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though i think it's more of a 2500 mile
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drive maybe as the bird flies it's 21
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97 but nonetheless still over a couple
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thousand miles that i took
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through the frozen tundra to see in
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recent days
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none of this would be happening this
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fountain would not be be
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able to even be unfrozen it would be
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frozen solid or wouldn't you be on
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there was a time many many years ago
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that i was
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charged by one there's two of them now
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but i was charged by one of these
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these geese here do not don't come after
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me
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just keep on pecking looking for a
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little food there
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in the grass hello yeah it is good to be
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back thank you
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thank you for saying hello and welcoming
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me back to the
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the neighborhood into my my homestead
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here in celebration yeah that's right i
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have i have a place on both coasts now
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california and
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florida almost forgot where i was from i
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thought i was still
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still slipping and sliding on the ice
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through texas
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oh man that is an experience i will
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never
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forget ever truth be told i had
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no idea what i was getting myself into
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now i had well
7:17
i did have some idea about how weather
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conditions are in fact it was
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a year ago give or take a day that i
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took a road trip
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with my friend cody he came out flew out
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to california and then we did
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a journey and on that journey did a lot
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of spots
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kind of dip down the 10 up to the 40
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went into oklahoma
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arkansas even went down to new orleans
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and went to mardi gras
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my first mardi gras and that was kind of
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before this whole situation
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the the current what's going on was
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taking place it was just a couple weeks
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before
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all that news broke and it was kind of
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cold up on the 40 into the
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the midwest sections of
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you know texas through amarillo but it
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wasn't like
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it wasn't like super icy and super snowy
8:06
there was a little snow but there was no
8:08
like
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really slick patches on the road and i
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thought heck it going
8:13
going towards the south area to a to a
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section that's going to be across i-10
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could nowhere near be as nearly as bad
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as that and oh how i was
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sorely mistaken i set out with the
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intent on getting back to florida
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to at least you know utilize
8:34
and have fun out here for the next
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couple months
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until it gets too unbearably hot during
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the summer and then back to california
8:41
that's the whole plan
8:43
be here during the cooler months and
8:46
then back and forth sometimes i'll fly
8:47
back and forth or do road trips back and
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forth but for the majority of the time
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it'll be
8:52
summertime i will be in california or on
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the road
8:55
and winter time-ish i will be here
9:00
in florida that's kind of the game plan
9:03
they had come up with so
9:04
after i got everything kind of figured
9:06
out there downsized
9:08
i said let's just hit the road i'm going
9:09
to hit the road heck it
9:11
i'm getting in my car took my own
9:13
personal vehicle did not rent one
9:15
like i usually do i usually do and
9:19
alone by myself and my thoughts and
9:24
my vehicle that was not equipped and
9:27
ready
9:37
and what an experience i was i loved
9:37
documenting
9:38
seeing roadside attractions wacky items
9:41
off of thoroughfares back roads i was
9:44
going to take
9:45
a few back roads and then i thought
9:46
let's just let's make some time
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not do the back row thing let's get on
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the interstate and that was the wisest
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decision i made the first day it was a
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little cool weather
9:58
i all i had was my hoodie i did not
10:00
bring an appropriate
10:02
heavy jacket gloves
10:05
snow tires i thought i'd be fine and
10:07
then right when i got to the
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before i got to the texas state line i
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got a hotel the night before and i was
10:12
checking the weather
10:13
i believe it was in fort stockton which
10:15
would be a few hours up
10:17
for stockton texas and i said this
10:19
weather app cannot be right
10:22
there's no way it's going to be this
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cold this these kind of conditions so i
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looked up
10:26
another town in texas blizzard like
10:29
conditions the worst for that corridor
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of texas in over a century
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so i thought should i just should i just
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go back
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look at this dog right here see i needed
10:42
a furry coat
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like that dog and i would have been fine
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i thought to myself should i just go
10:47
back should i turn around
10:49
and i i considered it in fact i talked
10:52
it over with
10:53
some family members some close friends
10:56
and i even said i'm gonna go back to
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california i'm not going to do this
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and then when i get to california
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probably sell my car
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because i didn't want to have my car out
11:07
in california it was a downsizing
11:09
it'd be better just to have a rental car
11:10
there occasionally than to
11:14
and to have my own personal vehicles i
11:16
didn't know what to do and then i got up
11:17
the next morning and
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decided you know what i'm driving it
11:21
looking back it might not have been the
11:23
smartest
11:24
decision i ever made consider myself
11:26
very lucky that nothing went
11:28
tragically wrong but i handled it like
11:33
i handled it like a pro a champ
11:37
if you will and i'm back here now
11:43
i had some ideas of things i was gonna
11:45
to do and some places i was gonna stop
11:48
and certain things i was gonna show
11:50
i did not do that the series basically
11:54
more or less became
11:57
about the snow and the ice that's all i
12:00
could do is to stay on the interstate in
12:02
the freeway
12:03
it was just it was the worst
12:07
situation to get onto any roads even to
12:10
get to a hotel to get off and get gas
12:12
any exit was absolutely
12:15
horrifying so i just try to stay on the
12:19
interstate
12:25
slow and steady i didn't win a race but
12:25
stayed the course and thankful to be
12:29
be back decided to wear my my shark
12:33
my shark tee today
12:36
yeah also i don't i get cold
12:39
but i like the cold i prefer it now what
12:43
really the thing i did not like was the
12:45
the slick ice and the snow
12:47
and the the coldness of that like
12:49
seeping through the seat the
12:50
seats but the shoes my shoes when i was
12:52
walking up i spent most the time
12:55
in my car so it wasn't too bad i had the
12:58
hoodie
12:59
it actually was pretty comfortable i
13:00
like cold weather i just do not like
13:02
cold weather conditions on the road that
13:05
was the problem
13:06
the elements didn't really bother me too
13:08
much
13:19
of the weather so it's not like i needed
13:19
gloves and if i did like
13:20
layer up i think the terminology is
13:24
if that would have happened i would have
13:26
been unlayering up
13:28
on more occasions than than being
13:32
layered up
13:33
so it's easier just to be in the car get
13:35
out film what i need to film
13:37
carry on and just kind of have the light
13:39
hoodie on
13:40
and that served me well it did it did it
13:43
it did its purpose
13:45
what i am what i do i don't say regret
13:48
but the one thing i wish i had planned
13:50
out
13:50
a little bit better was to put something
13:52
weighted down
13:54
in the backs in the back seat of my car
13:57
so i wouldn't have been sliding
13:59
as much had better non-summer
14:02
winter type tires the problem with texas
14:06
and the reason that there is
14:07
it is not a good scene right there now
14:10
it is
14:11
kind of warming up a little bit i was
14:14
told there's another
14:14
storm coming in there were two different
14:16
storms but let's just
14:19
cross our fingers that all that has
14:21
passed and
14:23
things develop and get a little bit
14:25
better out there because it was
14:28
it wasn't a good time and a lot of
14:31
people were out of power
14:32
i was lucky enough now i did i stayed in
14:36
a couple hotels that had no water
14:37
that made not for an interesting time
14:39
when it came to the facilities
14:42
and also not being at a shower all that
14:44
is really unimportant in the grand
14:45
scheme of things
14:47
a lot of gas stations were out i almost
14:49
ran out of gas once
14:51
it was very dramatic and then i realized
14:54
any time even if i have three quarters
14:55
of a tank
14:56
if i see an open gas station with fuel
14:59
top it off fuel it up
15:02
that's what i did so next time which
15:05
there won't be a next time driving in
15:07
that mess if there is
15:08
i'll have a more equipped
15:12
scenario and vehicle than i did that
15:16
is for sure
15:22
i'm so glad to be here i'm so glad to be
15:22
sweating it is humid
15:24
it's not hot but it is definitely humid
15:27
started a little bit of sweat starting
15:29
to formulate
15:30
a vast 180
15:38
180 from what i was just now the reason
15:38
i kept go oh oh oh
15:40
hi hey hi what is that what is it get
15:43
off me yeah
15:45
yeah yeah that was an ant
15:55
now the reason i did not stop
15:55
stay in a hotel for a couple of days
15:58
just to be on the safe side
16:00
is not only the fact that i am
16:03
the most stubborn person on planet earth
16:10
take that into account but more than
16:15
is because there was no indication that
16:15
it was going to end
16:17
so staying one night stuck in a place
16:20
with no power
16:22
possibly no power no water
16:26
i might not have got out the next day or
16:27
the next day or even a couple of days
16:30
later
16:31
i thought you know what i'm a good
16:33
driver
16:34
i haven't had an accident in 20 years
16:38
i know how to handle the roads
16:41
i am a trucker i do not have that type
16:43
of over the road experience but i put
16:45
some miles
16:47
on the open road and i just took a
16:50
chance
16:52
and that's the reason
16:57
and when i have my sights set on
16:57
something if i have a mission
17:00
i usually follow through on it
17:05
but it might not have worked out it
17:06
could it could have could have ended
17:08
badly
17:09
as with anything we never know but the
17:11
day is going to be still we never know
17:14
what will happen we just have to to go
17:17
with our gut and
17:19
see what happens you can file this video
17:22
under the non-eventful non-exciting
17:27
non-nothing is happening it is a
17:31
thrilling non-thrilling look at this
17:34
there's a bird poking its head out here
17:37
it's now submerged where'd you go bird
17:48
it's gone the bird has dissipated itself
17:48
into the water i am perfectly content
17:53
with this being a a non-thrilling video
17:59
i am happy with that because
18:02
after what has happened
18:08
i need i need a day i need a day to
18:08
myself i need to run some errands
18:12
it's not the most exciting thing to be
18:13
filming so i'm not even gonna document
18:16
when i moved i don't know why i set my
18:17
coffee here
18:19
down here on that on that doggy pot i
18:22
was gonna have this idea the baby
18:23
put the camera down the tripod there
18:26
some cypress
18:27
knees here
18:35
what is the plan what am i even talking
18:35
about
18:36
i thought about not even doing a video
18:39
today
18:39
but i thought i just i needed to
18:41
announce that i am back and
18:43
give the reason on why i just kind of
18:45
kind of plowed through
18:53
texas as for now the rest of the day
18:54
got to do some shopping need a couple
18:57
end tables
18:58
a mirror some power strips some
19:01
groceries
19:03
i have a whole list very boring
19:12
responsibilities i didn't bring as much
19:12
furniture i didn't really bring any
19:13
furniture
19:18
from california the downsizing went a
19:18
little better than expected
19:21
so there's still some things i need to
19:23
to purchase here i do have a couch i do
19:25
have a bed
19:25
i have a few kitchen things that i
19:27
brought over some clothes
19:29
some personal items
19:34
but i need i need more i need to get
19:35
everything completely configured here
19:40
thanks for listening to me kind of
19:42
ramble
19:43
for a while i know this is very
19:45
uneventful
19:46
but as stated i need some uneventfulness
19:50
after this last week that i've been
19:53
given
19:53
being out there on the open road is as
19:56
inclement
19:57
weather-wise as it was it really did get
20:00
the the juices and the blood
20:02
flowing again to
20:05
to get back out and do more road trips
20:06
there will be a lot more road trips
20:08
obviously when the weather gets a little
20:09
bit better
20:10
a lot of the cross-country stuff
20:11
especially now that i have a place on
20:13
both coasts
20:13
will consist of a fly sometimes but
20:16
there will be a lot of
20:17
road trips a lot let me emphasize that
20:20
a lot of cross-country road trips some
20:23
stuff i will
20:24
have already done some stuff i will redo
20:26
some stuff i will go into areas that
20:27
i've never been
20:28
and a lot of small towns i want to do a
20:30
lot of small town stuff
20:32
as the future you know
20:35
presents itself while i'm here now i'll
20:37
be doing some florida history
20:39
obviously a few theme parks etc some
20:42
disney stuff
20:43
and just kind of whatever whatever i
20:46
feel like doing if i feel like doing a
20:47
video
20:48
i'll do a video and then do some
20:50
serieses
20:51
but a lot of road trips are gonna happen
20:53
filming locations
20:58
the future's gonna be good i'm happy to
20:58
be
20:59
a part of my own future that made no
21:02
sense
21:02
my new year's resolution was uh just do
21:05
what i wanted to do
21:06
to not really totally have to
21:10
give a detailed explanation or reasoning
21:12
on
21:13
why i do things but i just wanted to to
21:15
share
21:17
well the fact that i was back more
21:18
importantly just the fact that i was
21:19
back here and i made it and
21:21
safe and sound put that into the
21:24
universe
21:25
that sign's not spending the bohemian
21:27
celebration hotel sign is not
21:29
spinning around right there wonder why i
21:31
am in a unique position with
21:34
my channel my life
21:37
that when the mood hits me i can just
21:41
do whatever and document whatever i want
21:44
and i realize i am
21:46
it's kind of a rarity with being able to
21:49
do that and
21:50
something that you know by my own accord
21:52
i always wanted to
21:54
to create so that will continue i
21:57
always always mix things up some stuff
22:01
not everyone will be their cup of tea
22:04
but maybe it is maybe everything is
22:07
some people's cup of tea i know it's
22:10
mine
22:17
it is mine we got some lily pads
22:17
down here there's no frogs on the lily
22:20
pads
22:22
but there is a little flower blossoming
22:24
out the top of it
22:26
that's gonna do it for today if you're
22:28
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22:34
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22:40
and are looking forward to more of what
22:43
i will be
22:44
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thumbs up it lets me know you care i'll
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see the next video the vlog
22:56
where you at frogs where my frogs at
22:56
vlog is over