With the big move across the country, we decided not to move ourselves. Some people thought we were crazy to spend the money, but this is what saved our sanity. We de-junk with every move (I took 6 donation trips to Goodwill), but we still seem to have a lot of stuff! Had we moved ourselves we would have needed two U-Haul trucks, plus drive a car and a van across the country. No thank you! We got bids from a few companies and chose the best one.
We also had a company haul David's car across the country too. The boys thought it was pretty fun watching it get loaded.
Three weeks ago we had people in our home packing up all of our stuff. We packed a lot of boxes ourselves before they came. The more we packed, the less we had to pay, or so we were told. It turns out that the guy who came to our home to give his estimate was off by quite a few boxes. Each extra box held a high price tag. They said it would be much cheaper if we bought the last 20 boxes and packed them ourselves. So, we headed to Home Depot for boxes and were up until midnight that night finishing up, but was probably worth it in the end.
They were back the following morning with an 18-wheeler. They loaded it up and off they went.
Our good friends, Sarah and Ted, invited us over for dinner this night since we had nothing at our house (they also let us borrow their blow-up bed to sleep on that night). It was great to visit with them one last time before leaving. Sarah asked me if I had cried yet. I told her no, but was sure it was coming. It did come that evening when all the kids were in bed and we were sitting in our empty house. :(
Here is a cute picture David took that night of the kids watching a movie together. I love how Porter and Ry are so comfortable sitting in Ted's lap. We are going to miss these friends of ours!
The next morning we locked the doors, closed the garage and pulled away from our Wisconsin home for the last time. I love this home and was sad to say good-bye. I felt a little melancholy as well as I thought about the friends I was leaving behind.
Everything on the 18-wheeler was going to storage, so we pulled a trailer behind our van with all the stuff we were going to need at my parent's house. Because of the trailer it took us three days to get to Utah, instead of two.
This short video shows the fun ride the kids had during our travels. It wasn't always this bumpy, but it was always exciting. We had to be very careful which gas stations and fast food places we pulled into as the hitch on our van is very low to the ground. There were a few scrapes to the U-Haul connection that could not be avoided. Yikes.
While my melancholy had diminished quite a bit after the first day, day two was just plain long. But day three was filled with excitement as we were close to reaching our destination. The place we grew up. Our home.
There was just one small thing that put a damper in our mood that third day. Shortly after entering Utah, but still 3 hours from home, David turns to me and says, "I am going to need you to say a prayer...we don't have any gas." I looked over and sure enough the orange gas light was blaring. Hauling the trailer had wreaked havoc on our gas mileage. We had been careful to not let it get low, but not long before we were sure we had enough to get us the next 60 miles. We were so very wrong. David had been watching the gas needle drop far faster than it should have been. He kept hoping to see a gas station around the next curve, but it just didn't materialize. It wasn't until the light came on that he thought it was wise to inform me of our situation. Nice! He thought I would freak out. I admit that I was very worried as it was blazing hot outside and I figured I would be hanging with the kids in the hot car while he hitched a ride to the next gas station.
Well, I said a prayer out loud (in addition to the prayers David had already been offering in his head). Around the next curve I saw a billboard state there was a gas station 15 miles ahead. Ha! I knew we wouldn't make it that far. My worry started to grow. We were all relieved when a gas station revealed itself just a mile later! Phew! Prayers answered!!
We have been in Utah now for 16 days and I have to admit it is so good to be home. We have been gone a long time and I am loving being back in my home state. I am loving being close to family again. Now we just need a job to make it perfect!
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