On Tuesday, September 26th, we hit the open road bound for our new home…Massachusetts.
Our plan was to leave Tucson bright and early the morning of the 25th, but if you know us, you know that surprises always seem to "pop up" to make things take longer. The packing seemed like it would never end. It seemed like we were going to miss the deadline to have our moving containers filled and locked. Towards the final moments of loading, we started to just give things away to the neighbors in pure disgust of having to pack one more thing. We finally had the containers packed as full as they would go. We locked them up around 12 noon on that Monday. About five minutes later…the truck arrived to pick up the containers! Whew! We spent the rest of that day cleaning up the house for the new owner and making sure everything was ready for our road trip.
I am actually very proud of the married couple that Brad and I have
become. Through all of the stress of selling the house, moving across
the country AND changing jobs, we were able to contain our
frustrations, anger (those stupid clear rolls of tape-you know when you
can't find where the starting point is!), and feelings of exhaustion. Actually…I take the "we" part back. I was able to contain all of those things. If you know Brad Schweitzer, you know that that boy already contains all of those things. So, yeah for me!
Road Trip Diary
As experienced by Deanna Schweitzer
Day 1-
Tuesday had arrived. The first day of being homeless. We were able to spend a few nights with Brad's parents, so after saying our tearful good-bye's, we were on our way. We started out at about 9:00 that morning. The load we were carrying felt heavy and it was. We were hauling a car behind us filled with the remains of our house and in the Jeep, there was a traveling zoo. For those of you who do not know, I teach first grade. As a teacher, I have accumulated several animals-two geckos, a rabbit, and a tarantula. Yes, we went across country with a tarantula in the car with us! In addition to those animals we had our beloved labs, Bailey and Brandon. The goal for us that day was to make it to Amarillo, Texas. We were then going to camp at one of the KOA's (Kampsites of America). The drive was long. Not just because we were going a long way, but because Bailey had anxiety riding in the car. For hours, we listened to him whine and pace back and forth in the car and whine and irritate Brandon and did I mention whine? We made several stops to give eveyone a break from THE WHINE. Each new stop brought another, more anxious WHINE. We finally decided to give him some of his "sleepy time" medicine. One hour went by, then another, then another. Brad and I looked at the clock then at Bailey and then at one another. You can probably imagine what our thoughts were. It went something like this…"We aren't dealing with a normal dog.", "What is wrong with this dog?", "Why am I here?", "Could we squeeze him in the other car?". You will be happy to know that Bailey did eventually settle down to rest-once the sun started to set.
Day 2-
The second day of being homeless. This day our goal was to make it to Olathe, Kansas where we would spend the night at our dad's house (Butch Schweitzer). We started out bright and early because we were in need of finding a bathroom. We had pulled off into a picnic area the night before and camped out in the back of the Jeep. It really wasn't as bad as it sounds. The seats in the Jeep fold all the way down. We had inflatable mattress pads and goose down sleeping bags. We slept like logs. So, on the road again we were with the same deafening WHINE as the day before. Even though Bailey had had his "sleepy time" pill, it took him several hours to chill out. We made pretty good time that day. Brad drove most of the way. He seems to get into a zone when eating sunflower seeds. I sat and did word searches and crossword puzzles. You know, they are good exercise for your brain! We arrived in Olathe just in time for dinner. It was really good to see Butch and Anna. We always feel at home with them. It was also nice to have a warm bed and a shower! Anna was so sweet, she had made us a travel basket with all kinds of goodies for us and Bailey and Brandon.
Day 3-
The third day of being homeless. We started out around 10 am. We wanted to say our good-byes to the parents and were able to see Ashlyn. She is one of our relatives. Not much to tell about this day. Pretty monotonous-sleepy time pill, driving, the WHINE, sunflower seeds, puzzles, the WHINE, more driving, pit stops, and finally sleepy time somewhere in Ohio. We did drive through St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus. Be sure to check out our pics!
Day 4-
Yes, fourth day of being homeless. This day we made it far into New York. What a beautiful state! We were able to catch a nice sunset that was highlighting the rich fall colors of the trees. The air also had this crispness to it. It really was beautiful! We were able to stop and get a pretty close to homemade meal and this particular restaurant. We had turkey with mashed potatoes and stuffing. The perfect hot meal to end an autumn day. I did get us a little lost. There was some construction and I got a little confused. It wasn't too bad though, we only drove 160 miles out of the way. Just kidding! It was about 60. See, not so bad. We did end up on a back road at like 1:00 in the morning and the fog was so thick and heavy. It took us a while to recover the loss because we could only drive about 25 miles per hour on that road. About 2:30 am, we stopped in a rest area for a few hours of sleep. Brad woke about 5:00 and drove us into Mass. It was a beautiful morning welcoming us home. The sun was rising and the leaves were golden. The dew glistened in the sun and a slight fog rose from the ground. We drove to pick up our keys to our new home. That took several hours actually. Once we arrived to our new place, we took a nice long nap.
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