Tag: Where Did My Sanity Go?

Move In Day! Hallelujah!

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Today was move in day! There isn’t much to say as moving is actually pretty boring, that and we are all exhausted. But, we are in!
We were up bright and early this morning but it was easy to get up. The excitement and anxiety got us moving pretty fast. We stopped for a quick breakfast and by the time we made it to our house, the movers were there and ready for the day. They jumped right in a quickly we watched the boxes start coming up into the house and into the garage. Before I knew it our living room was stacked high with boxes, our bed in the master bedroom was built and everything that was packed tightly in the truck was now out. What a sense of relief!
And so it begins… Thank Goodness!
Surrounded by a sea of boxes in the living room. Cant wait to unpack all of this!
After the movers brought in the last box and cleaned up their items, they took off and we were left with the last task of dropping off the truck and the tow hitch. Lucky for us, that was all done “without a hitch” and within an hour the truck and all that was rented with it was out of our hands. I think we did a little dance in the truck rental lot too. We pulled away from the lot relaxed and then decided to treat ourselves at Teddy’s Bigger Burger, a new favorite for our family. I think its the fish tank that the girls love, not the food.

Eating with the fishes!

The move up is finally over! We have a lot of unpacking to do but that’s easy and less stressful then the stress involved with driving a truck, packed to the brim with our belongings over 1200 miles. What a relief. I cannot wait to start setting up!

A Little Prep Time Before Move In!

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Its nice to be in Seattle and no longer on the road. I don’t think I can describe how good it feels. We are not completely out of the woods yet, but a lot of the stress is done. Our last hurdle will be move in day tomorrow but once that has been completed, the truck will be dropped off and out of our hair for good.

Most of the day today was prepping some of the house for move in tomorrow. Shaun’s back spasms during our trip up a week and a half ago kept us from building the furniture that we needed finished, so his plan was to do that. The most important of those being Abby and Ellie’s new beds. Having their room set up and decorated as soon as possible is very important to us. A move isn’t easy on little kids, so we wanted to make sure they feel settled as soon as possible.

We slept in a little this morning, needing the extra rest and then headed out to get our day going. After breakfast, we headed to the house for the first time with Abby and Ellie. Abby had been with us when we looked at it back in May but she had yet to see it empty and with the changes we had made. They loved the house and when they saw their pink room, they were ecstatic. Both of them really wanted a pink room and we delivered.

New House New Rules! No Shoes!
Checking out our cool new balcony!
Enjoying a good run through the very empty living room.
Loving their new pink room!

After showing the girls around the house, we went out for a while so that Shaun could work on their beds in silence. The girls and I did some needed shopping at Target and then showed Ellie the new “pine cone park” that I know will become a fast favorite. Shaun attempted to put together their new beds while we were away but that task ended up being a bigger project than we thought it would be. One was accomplished and the other had to be left for tomorrow. Its a good thing we are still staying in a hotel tonight, otherwise only one of us would have a bed to sleep in!

We Finally Made It!

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We are in Seattle! The truck is in one piece, the car is still on the tow hitch and we still have some sanity to cling on to. It was an adventure of a day but for the most part, uneventful.

This morning, after what was a much needed full night of rest, we woke up ready to hit the road and face what we hoped would be the final day of travel. Abby enjoyed our hotel stay quite a bit. It was a Red Lion Hotel and that is her favorite place to stay. I know, only four years old and she already has specific travel tastes. Thank goodness they aren’t expensive!

Cuddled in a cloud of pillows. Someone slept well at the Red Lion!

After a light breakfast we were on the road and ready to tackle the first of several mountain passes for the day. Shasta/Trinity was slow going but easy. Once we were on the other side, we stopped in Yreka for some lunch at the Black Bear Diner. This gave Shaun and I a break and allowed the girls to stretch out for a bit. Lunch was yummy, as usual and it gave us a much needed recharge before hitting several mountain passes that would probably be the most difficult ones of the trip.

Heading through Shasta Trinity! At least my view has improved quite a bit. Still have to stare at that Budget truck though.

The last time I will see this in my rear view for a while. Bye Bye California!

Stopping for a quick bite to eat at Black Bear Diner. The girls are happy to take a break and so are mommy and daddy!

The pass at the California/Oregon border into Ashland, Oregon was slow going but pretty easy as well as Grants Pass area. Coming down from Grants Pass we saw several semi trucks with smoking breaks. Shaun and I held our breath and kept our fingers crossed the entire way down. We were fine and the breaks did just great for a crappy Budget truck!

Goodbye California and Hello Oregon!

The trip from there was pretty uneventful. We stopped for dinner in Oregon and then made a stop for gas in Vancouver, Washington. About 50 miles outside of Vancouver I noticed that something was flapping  around on the right side of the tow hitch. Wanting to be safe, I had Shaun pull off of the Interstate when we could. As it turns out it was one of the tire straps that was holding Shaun’s car onto the tow hitch! The only other thing that keeps the car from bouncing off of the hitch are the indented areas where the tires sit and a chain hooked to the bottom of the car frame. Its doubtful that anything would have happened but I am glad I was able to catch it before something did.

That was our final stop for the evening before arriving in Seattle. We got in pretty late, but we are finally here! The truck is parked and locked up for the moment. I cannot wait to get everything moved out of the truck and into the house. I will definitely do a happy dance once Shaun’s car is off the tow hitch and both the truck and the hitch have been returned to Budget. Until then, its time for some much needed sleep!

Moving Day… Oh What a Day.

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Moving day has now come and gone. Sorry I couldn’t be more up to date with this, but the last 48 hours have been very stressful. As an update we are doing great but as with all big things, our moving day didn’t go off without a hitch or two.
To start off, the night before we received a call that our truck broke down and a new one was being sent. That was a blessing in disguise as we could have been out on the road with our truck packed to the gills and have it break down. But this break down meant that we couldn’t pick up the new truck until the morning of the move. OK, nothing to freak out about.
The following morning we went to pick up the truck and were met with a few issues. Luckily it all worked out, but it meant that we were late getting home. When we did get home the movers were already there waiting for us. Yikes. On top of that, only two guys were sent to pack up our whole house when there should have been three. Ok…
Finally have the truck, now its back to the house to pack it!

Not having the right amount of people wasn’t horrible but after they did the initial walk through of the house we received the most stressful news of the day. Our movers, whom we have worked with several times before, did not feel that all of our things would fit in the truck. WHAT! There was panic and stress for most of the morning but we did finally reach a solution. Our movers were amazing and fit almost everything into the truck. Whatever didn’t fit would go on Grandma Zoe’s pod when she moved in a month. We would then pick it up from Spokane when everyone was settled. Hallelujah! Thank you Grandma Zoe for sharing your POD with us and saving the last of our things!

Once the truck was mostly packed and we had most of what needed set to go, we headed on over to say our goodbyes to Grandpa Pat, Nana Fiona, Aunt Brittany and Uncle James and Sam. It was late, frazzled and certainly not the amount of time we had hoped to have but we still had the chance to see everyone and say our goodbyes. More like, our see you laters. It was tough to leave and I know there were a few tears from most of us but we had to go. We will see everyone again soon.

So we made our way home and met up with Grandma Zoe while Shaun and I finished packing the truck and cars. It seemed to take forever but we finally did it. There were a few things left behind but luckily we would see those things again in a few months. The girls had the chance to play and keep burning energy, despite being exhausted and Grandma Zoe had the chance to spend a bit of extra time with them. After our goodbyes, we tossed two very sleepy girls into the CR-V, Shaun situated himself into the moving truck and we hit the road. It was 3am but we were determined to get out of Los Angeles and over Grapvine. We did just that and landed in Tejon Ranch for the night. We knew it was time for sleep when I ended up driving the wrong way down a street, which resulted in tears and a horrible need to close my eyes. I don’t think sleep ever felt better!

Goodbye house! You gave us two wonderful years. Thank you, family and friends, we love you and miss you already but we will be back to visit. This is The Wharton’s of Pienza Lane, signing out!
My view for the next few days of travel. Moving like a snail is going to be tough!

My adorable little travel buddies. They did an amazing job in the car, well so far.

My view hasn’t changed and the scenery outside is pretty dull, but at least the sunset is gorgeous tonight.

The following morning, well day, we woke up somewhat refreshed and ready to hit the road. And by ready to hit the road I mean reluctant to continue driving but we knew we had to in order to get to where we needed to be and get this whole process over it. Our goal for the day was Oregon but as with all travel like this, we play things by ear. My job was to stay behind Shaun and make sure his car was ok and parts werent flying off of the truck. Hey, it could happen its Budget for crying out loud!

Through the Central Valley in California Shaun had to watch out for a tomato truck. Let’s just say those things make us a tad jumpy. If you don’t know what I mean refer to this post from last August during our trip to Spokane and Seattle and you just might understand. Once that bullet was dodged Shaun started to speed up again. Well, he did this too fast and the truck stalled. Because I was driving behind him and didn’t always have direct contact, I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was the we were pulling off of the road, flashers were on and I was freaking out. The one thing that weighed heavy on my mind about the trip was breaking down. It seems silly but hey, who wants to deal with a truck that has our entire life strategically packed into it? Luckily all Shaun had to do was slow down, restart and then we were on our way again. Crisis averted! Although my nerves were shot.

The remainder of the drive was pretty uneventful. Our late start in the morning meant that we didn’t get to cover as much ground as we had hoped to. Shaun and I decided to stop in Redding, California and get a fresh and earlier start in the morning. I didn’t want him to have to tackle the winding road through Shasta/ Trinity area in the dark. We figure that tomorrow we can hit the road early and continue on our way with the hope of arriving in Seattle tomorrow night. Here is to hoping that we have a good nights rest and a great start in the morning!