5 Years Ago

It's been five years since I moved to the Valley of the Sun!

Five years ago today I was :

saying goodbye to my "sisters" at work -and I still miss them SO much!
packing box after box after box
picking up a Penske truck and dolly to tow my car
loading the least used thing things onto the truck first
packing late into the night
sleeping on the floor
waking up before the birds
packing and loading and more packing and loading
trying to light a fire under the kid's butt - hurry! faster! lots to do!
clean and clean some more

The plan: to be loaded by noon, ready to head out.
Reality:    loaded by 4pm, heading out by 5pm
(we seriously considered staying another night, but who wants to sleep in an empty house on the floor?)

And that's how our journey started.
Driving into the sunset toward Indiana
First rest stop (about 20 miles out of town) and we stop. to rest. and check the car we're towing.

Driving a huge truck was new to me, so was towing a car.
Can I do this?
I have to! there's no one else.

Sunsets.  Sunrises. Rain. Wind.
More rain.
Lucky, we had no snow on the roads, even though it was February.
I think we stopped at just about ever rest stop along the way.
And stopped every night in a motel.
With bathroom breaks at gas stations.
Driving the highways with truck stops was fine, no problem there.
But driving into or through towns with heavy traffic and difficulty switching lanes and such was no picnic.
Only one weigh station was open during our trip that we had to pull into.
We were headed toward Tucson to come up from the south, avoiding the mountains through Flagstaff.
We were stopped at a border stop.
Even the small "mountains" we crossed were scary with a heavy truck and towing a car.
The only major "mishap" along the way:

It was dark, we were tired, and we're stuck in the middle of town (Albuquerque?) with no place to get off the freeway and not be dead center in town.  When we finally see a sign (probably Super 8) it was like oh yeah, awesome, and we pull into the driveway.  Since we're an extra long vehicle, we can't pull into a parking space, so we dash in, see if there's a room available.  Yes! there is.  And then ask about where to park the truck - can I pull around back?  Uh. Nope.  Uh Oh.

So there I am, nosed into a parking lot, and I should be turned around.  I can't back up a trailer, let alone a dolly with the car half on, half off.  Oh boy.  Called AAA - naw, they can't come help me.  Panic!  no, Think.  Think.  Think.  Check with the desk, can I leave my truck where it is?  Sure, not a busy night.  *whew*  Ok.  last resort option.  In the morning, we download the car, unhook the dolly, turn the truck around, re-hook up the dolly, re-load the car, and we're OFF!  Yay.  Ok, a little worky, but it worked!

Sometimes you just gotta be smarter than the situation :)

We arrived safe and sound --- its been the best move I ever made :)