Car Trek - Day Two of Road Trip

Statistic for the day
550 miles driven
9:15am - 8:30pm
Total miles for two day 1,018.

After getting a few hours of sleep at the Motel 6 in Florence SC, we grabbed some cereal and iced coffee, and were on our way around 9:15. I wanted to try and make it all way to PA on this day, but I knew it was going to mean a long day on the road!

Before we headed out I had taken Princess for a walk, and saw flowers and a dragon fly. The Motel 6 was nothing fancy, but provided a hot shower, and a comfy place to rest my head! They accept pets and that was our main goal for the night! It was also very convenient to the exit from 95!



Once in the car it took the animals a bit to get settled again. Cassie who was very quiet the first day, was a bit more restless. Princess, would settle for a bit, and then start to whine. Never sure if she needed to go or was just whining, I found myself stopping about every two hours even if just long enough to get her out to go potty!
Of course, no trip up (or down) I-95 is complete without all of the South of the Border signs! I tried to get as many as possible, and of course going 70 mph, they are not always the best!






We motored along, Tara watched ALF, and at one point Tara and all of the animals were asleep. At some point we stopped at a rest area or two for health breaks all around.


Then we arrived in Virginia at 12:36.

Lunch was Subway, at 1:15

Then we crossed this cool bridge at around 2pm.

Not a great picture again, but driving in traffic at 60+mph limits that amount of attention that can be paid to ones photography. The building you can see in the center of the picture is the USMC Museum in Triangle VA. It was an impressive sight from the highway!

Shortly after this we starting running into rain showers, and they pretty much stayed with us all the way to PA.
When we got to the Springfield area, I was amazed at all of the new roadway. That used to be such a bottleneck of traffic, but we breezed right through. We also crossed the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and then it happened TRAFFIC. Afternoon traffic on the outer loop! We never really sat still, but we moved slowly. We started looking for all the different states we could find on license plates. We did pretty well in a short amount of time, considering we were stuck in basically the same crowd of vehicles. At one point we had 17. (I need to find Mom's notekeeping envelope for all of the mileage, times, etc for the trip!)

I really don't have too many pictures for the rest of the trip, the weather was too bad, and the traffic to heavy to be distracted by the camera! (Safety First!)
I did get a picture in the Ft McKinley tunnel (Tara was not happy about going UNDERWATER) and when we entered Delaware at 7:27, and PA at 7:52pm. From here we headed up the Blue Route, the the North East Extension of the PA turnpike, exciting at Lansdale, and then headed to our new home! No fanfare or pictures, too tired, too rainy!

Captain's Log Car Date 2009156 - HOME

We finally have arrived HOME. Although I had never seen our new residence until we arrived this evening, it almost feels like home already.

It is so wonderful to be back close to friends and family that we love!

I will need to write a trip report for the past two days, but that is for another day. Tonight I am just plain exhausted, and there are many pictures to upload as well!

Captain's Log Car Date 2009155

After a busy day we finally were all packed and on the road at 2:15. Drove 468 miles in just over 9 hrs .
Spending night in the Florence SC Motel 6.
Will update more later.

(Posted from IPHONE!)

Car Trek - Day One of Road Trip

Statistics - 468 miles
2:15 - 11:15pm - 9 hours

After the delayed arrival of the movers I had hired, we still were on the road before 3pm. 2:45 to be exact. I had hoped to be on our way by about 1pm, but this was not too bad. Just a few minutes from home it started to rain, and we drove through hard downpouring, road flooding rain.
This is Jason pulling away from the house with all of my worldly possesions. We would met up with him only once along the way when I had to give him more funds for gas! He drove pretty much straight through and arrived to his parent's home with Nemo his cat late morning on Thursday.



Traffic was very good once we got on I95, and it continued to be that way for some time, until we hit the Jacksonville area. The cats were all left out of their carriers and they calmed down pretty quickly. Princess on the other hand took some time. At one point I had to get off an exit to find some GRASS were she could "go". She really didn't have to!

I didn't take too many photos on this leg of the journey. I was exhausted, and I wanted to concentrate on driving. Tara decided she would watch ALF, which continued the entire trip (We had two seasons with us!)

We made grabbed dinner at a McDs drive thru, and we drove on until approximately 11:00 when we arrived in Florence SC, and got a room at a Motel 6. We got all the animals in the room, as would be expected they were all very confused, but everyone settled in nicely for a good rest! I took a MUCH NEEDED shower and felt a little more human.

Captain's Log - Car Date 2009154 - The Final Day

Today was our final full day in Orlando, and tonight, is the last night we will be sleeping here. All of the major stuff was done, but there still was so much little stuff to do. I spent a good four hours away from the house again today which didn't help in getting things done around the house. God Bless my mom, she worked hard on packing up the kitchen. We had gotten rid of a good bit of kitchen stuff, but still needed pots, pans, utensils, plates, cups, etc. for the past few days.

I am overwhelmed by the "stuff". I have said it before, but it really is overwhelming. Little things that you may or may not need, but if you do, do you really want to go out and buy it again when you just threw it out? I am at that point though!

I had to use the loaner car (a perfectly nice 2008 Kia Sedona, but not for me!) to do my running today. We headed out to Comcast on the other side of town to return our cable boxes. We just have basic cable now, and more than one I have tried to rewind to listen to something I missed! It does not work! The Kia probably has the cleanest windshield in town, every time I would shift into park or reverse, etc., I would pull the windshield washer lever, as that is were my gear shift is in our vehicle. The Kia has it on the center console.

I did get a picture that I have been trying to get for weeks, you will have to go to my Photo Blog to see what that is!

We made a stop at a Hallmark store, and Tara was very happy to find the Webkinz she has been waiting for.

After that, we stopped at AAA to pick up a couple of books and maps, in case the internet fails me while on the road if (when) we need to find a place to rest for a bit.

I was hoping that I would hear that our vehicle was done, as we were in the general area, but our service advisor was out to lunch until noon. Tara and I headed over there and had lunch at Cracker Barrel. Of course, once lunch was done the vehicle was not ready, so we headed home.
After I sat and regrouped for a bit, I decided I would load the LAST load of stuff for Goodwill. I was not sure if it would fit but it did. I was able to make the drive there by myself which was refreshing to be alone, and quiet for 40 minutes or so.


On the way home from their, I got the call that our vehicle was ready. I had realized that my wallet was not in my purse, I had taken it out to put my new insurance card in, and didn't put it back in my purse. I headed to home for my wallet and Tara. I am so afraid that I will lose my DL or insurance card and won't be able to rent the truck tomorrow. I have them both safe and sound. I did however lose my extra set of car keys, and had that replaced today at quite a hefty price. I am sure I will find the other spare, but I did not want to be traveling with only one key!

We stopped and picked up Bacon Ranch salads for dinner, and I got back down to business. Still trying to consolidate boxes. Some smaller boxes where dumped into bigger boxes, or whole small boxes were placed in bigger boxes. I am trying to have as few individual pieces as possible! It is still alot. I would have hated to see what it would be like if we lived her longer, of with more family members!

Take it from me, if you have even the remotest chance that you will be moving from you current location, and you have not recently had a "clean sweep", do yourself a favor, and spend some time sorting, tossing and donating!

I had best get the pictures for today uploaded to this and get back to the last of the odds and ends.
This is my life, not as organized as other photos, I was trying to separate what needs to go into our new home, and what can go to storage for the time being. I would have loved to just started stacking them up outside, but didn't think that was such a good idea overnight! In addition to what is pictured, I have 1 big desk, one small kitchen table with 3 chairs, a 42" TV, two smaller TVs, a twin mattress and daybed (it can be taken apart so takes up little room), a dresser, Christmas tree, riding saddle and two bikes. I hope it all fits in the truck!!!



My neighbor is taking me to UHAUL at 7am. The junk guy could be here as early as 8:30, and at that time the family room furniture and matress and box spring from the master bedroom will be taken out of here. The moving helpers should be here between 9 & 9:30 for their 2 hours, and Jason (my driver) will be here between 10-11 to help load stuff as well.

I keep telling Tara that she WILL be inconvenienced tomorrow. She has not been the best partner in this move. Very reluctant to help, but for the most part staying out of the way! Again, I thank God for my mom (in so many ways, not just this!)

I'm hoping we can be on our way between 1 and 2pm.

There might not be an updated for tomorrow, don't know what exactly we are doing, where we might be stopping, or how exhausted I will be!

This is a final photo taken at our town center. I love the entrance to the town center, very Florida, and today there was a very dark Florida afternoon storm cloud!

Captain's Log - Car Date 2009153

Wow, only two more nights to sleep in this house! At one point I thought the day would never get here, and then last week, I did not think I would survive the preparations, and now, as the big day draws near, I am READY, and for the most part rested and unstressed.

I got off to a good start this morning. I awoke at 5:30am on my own, after a good nights sleep. Gosh, I love Maia our Yorkie, but looking back, I think she was part of the reason I did not sleep well. I made the mistake of not having her in a crate at night, and she was cat like in the sense that she wandered, and was in tune to every little noise outside. She also liked being up around 4:30 many mornings! I miss her silly, over excitable personality, but the house is much calmer. I think Princess might have barked once all day today!

Anyway, once I was up, I was able to spend some tweeting and blogging time. I got the trash to the curb, cleaned the guinea pig cage (he's being downsized too, at least for the trip) and went through a couple small boxes of odds and ends.

Around 9:30am, I decided to head out to Goodwill (yes, again) and UHAUL, while I waited for CARMAX to call to tell me they FINALLY had the right part for my sunroof. Goodwill must have had a a big weekend/early Monday morning, being it was the 1st of the month, as they had no yellow carts to get the stuff from my car to the building, so today I just had to stack it outside. Here is what I took today!


Then it was a stop at UHAUL. I needed a box and to put in my reservation for the truck on Wednesday. That is all taken care of, and I get to pick the truck up around 7am on Wednesday. 1800GOTJUNK is scheduled between 8:30-10:30, and the moving helpers are due between 9:00 - 9:30. Jason, who will be driving the truck to PA, will be over to help load as well! He is excited about the trip! I'm glad, as he is really helping me out.

While I was making these stops, Tara and Princess were watching the "Ugly Dachsund". I don't know why, but I really like driving and listening to movies, especially if they are movies that I know, so I can picture what is going on in my head! I think everyone will be very comfortable for the drive!

We then headed to pick up a ceramic piece that Tara painted last weekend, you can go HERE, to see the before picture. Here is the after, it turned out great. This was another sad moment, saying good bye to our friends at Painted by Hue, we had lots of fun over the past couple of years there, and we have lots of ceramic pieces to show for it!

It was then time to come home. I called CARMAX when got home, and my part was in, so I was to head there around 1:30. We grabbed some lunch, I went through another box of "stuff" from my desk, and then it was time to go. My part was installed promptly, and we were headed out when I remembered that the carpet under the floor mat had been wet on the passenger side. I had meant to tell them about it, although it had dried out on Sunday after I lifted the mat. They diagnosed the issue right away (an AC drain line that was clogged), but knew that it would not be completed by closing time, and they know they I am under a time crunch, and offered me a loaner vehicle. After a few minutes of waiting for the car and the paper work to be completed, we were on our way home in a Kia mini van (I forget the model). I do not like it as much as my mini van, but it is only for a day.


We finally got home, the wind out of my sails! I relaxed for a few, and the made dinner (chicken, couscous and fresh tomatoes), and then got back to packing. Except for the things around the house that we are using and some kitchen stuff we are DONE!

I thought I had made my last trip to Goodwill, but I found a few more things today, so there will be another trip there tomorrow.

I also have to go to COMCAST (all the way on the other side of "town"), and will have to go back and pick up my car. I still have things to mail (the last thing from my list of tasks), so hopefully I will have a chance to get to the PO after I pick up my car.

Dinner tomorrow night will be take out/delivery/or eating out, as we have just about used up everything we need to in the fridge.

I can't wait to have this part of the "journey" completed, so I can start sharing fun stuff on the road trip and once we get back home! There is so much there I can't wait to see again after FOUR years!

Captain's Log - Car Date 2009152

It really is happening, we are almost there. We have been wanting this for two years now, and it is just three days away. We will be on our way to PA! Back to family and friends we have missed so much over the past 6 years. Yes, there were visits, phone calls, and emails, but their is nothing like being close enough to go grab a cup of coffee, or for a hug, or to celebrate all of the special occasions we've been missing out on!

Sunday was productive, yet not stressful. I am to the point of just the little stuff.
Mom headed to church, and Princess rode along. I think she is enjoying being an "only" dog. I do miss Maia and Daphne, but the house is much calmer. We tried to go to UHAUL to buy a box for Tara's Cinderella Castle that still needs to be packed, but everyone in East Orlando must have moved over the weekend, we could not get near the place. I'm glad we are moving mid-week!

Next we headed to the car wash, there was bird "poop" on Tara's window. I like the little car washes that you drive into, but the car just sits there and the machine moves. It does not touch your car. It might not get 100% of the dirt, but it is good for those quick interim washes. I am not sure if Princess liked it or not!


After the carwash, I stopped for my morning energy. This time at Dunkin' Donuts

We stopped home, and dropped off Princess, and then soon it was time to go pick Mom up at church.
Once home, we set to the task of more gathering and packing of the little stuff. Consolidating more boxes, getting rid of more stuff when given a second glance. Most of the day was spent doing this, with some breaks for a few quick games of Bejeweled Blitz, etc.
Tara played in the pool a bit, and saw this in the sky. She made sure she told me it was there so I could take a picture!

Speaking up UP. We took a much needed relaxation break and went to see UP 3D last night. It was a great movie, but a little sad to realize it will most likely be our last movie at that theater. We have seen so many movies there over the past 6 years! Lots of fun times and good memories!


By the end of the day, this is what the "staging area" looked like!

Can you believe this is mostly stuffed animals? Build-A-Bears, etc, plus there are two boxes of Webkinz in the other pile! We got rid of lots of stuffed animals too! The wooden bench goes (it was my grandmother's) but not the palm!

That is almost all my worldly possesions in one room of the house! There are probably 10 more boxes (clothes, kitchens, odds and ends), a bike, Christmas tree, TV, big desk, dresser daybed and mattress, and computer yet to be added to the "pile"!

Monday I should be able to tie up the loose ends. It is trash day, so more stuff to the curb, another load to Goodwill (I think will be the last). I also need to go reserve a truck!

I would love to head to Downtown Disney for our last Disney experience, but I have a feeling that might be pushing things a bit!