Moving On

I started writing this post a week ago. I thought it would be a slam dunk. It would practically write itself, because I've made this trip on one level or another so many, many........., many times in the last several years. 

But I got busy, like crazy busy, starting a new job, unloading all our stuff into 2 new storage units, assembling  my leadman kit and figuring out how to get my new business up and running and profitable,(what is my new business again, anyway) and oh yeah we found a new apartment and are moving in a couple of weeks; have to get it done before we head off to our NYC winter vacation. 

With that said.....

A blog made up of lots of pics from the road, Facebook updates and some narrative to tie together this madcap race across the country.

I will not miss LA traffic. 
It took me hours on Thursday night to get out of LA. 

I was beyond tired and by the time I broke free, I knew it would be dangerous to try to push on to where I had hoped to get to that night. 

Jon Danniells
November 5 at 8:02pm · Pasadena, CA · Goodbye L.A. it's been real, a 45 year love hate relationship. Don't know when I'll see you again; looking at you in my rearview mirror oh City of Angels

Jon Danniells
November 5 at 9:05pm · San Dimas, CA · I am still in "LA" traffic


Jon Danniells
November 5 at 9:19pm · Upland, CA · 

Just hit San Bernadino, still in traffic

It's hard to see from the picture below, but for around 3 hours I was in stop an go traffic, quite stressful after three days of truck-loading and knowing I had 2200 miles of road in front of me and starting a new job on Monday.

​Yikes!!!!!



​

Route 66 Detour

I decided to get off the interstate and check out the old road, Route 66. Once I realized how long this side trip to nostalgia was going to cost me time wise and how few points of interest I'd actually see or experience, I u-turned it and hoped back on the interstate. The 66 historic loop through Kingman was worth the detour though. 

Jon Danniells at Black Cat Bar.
November 6 at 4:35pm · A quick break from the road
​
Jon Danniells at Roadkill Cafe Route 66.
November 6 at 4:48pm · 

Because the Black Cat Bar didn't have any thing but chips to eat

Jon Danniells added 2 new photos — at American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.
November 7 at 3:57pm · Half-way home, so I decided to check it out; 1100 miles left to go

Jon Danniells at Texas/Oklahoma State Line.
November 7 at 5:40pm · 

One state closer to home

Jon Danniells at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Van Buren/ Ft Smith, AR Area.
November 8 at 12:42am · 

New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and into Arkansas, 780 miles; today was a very long day of driving

Jon Danniells added 2 new photos — at Arkansas & Oklahoma State Line (I-40).
November 8 at 7:55am · 

Up and off early, last leg 670 miles to go

Jon Danniells
November 8 at 8:46am · Clarksville, AR · 

I'll be traveling through 5 states today; guess which ones

Jon Danniells at Tennessee / Mississippi Border.
November 8 at 12:57pm · 

Didn't spend that long in Tennessee

Jon Danniells
November 8 at 1:42pm · Myrtle, MS · 

I'm officially quite ready for this road trip to be over and done; only 3 states and 300 miles left. And I start a new job tomorrow. Yikes

Jon Danniells at Alabama State Line.
November 8 at 2:56pm · 

Alabama, you're the last state between me and home

Jon Danniells
November 8 at 7:13pm · Waco, GA · 

Finally back in Georgia

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

We short sold our Milagro abode around 5 years ago. We sold and gave away lots and lots of stuff. We had done the "purge" years before when we sold our Venice house and bought a place up in Oregon and moved up there after 911 only to return to LA within a couple years, because of work; because of the film business.

This time around we left the lion's share of our stuff in LA while we figured out where we would land, because of work; because of the film business.
We wandered around the country for a couple of years and finally signed a lease on an apartment in Atlanta. That year, Cindy and I were together at the same time in aforementioned Georgia residence for a total of 8 weeks. 

We were other places together; the West Coast and New Orleans, etc. But in our new "home" it only added up to around 8 weeks. 

That was a tough year for us. So we doubled down and committed to working in Atlanta, turning down numerous jobs in Louisiana as well as the other LA and various locations around the country.

Last Monday, I flew out to Los Angeles to pack up the 20' x 20' storage unit we have maintained for the last 5 years and loaded it onto a 26' Penske box truck, thus severing the last physical ties we had in LA. 

My family moved me to LA from Las Vegas when I was 2 years old, some 46 years ago. 

I have been aching to leave LA since I was probably 16 years old. Two failed attempts at making it in New York City and then a successful career in the film business has kept me there for over 30 years. I have countless memories good and bad in that City of Angels. 

I will always be an Angeleno. 

I'm a Laker fan for life. I have been since Magic Johnson's "Showtime" era. And I will continue to be, in spite of the last few dismal years. 

I may end up moving back to Los Angeles but I highly doubt it. 

I know I will return there, but I don't think it will ever be my home again. 

Just Another Manic Monday

I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my fun day
It's just another manic Monday, 

and manic Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.....

on a manic road trip Friday, Saturday, Sunday
wasn't my fun day
But it was definitely another manic Monday

Start a new job, after driving cross the country, on Monday
Unloading a truck on a manic Tuesday, 
Saying good-bye to the empty Penske on a manic Wednesday
Hanging out with LA friends after work on a manic Thursday
Writing this blog in the early am manic Friday

​Looking forward to sleeping in on a not manic Saturday.......

A little poem inspired by the LA pop band of the '80's, the Bangles .    

I wrote it sometime last week and as I type away at 5:30 am on Saturday morn, I realize that sadly that last line won't be happening, at least on this weekend.  Maybe Sunday, it would be more in keeping with the song after all. 

Jon Danniells at Atlanta International Airport, Georgia.
November 2 at 2:14pm · I have become a master at getting through security, slip off shoes, no belt nothing to distract; from where they check my boarding pass and ID to when I get through screening and having my shoes back on; under 2 minutes; today less than 90 seconds

Monday was actually relativly eventless after a morning packing frenzy. Then it consisted of a day of air travel and then settling into bed at our "Home Away from Home", the Jolly Roger, a wonderful old-school motel on the edge of Venice.

Starting Things off Right

I am currently signed up for a couple of marathons with my eye on getting a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. One of the reasons I chose to stay at the Jolly Roger was that it is right down the street from the "course" I started training for my first marathon ever, almost 30 years ago. 

Then it was off to pick-up my new ride for the next week, a good-ol' 26' Penske moving truck. And then to get some moving supplies from New Haven Moving Supplies which was fortunately just a few minutes away from our dreadful storage facility. 

Pandora's Box

I had been imagining, planning and dreading this move for a few years now. There were no big surprises. It was what it was. A collection of our "stuff" gathered over the course of two, actually three lifetimes.  There was not so much furniture, but there was more art than I remembered, lots of boxes of books and lots and lots of boxes with everything you can imagine packed away. 


​Jon Danniells
November 3 at 6:27pm · Los Angeles, CA · First row of shelving and boxes done, now onto next shelf and around 50- 60 boxes of books, gonna be sore tomorrow


The next couple of days would consist of me of me "tetrising", a set-dressing term for strategically packing a truck.

I wasn't sure if it was all going to fit or if I'd end up having lots of extra cargo room. 

I also would have to deal with the detritus  of the rat invasion that happened a couple of years ago. That was some nasty and gross stuff.  

I somehow managed to move almost all of it by myself. 

The one piece that I had been concerned about moving was our gigantic 10' x 4' teak table which was standing and strapped to a wall in the far rear of the unit. Luckily my good buddy, Charles Randolph,whose house I had just stayed at the night before, happened to show up at the storage site, picking stuff up for the show he was working on. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.  I had emptied and then packed onto the truck enough stuff to get to the table and I was in place in the packing of the truck where I could load the table. 

And just like that the table found it's way onto the truck, getting ready to find a home in Atlanta. 

My Trifecta Meet-ups, The Silver Lining of the LA Extraction

I tried to limit my social engagements because I knew how much work the load-in was going to take and how pressed for time I would be once I hit the road. I had originally planed on leaving Thursday night after the Set Decorator Society General Membership Meeting, which would have been a blast, but I couldn't afford the extra hours and energy it would have required. 

I did manage to see and hang out with 3 different friends, 2 of whom were part of my early, early Venice days back in the late '80's and early '90's. Seeing them was amazing and helped buoy my spirits along. 

Packing and moving is always tough. Doing it by oneself with as much stuff as we'd acquired and from a place where I've resided since I was 3 is even tougher. 

But I did manage to fit it all in and still have room for two pallets of stuff that was going back to GA Prop Source, a new prop-house back in Atlanta. 

And hit the road several hours before I had planned on leaving. 

Some very random parting shots....