Well, we are in Edmonds, WA and I am sitting in my new office, which is smaller than my old office, but has large windows in front of the computer desk. There are boxes all around me, but the house, for the most part, is almost unpacked. We had a little craziness from the get-go, and along the way, but for the most part, the trip went very well.
The first hiccup was that the ryder truck we rented was too small for all of our stuff. It was my fault. I really felt that after getting rid of as much as we did a 17-foot truck would be enough. We spent most of the morning the Saturday we were scheduled to leave finding a solution. David, Rachel, and my family all helped pack and a big thanks goes to them. We finally had to take the 2-wheeled dolly thing that we were going to haul the Vibe on back and rent a trailer. That meant that Shannon had to drive the Vibe, Dad the truck, and me the Rio (with the cats). It also meant that our plan to drive through the night was shot.
We drove until around midnight and stopped in a town in Iowa to spend the night. The cats were actually pretty good. I bought this net to keep them in the hatch, but Winston quickly found a hole he could fit through. About 5 hours into the trip he felt sorry for Gizmo and went back to show him how to get out.
Those two spent most of the trip in the passenger seat. Maeby was scared to death for a long time. She cringed down in the litter box until I got so concerned that I put the cat carrier back there with the door off for her to hide in. By the end of the trip she was up and about.
The second day was a long one and we were all looking forward to stopping at Mt. Rushmore. That is where the first disaster of the trip took place. First, I had misspoke when I told everyone that Mt. Rushmore was right off 90. It was actually more like 40 miles off 90. We looked for a place to leave the truck, but couldn’t find one. So, we all in separate vehicles when we pulled up to the monstrosity that Mt. Rushmore has become.
I have been there before. In 97′ with the band. There was a few signs and we drove up to find a nice large parking lot and a steady stream of people. I should have known that something was up when every sign on 90 said “Come see Mt. Rushmore – featured in National Treasure 2.” Since when did a national monument of this size need to mention a movie tie-in? Or when we passed the old entrance, which was all blocked off.
When we finally got to site, we were greeted by a 5 story parking garage and manned gates asking for a $10 a car parking fee. Shannon and I turned around, but we couldn’t get a hold of dad in time. The kid at my gate told me people turn around all the time. I would hope so. Rushmore used to be a national treasure. Now, it’s just another chance for someone to make money – complete with a town of touristy shops that I don’t remember being there ten years ago.
We finally got a hold of dad and told him to stay and check the place out, but he was already driving back down. Maybe we should have paid the money, but in the heat of the moment it was just too upsetting. We had already spent tons of extra money on the trailer and the gas to get there.
We drove on in silence until we hit Buffalo, WY and our next hotel.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful till we made it past Spokane and started coming down from the Cascades. The cats were all up in the passenger seat freaking out. Every once in a while, Gizmo would jump into my lap thinking that would help him cope, but forcing me to deal with him while I sped down the mountains and around the curves.
We made it into Edmonds around 1am on Tuesday. Not a bad trip, but certainly not an amazing one. When is moving ever grand. Shannon’s brother’s family had set up air mattresses for us to sleep on. We unloaded on Tuesday. I had called a guy from our new church who used to live in Carbondale. I had never met the guy before, but he was kind enough to come by and help us with the big stuff on Tuesday.
I’ll continue with more news a little later. There are more pics of the move HERE.
