My dad left with the moving truck a good couple hours before I did. He was anxious to get on the road before it got too late, and I was still cleaning up crap and loading the Corolla. I was also anxious about leaving, and when I'm anxious, I pee alot and I stall alot.
I think my dad left around 8 or 830pm, and I left way after 10pm. I took a few last pictures around the house (seen in the last post), stopped at a friend's house to have her return my cable box (which I then couldn't find in my tightly packed car and finally got the on the freeway. I definitely cried a few times as we pulled away and felt very sad to leave this city I have called my home for the last TWELVE YEARS and loved so dearly. On the flip side, each time I came back for work, I often faced a feeling of dread and fear of seeing Matt somewhere. It was definitely the best decision for me to leave. I have restored so much of my self confidence since the move but I still miss home.
My dad drove until he was tired- about two hours out- and then got a hotel. His wife Andrea called me to coordinate as he figured out the stop and got me instructions on where to get off his her signal back in Southern California was much more stable than his out in the middle of nowhere driving a moving truck.
The dog and the cats all got to stay in the hotel, which was very exciting. My cats are seasoned travels and Amelia especially made herself at home right away, which was pretty funny!
You can see Tootie in the back seat next to my boxwood hedge that I smuggled over the OR border, and Charlie anxiously sitting in th front seat- obviously terrified that the car would leave me behind.
What do you think is the best way to smuggle my plants back into CA when I come back??
Also, my beloved Strawberry plant I mentioned? The six year old one? I came back and got it at the end of August. :) Sadly, it was totally fried, I guess the sprinklers weren't hitting it and it was burned to a crisp, but I smuggled it back with me anyway in a rental car. (I had a class Friday in OR, wedding in CA saturday, class on Sunday in OR, and if I missed a class, they were going to make me repeat the entire course, plus do extensive one on one meetings with the teacher, which wasn't fair. I couldn't get flights to work and they wouldn't let me miss even 10 minutes of the class to ensure I made a flight. Basically they were huge jerks about it, and I was exhausted at the end of the weekend, but I did get to go back to my complex ( I broke in! Rebel!) and look for my plants. My trees were gone but the strawberry was still there, and while it was burned, I took a chance on it and it actually GREW BACK after about a month. It got hit by the snow after that so I don't know if it will keep coming back but I'm hoping! I was also sad to see my unit had been vandalized in the three short weeks since I had left- someone had dumped garbage on the porch and sprayed ketchup everywhere. It made me so upset to see my so very nice house ripped up like that, but it was empty and there was no one to scream at the neighborhood kids like I always had!
Amelia got comfy on the hotel bed right away! LOL
Toulouse preferred the window.
Seriously, Amelia almost got left behind because I couldn't find her. She didn't want to leave all of that plush luxury!
Y'all know my cat walks on leash like a dog right?
Tootie is totally cool in the car. Bathing on the freeway!
Amelia spends her time in the cat carrier. She does NOT like the windows!
Charlie Brown and his Linus dolly!
That's my dad driving the Penske truck! It was super smoky right around the state border. Fires I guess, but we never saw any. The smoke was thick and chokey and last at least 40 miles.
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