The Big Move

I was reviewing the blog, and I realized there was nothing at all posted about the little matter of, oh I don't know... moving half way across the country! You will notice that, besides this post, there is nothing else at all during the actual move. This post was written a couple of months later just to fill in the blanks while I still remembered anything about it.

This was probably some of the most interesting and challenging times in Claire's life so far, but alas, I simply did not have the time/energy to write up anything about the move. The long and short of it was that we did successfully sell our house in Atlanta and move to Dallas.

My dad and I headed out with the big truck a few days ahead of Kit, Claire, and Joyce, with the goal of getting mostly settled in before everyone else got to Dallas. Kit, Claire, and Joyce stayed in a "hotel house", ate Chik-fil-et in the room, and did a little swimming at the pool, all of which Claire talked about for some time afterwards. She would sometimes asks, "When are we going back to the blue house?"

Claire (sort of) saw two new states, Mississippi and Louisiana, on the trip to Dallas.

Here are some quick high- and low-lights of the move, from my perspective. Claire was, by design, not along for most of this.  (I should probably ask Kit to add some additinal comments for when she and Joyce had Claire...)

• Getting more and more behind schedule with the house closing moving around
• A couple of real country folk loading up the Penske 20" truck somewhat sloppily in Atlanta, and Joyce squeezing everything from our storage unit into the last remaining space in the big truck on a very hot late afternoon on Cheshire Bridge Road
  
• Paying something close to a dollar per mile with record-high gas prices all the way to Dallas
• Thinking I really should not be driving this gigantic truck half way across the country, or even around the block. Shouldn't "they" require some sort of training or a license before I get behind the wheel of this monstrosity?
• The formerly road-weary Muffin riding shotgun on a bed of pillows and blankets, and sleeping most of the way.
• Nearly getting lost trying to avoid a traffic jam in Birmingham.
• My dad tailing me in the Accord, although most of the time I could not see him.
  
• Driving endlessly in East Texas as the sun was setting trying to find a hotel where I could realistically park the truck. I called by dad on the cell phone just in time for him to exit at a junky hotel in Longview that did accept big trucks. Menacing guys hung out on picnic chairs outside their rooms, and there was a Days Inn sign sitting wrecked in the woods past the parking lot. My dad remarked "It's not even good enough for Days Inn."
  
• Eating dinner in the outskirts of Longview at some half-deserted catfish restaurant in what seemed to be an office building or warehouse.
• Finally pulling up to the beautiful townhouse in Dallas and waiting for the movers to show up to help unload. They scoffed at how the truck was loaded, and asked who the heck did it like that.
• My mom showing up with Carolyn, Beth, and Worth, not to mention a boat load of drinks and snacks, to help unpack. Beth tripped on the stairs to the lower level, and messed up her ankle pretty good.
• Finally passably moved in that night, me and my parents went out to eat at Taco Cabana... a real Taco Cabana, not that fake one back in Atlanta.
• My mom working her magic on the Claire Club in the cave-like recessed area in the living room. It was beautifully done.
  
• Waiting impatiently for the ladies to arrive!
• Claire and Kit looking around the new place and saying, "Ooohh! Ahhh!" Calire even said, "It's my Christmas day!"
• Claire hopelessly tangling the pom-poms hanging outside the Claire Club. My mom spending an hour or two untangling them. Claire hopelessly tangling them again in minutes.