The Move - Loading and Traveling
OK, so we got some visitors to help pack up the last of our stuff. Erika, Rick and Barb came as a COMPLETE SURPRISE!!!, Uncle Gabe and Aunt Krissy also showed up. Gabe was a big help with the large items! Thanks to you all! Here are a few shots of the visitors. First is Rick and Barb. Gabe is on the floor, in front of Summer. She's all packed up and ready to go! Haha!
This second pic shows Erika and Grandpa taking a break on the same chairs Jess and I first brought into the condo. Seemed very appropriate, they were the first chairs in there back in Dec 2003, and they are the last chairs to leave. Gabe and Krissy are on the floor, and Summer decided she'd rather ride in the car, not in a box, and she was letting us know!
As a quick aside, Uncle Chris also came to visit, but it was on Monday, earlier in the week. It was nice for him to come say goodbye to all of us. First, Jess' parents leave town, then we leave town, now Gabe and Krissy want to head back up north to the Bay area...all of us leaving Chris in LA...he is also planning on heading back to New York...so, we're all getting out of town. Here Chris is holding Summer as she gets ready for her nap.
Back to the day of the move...With everyone's help, we finished loading the truck, mostly, by about 4 or 5PM. This was about the time people would be coming home from work, so we wanted to get out of the alley. The truck was mostly packed up anyway. What at first seemed to be so easy to load, where I even said we may have been able to get away with a 22 foot truck, became quite a tricky puzzle to get everything inside! We could have used a 28 or 32 foot truck! But, then it wouldn't have been such a tight fit, which helped hold everything into place!
With this loaded up, we moved the truck out front. Parked my car on it and then did some of the last minute loading.
We kept loading up random things until about 8PM. We had earlier decided to just go ahead and leave that night, as it would be a pain to load a mattress and prepare to leave in the morning. Not to mention it would be nearly impossible to sleep...we'd have way too much anxiety. So, we said our final, "See ya later"'s to everyone and headed on out.
We drove for about 3 hours until we reached Barstow, where we stayed in a nice Holiday Inn Express. It took nearly an hour to unloaded the car with us, Summer's playpen/crib for the night, the FOUR cats, including the food and water bowls and litter box. I took this picture in the morning of the Penske Pacer, parked and waiting. It always looks like it wants to move, it doesn't like sitting still.
The next day we started driving out of California. When I made that quick post from my cell phone. Sorry I never took the time to post again until tonight. We drove for a solid 12+ hours Saturday. It ended up being a great idea to stop in Barstow to get a decent nights sleep in a warm/soft bed! Summer didn't like her playpen as much, and had some trouble sleeping, but that was to be expected. We finally ended up finding a nice Comfort Inn for the second night's rest, in Sante Fe, New Mexico. The place had exterior entrances, so it was easier to un-load and load back up the kitties and everything in the morning.
This was the last day of driving. We drove for about 6 hours and got into Colorado Springs around 2PM.
Two last notes about the packing and moving, before moving on to a Colorado post.
First, the cats...yikes...we almost lost Cheeto. We've let him out on our patio for over a year, and not once did we ever feel all that worried that he'd try to run away. None of them really made us feel that way. But the day of the move, both Tilly and Cheeto made us nervous. We put them all out on the patio while everyone was in and out, moving boxes, etc. And Cheeto looked like he was about to flee. Not only did I get scratched up pretty badly just getting him outside, I had to catch him, JUST BARELY, as he jumped up and almost over the fence. His front claws were outside the patio. We got him and put both he and Tilly into a car carrier out on the patio. So, he's still with us, thank goodness, but it was pretty scary. I only mention this because he's Summer's favorite kitty, and we think they'll be best friends growing up. Cheeto isn't liking the small apartment right now, but I'm sure he'll love the new house.
Second, the driving...We paid for two drivers on the truck, but only Grandpa drove. That let me drive the car most of the way and Jess watched/hung out with Summer. Basically we were able to stay hanging out with you, Summer! Grandpa and I kept in touch with some great walkie-talkies. Most of the time we let Grandpa lead, so we wouldn't lose track and get too far ahead. This is how the name "Penske Pacer" came about. Grandpa did most of the leading/pacing. He says he felt in his element, and it sure made it a lot easier on us being able to be in the car with Summer. So, there is no way we can thank you enough, Dad!
This second pic shows Erika and Grandpa taking a break on the same chairs Jess and I first brought into the condo. Seemed very appropriate, they were the first chairs in there back in Dec 2003, and they are the last chairs to leave. Gabe and Krissy are on the floor, and Summer decided she'd rather ride in the car, not in a box, and she was letting us know!
As a quick aside, Uncle Chris also came to visit, but it was on Monday, earlier in the week. It was nice for him to come say goodbye to all of us. First, Jess' parents leave town, then we leave town, now Gabe and Krissy want to head back up north to the Bay area...all of us leaving Chris in LA...he is also planning on heading back to New York...so, we're all getting out of town. Here Chris is holding Summer as she gets ready for her nap.
Back to the day of the move...With everyone's help, we finished loading the truck, mostly, by about 4 or 5PM. This was about the time people would be coming home from work, so we wanted to get out of the alley. The truck was mostly packed up anyway. What at first seemed to be so easy to load, where I even said we may have been able to get away with a 22 foot truck, became quite a tricky puzzle to get everything inside! We could have used a 28 or 32 foot truck! But, then it wouldn't have been such a tight fit, which helped hold everything into place!
With this loaded up, we moved the truck out front. Parked my car on it and then did some of the last minute loading.
We kept loading up random things until about 8PM. We had earlier decided to just go ahead and leave that night, as it would be a pain to load a mattress and prepare to leave in the morning. Not to mention it would be nearly impossible to sleep...we'd have way too much anxiety. So, we said our final, "See ya later"'s to everyone and headed on out.
We drove for about 3 hours until we reached Barstow, where we stayed in a nice Holiday Inn Express. It took nearly an hour to unloaded the car with us, Summer's playpen/crib for the night, the FOUR cats, including the food and water bowls and litter box. I took this picture in the morning of the Penske Pacer, parked and waiting. It always looks like it wants to move, it doesn't like sitting still.
The next day we started driving out of California. When I made that quick post from my cell phone. Sorry I never took the time to post again until tonight. We drove for a solid 12+ hours Saturday. It ended up being a great idea to stop in Barstow to get a decent nights sleep in a warm/soft bed! Summer didn't like her playpen as much, and had some trouble sleeping, but that was to be expected. We finally ended up finding a nice Comfort Inn for the second night's rest, in Sante Fe, New Mexico. The place had exterior entrances, so it was easier to un-load and load back up the kitties and everything in the morning.
This was the last day of driving. We drove for about 6 hours and got into Colorado Springs around 2PM.
Two last notes about the packing and moving, before moving on to a Colorado post.
First, the cats...yikes...we almost lost Cheeto. We've let him out on our patio for over a year, and not once did we ever feel all that worried that he'd try to run away. None of them really made us feel that way. But the day of the move, both Tilly and Cheeto made us nervous. We put them all out on the patio while everyone was in and out, moving boxes, etc. And Cheeto looked like he was about to flee. Not only did I get scratched up pretty badly just getting him outside, I had to catch him, JUST BARELY, as he jumped up and almost over the fence. His front claws were outside the patio. We got him and put both he and Tilly into a car carrier out on the patio. So, he's still with us, thank goodness, but it was pretty scary. I only mention this because he's Summer's favorite kitty, and we think they'll be best friends growing up. Cheeto isn't liking the small apartment right now, but I'm sure he'll love the new house.
Second, the driving...We paid for two drivers on the truck, but only Grandpa drove. That let me drive the car most of the way and Jess watched/hung out with Summer. Basically we were able to stay hanging out with you, Summer! Grandpa and I kept in touch with some great walkie-talkies. Most of the time we let Grandpa lead, so we wouldn't lose track and get too far ahead. This is how the name "Penske Pacer" came about. Grandpa did most of the leading/pacing. He says he felt in his element, and it sure made it a lot easier on us being able to be in the car with Summer. So, there is no way we can thank you enough, Dad!
posted by Erick and Jess @ 9:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home