Phase 1 of the cross-country odyssey is complete - we made it to Madison unscathed, and got a lovely taste of traffic on the Kennedy/Jane Addams as a parting gift. Awww, you shouldn't have. Really, you shouldn't have.

Bunsen is slowly adapting to the idea of the move, but I've now heard the poor guy get into vocalizations I didn't even know he was capable of - he's got this bizarre yowl/yodel combo that sounds like someone's trying to remove his toenails with pliers. He had rather a substantial spazz when he got let out of his crate after the movers left and discovered the apartment was empty, and ever since he's been rather unwilling to let us out of his sight. Poor pumpkin.

And can I just say that the burliest of our movers is probably among the more impressive sights I've seen recently? I'm not normally one to be awed by feats of physical strength, but DANG! I didn't know that it's possible for one person to carry our recliner strapped to his back. Or the three-high stack of boxes, with the top one containing a chest of silver flatware. Dude is not messing around, and I have a distinct feeling I'm going to wish he was there at the other end of this trip.