The First Day in Columbia

I should take a moment to apologize for the lateness of this post.

But I won't.

Hey, we've been moving. Are you kidding? :)

I have no way to describe what it's been like leaving our home in Aptos and working our way across the country to Columbia in five long days. But it occurs to me as I sit here on a hot Monday night that thousands of Americans are making similar moves, in similar circumstances, seeking shelter from a storm created by circumstance and, yes, choices that yielded unexpected consequences.

We've been sad, and now we move forward with renewed faith in our ability to respond appropriately to whatever life brings our way. The kitties say it best: Eat, sleep, play. Be where your paws are.

And here's the first video from Columbia. Warning - it's a little long at 4 minutes:



The truck came on Friday, and our old college friend Rich Pierry showed up to give us a hand. My brother Rob traveled through driving rain and severe thunderstorms to help us, too. Without the two of them we would never have gotten our heaviest pieces in.

 A sort of sad note: We had a lot of damage to furniture. Nothing irreparably broken, but lots of dents, abrasions, and scratches. Since we used Upack, we had no recourse because we loaded the truck ourselves. Though we hired professional loaders, in the end that made no difference. The damage is somewhere between five and ten percent. Too high, even for a cross-country move.

By the time we were finished on Saturday, we were definitely all in.

Rich and Susan, All In But Done!

On Saturday Rob and Rich went home, and we set about the long process of unpacking. We had our first cookout Thursday night - jerked chicken - and verily it was good.

Sunday brought another cookout (kabobs) and tonight we had Susan's magnificent lasagna.

Our Internet is now live, and it felt good to get a few hours' work in. Much more work looms on the horizon, too. Business is good. The cost of living here is radically lower than in the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley area, too, and that's quite a relief. And though South Carolina is not California, I can truthfully tell you the reverse is also true.

I'll leave the last word to Thomas, our 18-year-old cat who, true to form, shows it rather than speaking it.

Yup, I'm Done Here. Where's the Catnip?

Stay tuned. We'll update the blog once a week or so to let you know how the Kitties of Kalifornia fare in South Carolina!

More on the Last Leg of Our Journey

Last leg? It was more like a marathon. It started this way with the kitties making no bones about how they felt:



And continued on through the early evening as we entered the Appalachian Mountains:



No, we didn't get in at 9:30. We got in at 10:30. I made a mad dash to the Wal-Mart -- a new experience, let me tell you -- and collapsed at last in Columbia at 2:00am Thursday morning.

Oy!

Writing This from the Kitchen in Columbia SC

Yes, we made it. Yesterday's trek from Memphis to Columbia was a 14-hour slog through heavy truck traffic in some places, lots of road construction, and some of the most beautiful scenery on either coast.

We left Memphis at 8:10 Central time and took off on I-40 East bound for Nashville. Memphis is the sort of place I wouldn't mind going to visit some day. I'll post our video to this blog entry later today, so stay tuned.

From Nashville, through Knoxville, and on into Asheville NC. Gorgeous, rolling mountains and green everywhere. The final leg from Asheville to Columbia SC was grueling -- we arrived at around 10:30 last night. I made a quick run to a Wal-Mart that's not too far from the house for kitty supplies (8 cats use a LOT of LITTER) and a coffee maker. Thank goodness the 5 pounds of Surf City Orca Blend survived the trip in Kevin's trunk! Ahhhhh, go juice!

Now we're going to run out for some groceries and then it's back to work for me. No rest for the wicked!

Stay tuned... later today we'll post more video and Susan will give her take on the whole shootin' match!

Oh, yeah. About That Albuquerque Motel 6

Just so you know I wasn't kidding:

Aww, yeah, that is petrified pizza you're looking at.

Unbelievable. Nasty. Just say NO to Motel 6 in Albuquerque!

Trio Tuesday

Three states today, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee!

First day the kitties were not real happy about getting in the car. Lots of complaining, but finally did settle down. we have the routine of getting them in and out down very well now. It has ben very hot and humid, and my wonderful husband thought of some great ways to keep the sun off the cages. We still have to make stops to check in on them, and we we stop for lunch, the car has to be running with the a/c on, so we eat quickly outside! I don't think I ever want to have fast food again!!

We have seen some very interesting things along the way...things I would have loved to have been able to explore, like the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Roswell...and today Toad Suck Park? Craziness! Crossing over the Mississippi was very beautiful. Memphis looks like a pretty town and i would love to at least drive by Graceland tomorrow.

Tonight is the last night in a hotel! We will be at our new home tomorrow and I am excited to see what it looks like! It will be a long days drive, but we are all sharing the duties (and yes mom, I am doing a great job!) Time for a good night's sleep and dream of only good things.

Hell in Albuquerque, Relief in OK City

Well, we skipped yesterday's blog entry in our rush to get out of the most horrible Motel 6 on the face of the earth. Think of the words you might consider to describe your worst overnight experience, and you will still fall short of the raw awfulness of this Motel 6. I'll just say this: You should never awake in the morning, get out of bed, and look down at a petrified slice of pizza.

The drive into Albuquerque from Kingman was something to see. Susan took us out that morning.



We were in a rush to get across the country, but we did make time to stop off in the Petrified Forest to see The Painted Desert.

Incredible.

Lots of Thunderstorms on the way to Albuquerque!

Nothing more need be said about Albuquerque. I'm sure it must be beautiful. All I saw was the Motel 6, McDonalds, and WalMart.

But... the next day the drive through Arizona and Texas into Oklahoma was smooth. And flat. I thought I knew flat. Nope. Ate lunch at a Dairy Queen in Vega, Texas. We had the option to Texas size our drinks, but their idea of a Medium is what passed for Xtra Large in California. So, what do you drink out of when you Texas size your drink? A trough, that's what.

And when we arrived in Oklahoma City, the hotel was paradise in comparison to Motel 6. The kitties gave it 32 paws up!



Okay... out the door for Memphis, Tennessee!

More to come!

saturday's long drive

Wow! What an intense, crazy past three days. At last, all of our stuff is packed and on the truck (with the exception of a few stray items that we missed). Seeing the truck pull away was really difficult for me. Then it was the good byes to the neighbors. Lots of hugs and tears.

This morning was getting the "last few items" into Kevin's car. Funny how you think your vehicle is bigger than it actually IS, so in went a few more items to either (a) be packed and sent, or (b) just left behind.

Then it was time to load up our car with the cats....the cages we had already determined we were going to use didn't fit due to the fact we had to lay our sleeping bags on the floor of the car. That extra bulk made everything too tight, so we had to reconfigure. (Which worked out better in the long run, but I will elaborate on that in a minute). Henry, Sadie, George and Spatz all went together in one and seemed excited about the trip ahead of them. Ernie, Lizzie and Gracie Moon on the other hand, were TERRIFIED. Thomas was Thomas and just mad he couldn't go outside.

Now it is time to leave our driveway. I knew it would be difficult, but really wasn't prepared for the total melt down I had. Leaving Bryan and leaving our home is probably the hardest thing I have done.

The drive today was long and HOT. Thomas suffered a bit of a heat stroke in Tehachapi, so a stop to McDonald's for vanilla ice cream and ice was in order. We got him cooled off and put him into the cage with Henry, where it was a bit cooler, and he was okay. Later in Needles, Ernie was having the same problem. It was there that we threw away the one cage to make more room in the truck for air to circulate (Sorry Cheryl).

California is truly a diverse state, and it was nice seeing all the different terrain, but with all the set backs this morning we didn't get started until 9 and it was 9:30 when we pulled into Kingman, AZ. Our goal was to hit Flagstaff, but we were all tired and we wanted to get the cats out!

Tomorrow should only be a 8-9 hour drive, not so bad. While this is all so sad and surreal, I can't look back and will try to make this a "fun" adventure.

Time for sleep...