The days of our lives

Yes yes yes. So I have been a bit sparse on the old blog. Once the family left, things became busy busy busy for me in the big preparation to move. But it all got done and packed and went away. I got done with work, packed the car, moved out of the apartment and Steve, Lottie and I set off on our journey. There are very few pictures, as the 6 days that we were on the road were primarily: get up, drive for 8-10 hours, find a motel and watch the weather channel. We had to do maneuvering (some successful, some not) to avoid those nasty wet (and freezing) fronts that were stretching from the south to the north.

We are still trying to contend with the raft of possessions that came across in the trailer, but at least Steve and I moved the last of it out of the trailer today. Now just to find somewhere to put it. I must hesitantly admit to an achievement of being the first person I know who moved across country and actually brought their entire record collection with them. Sadly, a lot of it is still sitting on the front porch in the sub-freezing temperatures getting all humidified... But if it's been like that for almost two weeks anyway, another day won't hurt.

For a brief photo essay on the process...


Day 2... This is Wyoming. Hundreds of miles of this... And nothing else. It was really like driving through the old west, complete with tumbleweeds. But the gas was cheap.


Day 3... This is Steve at a rest stop in Nebraska. Same as above. Though it wasn't quite as desolate and so, strangely enough, it wasn't as charming either


Day 3 and 4... This is Iowa. It is in the running as the worst part of the trip. The first snowstorm, the first problems with being unable to see out the windshield (complete with an emergency trip to Autozone in Altoona to get new wipers), and then snow and ice and endless f'n semi's barraging past us and coating the windshield with waves of slush.

No pictures after this. Day five was nice: Illinois was dull but we took a nice sidetrip in Indiana and drove through a small town (Rushville) that we thought was quite nice.

Day 6? Man. Upstate New York was alright, though the turnpike is a big scam, but as soon as I turned the wheel over to Steve it was rain, rain and more rain. Then Massachusetts had way too much rain and then, trying to get it all done in Vermont that night, with snow and ice and darkness and at times no one on I-91 but us (well, and the occasional evil trucker out to kill us), it was a terrific relief to get home.


Home. This is the new pad, the first morning we were there. It had snowed the whole night before.


This is my in-law's house across the street (and our ugly trailer... but it brought everything across basically intact).


Here is our little 2003 Focus. This car performed fantastically on the trip: Rain, loose snow, packed snow, wind, sleet, driving as much as twelve hours a day... none of it caused her any issues. She covered 3350 miles in 6 days without a single issue, and managed almost 32 mpg. And no sliding either (which hopefully had something to do with the terribly expensive Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires that I had put on right before the trip).


Here are Steve and Elinor watching a movie (I think The Emperor's new Groove) in our new living room. The house was perfect and cozy when we arrived... I have the best wife ever.


And a final view, Finally Elinor has her own, full-on room. This is a view of it featuring both her wonderful crib, and the crib for her babies!

Though I am not thinking about looking for work, currently. I love being here! I spent a lot of time outside today (I doubt it got above ten), and it is snowy, sunny, the roads are kept clear. All you have to do is bundle up and it is quite delightful. After 5 years of talking about moving here, it is a great relief to have it done. I just need to figure out how to maintain those dear relationships back in Portland from afar...