Road Tales

While I'm still unpacking boxes, (yep... there's still tons of boxes to be unpacked) I thought I'd share some snapshots from the drive across the country and around the house. Once everything gets unpacked, I'll take some after shots of the house so you can see that I have real furniture and such. Ha!

When we set out to make the cross country trek, we decided to take the western route over the northern route. We figured it would be easier to cross that part of the country with a moving truck easier than it would be to cross huge mountains through Utah, Wyoming, etc. The drive through Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas wasn't bad at all. It wasn't until We began going through New Mexico and Arizona that it really started to heat up. When we hit the desert going into California, I thought we would die from the heat. We even had to stop because we were getting too hot. I truly learned what the term, "swamp ass"meant. My clothing was soaked in sweat. My pants, my shirt... drenched.

Now... with all that being said, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I drove across the United States. I got to see parts of the country that a lot of people never will. The sky was amazing during the day. The desert while hot was really breathtaking. We didn't have any bad weather and when we did, we had already stopped. It was definitely an interesting ride...

I also learned that Texas really does love steak. When we stopped at the Big Texas Steakhouse in Amarillo, they were offering anyone who could eat this 72oz steak and it's sides in under an hour the meal for free! I didn't even tempt that one...

I couldn't even eat that thing in a week! How about you? 

Alive & Well: The Move to California!

Knock knock! Look who's back! 

I've finally got internet now so I can post an update. The last time I posted I was leaving Huntington, West Virginia and heading west to Sacramento, California. I can tell you that we made it without any problems. 

On Friday, August 17th we loaded up the truck. We had reserved a 12 foot Penske truck and let me tell you, we used every single inch of space in that truck.The day started out really good. We were getting the truck loaded pretty quickly, securing everything down and trying to make sure that we had room for everything. We knew that the amount of space was going to be tight for everything that we were hoping to load. As the time went on, it started to rain as we were loading. Thank goodness the rain stopped after about 30 minutes. We couldn't get in some bookshelves, night stand and one other piece of furniture but I think we did pretty well for the amount of space that we had. 

 

The next morning, Saturday, August 18th we hit the road at 9:30am. When I say, "we" I mean my mom's boyfriend Shayne and I.

The first day our goal was to make it to Springfield, Missouri. I drove my car while Shayne drove the truck. We drove for around 11 hours and made it to Springfield. I was emotionally and physically exhausted because I had said goodbye to people that I loved and had been in the car for so long. 

The second day we were shooting for Amarillo, Texas. We made it in good time and we were able to have a little fun for dinner. We hit up the Big Texas Steakhouse. If you're ever in Amarillo, I recommend this place. It was a lot of fun and affordable. The food was really good too. 

The third day we made it to Flagstaff, Arizona. By this point I had acquired a sore throat. I don't know if it was from being in so many different climates so fast, the freezing hotel rooms or just being run down but I definitely caught a sore throat/head cold. 

The fourth day we made it all the way through the desert and spent the night in Bakersfield, California. I had never been so happy to make it to a hotel. The desert is NO joke people. It's hot, hot and hot! We had to stop multiple times because we were so hot. The stopping points are also really spread out from Flagstaff to Bakersfield so when you see a gas station... STOP! You might not find one again for quite a few miles. 

On the fifth day of driving Wednesday, August 22nd we finally made it to the house! We were hot, tired and still had a lot to do. My realtor Kim met us with the key and we got started on unloading the truck. 

More on the house and unpacking tomorrow! 

So Long, Farewell

Tomorrow is the day!

15 months after requesting a transfer, I am packed up. The truck is loaded with all of my worldly possessions and we are hitting the road. The drive to my new home of Sacramento will be 2,583 miles.

We've decided to break the drive into five days. We haven't set all of the stops in stone because basically we'll be seeing how we feel each day and how much longer we can stand to be on the road and in the car. I know we're shooting for St. Louis, Missouri for that first night. That's around 8-9 hours of driving and with a truck and car that's a lot of driving. 

Some people may ask, why not take the northern route? Well from what I've heard from a few people who've driven across the country before, with a truck it can be slow going once you hit the mountains. The northern route also makes me wonder about the frequency of gas stations. Want to know how many miles to the gallon the moving truck gets? Oh that would be a whopping 8-10 miles. No wonder the price of everything is rising! It's the truck gas we're all paying for now. So the southern route it is then! 

During this drive, I wish for 3 things...

1. I wish for us to get there safely and without any incidents of sickness or thefts. 

2. I wish for mental piece. I hope to feel 100% confident in the choices that are being made. I'm really close to 100% but with such big life changes, I assume there's always that little bit of doubt that creeps inside.

3. To see some of the USA and make a memory that will last forever. 

Catch all of you on the flip side! West Coast Bound!!