Christmas was boring. New Year's was boring. Life was boring. Other than cooking and knitting.

And soap. I'd meant to blog about Two Palms for ages. I've mentioned before that I'm a big, big fan of handmade soaps. I don't really have the time and inclination to learn how to make it myself right now, but I'm more than happy to pay the premium for what it does to our skin (and my hair), and for how lovely it makes something simple like taking a bath. I'd been buying my soaps online and at fairs/markets, but how much more local can I get than my own town? The proprietor is always friendly and they have a huge variety of products, including cool little soap rocks, and one of my favorite things in the world -- sea salts. I love the way the feel when they hit my skin and dissolve.

About the boring thing? I am so not complaining. But we got our fill of unboring this past week. For Shawn's birthday I gave him a quarter. And two maps. One a weather map, one a map of the southeast. He had to puzzle out what they meant, and then pick -- a random road trip, or a trip north until we hit snow. So, on top of a new cell phone, some books, and tickets to the FX toy show, he got the random road trip.

We left here Saturday morning for the con, spent the day there. I spent much of it (the drive, and the show) working on a sock. It was mostly sci-fi, and well... that's just not my thing. We did "meet" Nathan Fillion. Shawn first, while I was elsewhere knitting, and got a strange look from him as he passed (possibly intended for the friend he was with who was in a Ghostbusters costume), then both of us when Shawn decided to get an autograph. His lines were the longest, and he looked very tired, to me at least. While I was waiting for Shawn to pick me up (The OCCC is huge and I swear we walked over a mile to get from parking to the show), Nicholas Brendan and Elisabeth Röhm walked out the door and walked by, him lighting up a cigarette and her giving me a strange look. I was working on a very ugly sock (these things happen when you order yarn online...), so that didn't surprise me. I just smiled at her and went back to knitting until I saw Shawn pull up.

From there we headed a couple miles north and got Shawn's much-missed (though I boggle cause, really - ick) Fuddruckers, which are all over Texas and very few and far between in Florida. Then I got to go to the newish Orlando IKEA. I was in heaven. A very, very tired heaven, but still. My favorite store in the mall when I was little was a furniture store with model rooms set up that was maze-like. I haven't grown up from that, really. We bought a ton of stuff that we really needed for $20 (I've been cooking on a frying pan without a handle for over a year, for instance). And probably would've grabbed more if we hadn't been short on time -- it took us almost two hours to look through all the models -- it's that big. When they open the one in Tampa - well, we are already in Tampa pretty often, but that will be another stop.

After that, it was all just whim and fancy. Shawn decided to stay on I-4. We saw the Daytona Speedway, and stood on the freezing cold beach, in a drizzle no less. My silly husband went and ran in and out of the water. I took in the sound of the waves. We made it to just past St. Augustine when we were too tired to go on, so hotel-searching we went. We had to go a couple of exits before we found one in our price range, so when we got in, we crashed pretty quickly.

In the morning we headed north, then flipped a coin between continuing north on I-95 or heading west on I-10. It landed west, so west we went. We spent a few hours in traffic in Tallahassee. Shawn got to see a little of FSU, a couple of my (closed) old haunts, and the Capitol building(s). The car overheated. Tallahassee is bad on cars. We gave it some water and it was fine. Unfortunately, it being Sunday, by the time we dealt with all that and started looking for food, everything I knew was decent off campus that wasn't closed down, was closed. So we headed back for I-10, and Shawn got Chinese and I found a bagel shop about to close. On west we went, getting to New Orleans around eight in the evening. We missed the parade, of course, but did walk about half of the French Quarter. Bourbon Street was beyond packed. I've actually never seen that many happy drunk people all in one place. There was no fighting at all. A lot of stumbling... and dancing. I much preferred the quieter, art-focused Royal Street, though. We drove around a bit looking for dinner, but didn't find anything open for food, but did somehow end up on the bridge from hell. Tiny lanes, no shoulder, very little guard rail, no light, and a long, long way down. That I could see. I'm not scared of heights, or bridges, and I've lived in West Virginia where every road is tiny, there are never lights, and there's always a drop or a mountainside beside you. But the combination of Shawn's exhaustion and fear, my own exhaustion, and not knowing how damaged the bridge was and so on just made it a really bad situation.

It was getting really, really late, and a hotel in New Orleans was out, so I drove back to the rest stop at the Mississippi border and we slept there. I got about an hour and a half. Shawn got about six hours. It was freezing. The next day we went to Baton Rouge, which I really, really enjoyed. We saw the Capitol building which is just stunning. Shawn got some local cuisine. We both got Jack in the Box (another Texas thing that isn't in Florida). It was just a really fun little trip and the city was very pretty and quiet and right on the river. We drove back through New Orleans, to see it in the daytime and check if there were any carnival happenings, but alas, no, so we went on, without looking much more as we knew it was a long way to the hotel we had picked out.

And then got our first real view of the aftermath. We'd driven into New Orleans after dark, and back out after dark, and to get to Baton Rouge we took I-12. Taking I-10 back to Mississippi, it's hard not to cry. There is just so much work still happening, but even worse, so many places where there was no work to be done. Roofs beside their houses, buildings so damaged there's no point in even boarding it up (or maybe there is just no one left to do so). Modern day ruins, without the emotional detachment of something that aged over time or was destroyed by force hundreds of years ago. Knowing that the same destruction would happen here were the conditions right doesn't make it any easier.

We waited until Florida to get dinner. There was a great Cracker Barrel either in or just outside Pensacola. I got chocolate coke cake for Shawn's birthday but forgot a candle. Still, I managed cake and ice cream! We got to Panama City, got a hotel for the night, and got up slowly. I finished my second sock in the car heading towards Apalachicola. We had decided to take 98 and 19 instead of 1-10 and I-75. 98 was lovely and scenic. 19 was unbearably boring. Also, 98 in Panama City had the best bagel shop I've ever encountered -- Bagel Makers. Fresh, soft bagels, even after toasting. Hand whipped and flavored cream cheese (even light cream cheese which I much prefer and never see in bagel shops). Bagel chips. Lots of different kinds of bagels. Exceptionally nice people (I wonder if panhandle Floridians are just very nice by nature -- everyone I encountered there was the same sort of wonderfully friendly). And just a heaven sort of yummy.

In Apalachicola, Shawn found the yarn shop I had planned on stopping at. It was lovely and I took forever picking out some souvenir yarn. The whole town was really interesting -- one of those fishing communities that is full of local shops. I'd love to go back eventually.

The rest of the trip was just driving, more or less. Then getting home. And trying to catch up.

All in all it was a whole lot of driving and laughing and music and love. I really enjoyed it. And I'm glad to be home. Shawn still has a few more days of vacation. I think today will just be resting, though. And tomorrow -- who knows?