Adventures in Moving

Back in the '70s when Joe and I were moving frequently, UHaul's slogan was "Adventures in Moving." He'd drive the truck, loaded with our worldly goods, and I'd follow in the car with the dog and the cat. We moved 13 times during the first 13 years we were married. The first nine moves were Before Children. So Joe's an excellent mover, a superb packer, and gifted truck-loader. I have a flair for getting furniture from one side of a room to another, and stacking boxes. With credentials like these, and being seven years since our fourteenth move, when Tom and Anastasia announced they'd bought a house, we were eager to find out if we still had the knack.
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We got up at 4 o'clock on Friday morning and were on the road by 5:15, heading south on I-95. We stopped for breakfast around 7 and arrived in Richmond sometime before 11. Anastasia was sweeping and throwing things into the last few boxes; Tom and his friend Shannon had gone off to pick up the truck and returned within minutes. The truck wasn't as big as we'd anticipated. So it took three trips. Fortunately, the new house wasn't more than a 15-minute drive from the rental house. Joe took command inside the truck; Tom and Shannon carried him the sizes and shapes of things he demanded; Anastasia and I carried odd things, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, went off to pick up lunch, and did a lot of supervising. We worked hard all of Friday and had a nice Italian dinner together before collapsing in our beds.
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T&A had wanted us to stay with them and not spend money on a hotel. We are of the mind that "it's the thought that counts" and opted for an inexpensive motel. I've got to tell you, we were both a little nervous about the Red Roof Inn, selected via internet based on price and location rather than amenities. And the place was a terrific value! The room wasn't very big, and certainly not the kind of place we'd want to more than shower and sleep in. But the king size bed was comfortable, the airconditioning more than adequate, the place was quiet, and the water pressure in the shower was stellar. And we took plenty of showers!
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Saturday we went back to the rental place for a final sweep-out, returned the truck, and found a place for breakfast. We got back to the house in time for Anastasia to get ready to go out for her rehearsal -- long before they bought the house, she'd committed to a concert for Saturday night (about which, silly people, they were all apologetic!). While she was gone, Joe and Tom moved big furniture around, reassembled dismantled objects, and planned. I got all of the kitchen dishes and glasses unpacked and into the cabinets, the silverware and kitchen odds 'n' ends into drawers, found a tablecloth and put it on the table, and she came home to find all of that plus one kitchen shelving unit fully stocked with mixer, bowls, towels, and cookbooks. Tom, at this point, had gone off to play for a wedding, so Joe and I returned to Red Roof for a shower and then picked up a picnic dinner and went back to get in the van with Anastasia and the harp to go off to the concert.
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The picnic was yummy, and the concert was in an outdoor setting with comfortable benches. We got up close and personal to get a good view of the harpist, and before it was over, Tom arrived, still dressed in his performance clothes from the wedding. The concert was all familiar pieces, ending with the 1812 Overture, which somehow seemed the perfect celebratory music for T&A and their new house.
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Pictures of the house? Well, no. I never quite found the time! To follow later on. It's a three-bedroom 1-1/2 bath ranch on a half acre of ground in terrific neighborhood of Richmond called Stratford Hills. All of the rooms had been freshly painted and the colors are all actually acceptable! Today we moved things around, unpacked some more boxes, hung a few of the larger pictures, and generally rejoiced.
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We left in the early part of the afternoon and traveled at approximately the same speed as Tropical Storm Barry all the way up. It was a stressful ride with heavy traffic, lots of snarls, and frequent poor visibility. But we're home at last, safe and dry, and trying to get back on speaking terms with our cat. And feeling so proud of these kids who have not been married even a year yet, and in eleven months time saved enough for a down payment on a lovely, wonderful home!