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Don,Quote:
Originally Posted by donj
Maybe you could use this time to resist the temptation of packing every single item and doodad -- it is great to arrive at a new place with little or no extra stuff.
I have found that delays are often the best when embarking on a major change in life -- they allow for the mental shifts that are part and parcel of such moves. So, take it easy. Give yourself permission to be "behind schedule".
M
It's absolutely frustrating -- if you let it be. Just consider it part of the natural progression -- very few things ever go according to the best-laid plans -- and try to keep your cool. Patience can be learned -- I've been practicing it for YEARS, but most folks just think I'm sleeping...
You WILL get there. Don't sweat the small stuff. Bob
Thanks for all your kind words of wisdom.. I agree that this too will pass... just letting off a little steam..
Still planning on taking the same amount of time for the trip.. so arrival time will be pushed back a day at the most..
As to the packing stuff note.. just a little tease to my wife.. i am just as guilty as see is in keeping stuff too long... but i like my stuff and want to get it to arizona now,, even though we won't be there for another few years (long story)
Don j
Hello to all who wrote during this thread.. sorry to keep out of contact... the trip was grueling.. lots of stuff to tell about but just arrived back home tonite....minus my luggage (you gotta love the person who mistakes pittsburgh from philadelphia) oh well, just more laughs for later..
Don J
A guy walks up to the airline ticket counter. He says to the agent, "I need a ticket to Seattle. I've got these three bags to check; I want this one to go to Los Angeles, this one to go to Kansas City, and this last one to go to Miami."
The agent gives him an incredulous look... he says "We can't do that!"
The guy says, "Why not, you did it last week."
Welcome back, Don! We'll let you get a little rest before we bug you for the full report! By the way, if the new Phoenix residents need help learning their new city, have them contact me through the forum, I'll be glad to assist. I'm a lifelong Valley of the Sun resident.
Bob
Well,,,,,,,, we made it finally..........
The trip was a wonderful planning experience ( of course with all your help) and it was finally d-day... Wednesday the 29th I was due in the afternoon to pick up the rental truck and start this crazy adventure..
oh well, so much for plans.. the truck never arrived back that day and finally they called me the next day to say it was in and ready to go..yippee.. already a day late..but we packed the truck ( I never knew how much stuff two "kids" could accumulate into a very tiny one bedroom apartment) and we're ready to go on Friday morning.. just get that tow dolly and we were off..
But... (you guessed it ,, another glitch) the dolly wouldn't handle "either" of our vehicles (even though the web site said no problem ) and we sat there for a few moments in stunned silence before one of us said.. OK >> who is driving which vehicle... let's go... SO off from NJ we went.. one big truck followed by it's two little ducklings ( we all liked that image) on our adventure ( not a nightmare yet)!! All was well, thanks to the AAA trip tics, lotsa goodies in the vehicles, the walkie talkies were working ( but we only had two, so the kids used their cell phones also) and we were pumped thinking, hey this ain't so bad... ha, ha early going adrenaline ..
Then, the Pennsy turnpike hills hit.. gee I never remember them being so bad, but then again I never was in a 24 foot moving van either..but we plugged along and finally made it to our switchover to Route 70, our new road for hundreds of miles..
Enuff for now.. plenty more to tell but fingers still haven't recovered from gripping those steering wheels for 2500 miles then setting up a house for the following four days...
Don J
I'm glad you survived it. I knew you would. Even with the delays and that dang turnpike, it sounds like you enjoyed yourself. I can't wait to hear the details!
Let me see... where did I leave off..
Oh yeah,,, Pennsy TPK... thank goodness we got off and now we were headed onto Route 70 all the way to St. Louis (with minor detours around several of the big cities) .....but the hills kept coming and the little truck that could almost couldn't..my son-in-law was showing a lot of patience as we struggled up and down the many hills till we leveled out in Ohio..
At this time, we seemed to all be feeling fine and decided instead of my original plan to press on at least to Columbus where we made our first stop for sleep (plenty of breaks during the day and a few fun adventures filling up the 50+ diesel tank but I won't bore u with those details now).
That Red Roof Inn looked like a million bucks when we finally got there a little before 8:00 pm ( driving time approx 11 hours and total distance about 500 miles) and we all thought we would rest a few and then get out to have a real meal... hahaha.. that Perkin's right next door turned out to be our dinner choice and then straight to bed to get ready for the next big day ahead..
Rise and shine at 6 am (at least my wife and I, the kids couldn't make it that early) so back to the Perkins for a good hearty breakfast and on the road a little after 7:00 am Saturday morning. At this point in the story telling, I have to admit that the scenery that we passed was all just a blur, so please don't ask any details..all I can remember are roads, trucks, gas stops, and lotsa fields of corn and then the dry desert landscape that came later.
We had decided as we broke out on the road that today we would try to do about 700 hundred miles as we realized that the pace needed to be picked up or we wouldn't get there on July 4th , our original planned date at the new homestead. The day passed pretty uneventful, we slugged thru several states (our grand total was eleven from start to finish) and as the day wore on, we had high hopes of getting all the way to the oklahoma border but alas it was not to be (we had switched over from Route 70 to a southwestern Route 44 outside St.Louis ) .. I do remember glancing over and seeing the arch, oh well maybe another time for a closer look, and also passing over the "mighty"?? Mississippi River .
So with the day dragging on towards nite (but we did at least switch a time zone, although my rear told me that still meant another hour in the seat) we made an executive decision to stop along the way on Rt 44 in Missouri in some backwater town and a rather comical hotel stay (sometimes you just can't believe what the AAA book says about a place, but at least the shower worked, the bed was OK and they had extra pillows,,, dads big pet peeve)
Stats for the day... about 13 hours on the road and approx 650 miles traveled.
Remember, all along the way , we were making stops as you all suggested to get a small rest, get food , run to a bathroom, or to switch the drivers in each of the vehicles. I think that day was my first behind the wheel of the big truck and I found it wasn't that bad,, even got to use the cruise control once or twice on it.
Well enuff for now.. thanks for reading...
Don J
Oh, Don....the way you share your tale is hysterical. I chuckled all the way through.
As for pillows, the beauty of a roadtrip is the ability to bring your own pillows. Just don't leave it in the hotel when you wake up at the crack of dawn to head out on the road like I've done a couple of times.
I'm looking forward to the next installment.
When we last left off... I think we were into our second day and had just stopped somewhere north of the Oklahoma border in a town I would like to forget (and have) but rise and shine, that next day was coming and we were all up and fresh (unlike like our room) to tackle our big day. Looking at our maps and triptixs, we realized even with our big push , day two only had us a little less than halfway there and we were determined to make it to AZ on the fourth of July... so we thought the plan should have us in Albuquerque by the end of the day, a little over 700 miles to go.. yikes
Off we went, still traveling on Route 44 looking to make our big switch to Route 40 in Oklahoma City (and 850 plus miles on that straight road to Flagstaff). The day was going uneventful but that would change significantly upon our travels in OK. I never realized what a little wind could do to a big box truck, but I sure found out in a hurry. After 70 grueling miles against a stiff crosswind, my son-in-law gave me a break (I think that last time I let the tires go off the road really did it) and took over. In between all this fun, my daughter called from the car.. begging for a break.. turns out her cat (oh I guess I haven't said much about that fun part of the trip yet) hadn't quite taken the pill and was driving her crazy in the car. So, we pulled over at a rest stop,, got some gas and forced the cat to swallow the pill. All was well and on we marched,, state after state after state...
Not much to tell as we went,, just more stops , more gas ,, some food and lotsa driving and driving and driving. At this point, we were definitely seeing less and less traffic, then realized it was probably a good thing for us that we left on the holiday weekend.. not as much commercial traffic, not too bad with construction delays, etc. We pressed on and made a gas/food stop somewhere in Texas I think, were we all took a well needed break.. but even this had its little event,, as the electricity for the whole rest stop went out just as I was making a trip to the rest room ..boy weren't we having fun today....and on we went..
As day went slowly on towards nite... we began to realize that the plan for reaching Albuquerque was not gonna happen and plan B was put into motion... DAD, get out the trip tix and tour book and find another place to stay..I called the first big town in NM and it was all booked up.. uh oh.. next one (I had promised all of them after the last nite's stay that I would spring for something a "little" more upscale) we had a winner,, now let's just drive on through to our final stop. We reached the hotel right around 9:00 pm , dead tired and hungry..hunger won out for the men,, so off we searched for something to eat...but it was Sunday nite and other than the few fireworks displays we saw.. not too many choices.. so fast food won out ( we had to bring some back to hotel.. you should've heard the cat when the "kids" left her in the room.. so my daughter had to stay with her) and I was still to "up" after the long drive.. so I tried to get my puter on line.. they said they had internet access, but knew nothing about it (don't u love hearing that.. what are these hotel chains thinking about.. advertise a service,,, but no info or help) and I wasn't successful in making it happen either.
Stats for the big day... approx 700 miles and a bone crushing 15 hours on the road..but we were at least within striking distance of our new home.. so it was all worth it.
Day four...another beautiful day arrived and we were all up, not bright and not early,, but anxious to get going (also realizing we "caught" another hour at the AZ border) supremely confident that this was our last day on the road........ Off we went and the miles just seemed to be flying by..before we knew it..our new home state border was upon us and it wasn't even lunch time yet.. The scenery was getting better and better ( We really do like that desert look, esp after some many years back east ) and each mile was getting us closer and closer.. on to Flagstaff for a pretty funny site... Snow at the top of a really large mountain ( a look at the map says Humphrey's Peak and elev is 12, 500) wow all this way from NJ and we see snow on the fourth of July..
At Flagstaff , we were never so happy so see a new road to turn onto.. Route 17 south (also our last major hwy before the new house) but I had forgotten one major detail...Flagstaff is pretty high up there and Phoenix was about a mile lower in elevation.. but it wasn't a long climb down,, it was several climbs up and down (like a roller coaster) and the big truck was not having a fun time.. my son-in-law was sweatin out a few of those grades, but eventually the city of Phoenix was upon us....
YIIIIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE....We arrived in our new town at about 4:30 ish and just collapsed.....happy for the end and happy for our kids new beginning.. The look on my daughter and son-in-laws face at the sight of their (at least for four years) new home made this crazy idea and trip all worth it for my wife and I..
Final day stats ... Approx 550 miles and 10 hours on the road..
Total trip ..... We think (according to the rental truck ) that we traveled about 2450 miles (didn't set it right at our house when leaving) and that seems to agree with the trip tix which listed about 2418 from start to finish
and we did it in less than four days.. (Left on Friday at 9:00 am and arrived on Monday at 4:30 pm)
There are many more details I have left out.. but again I want to thank those who took the time out of their busy lives to answer any and all of my questions here... Our family made a new start in a new home.. and I hope you have all enjoyed hearing about it..
Thanks
Don J