Packing up the house took FOREVER and we had lots of help from friends, the YW, neighbors and family. Grandma and Grandpa Archibald flew out 2 days early to help us pack, load and drive the truck. We needed to make it all fit on one truck so we had to leave some stuff behind to throw away or donate. Our good friend, Amy drove a couple of loads to Goodwill for us. My bible study friends surprised me and showed up on our last day to help pack up stuff. We didn't finish on the day we had hoped to, but got really close. It happened to be during the 3 days a year that flies were out like CRAZY (something to do with the farmland next to our property) and got in the house with the doors open to load the truck. Like hundreds of flies. Mrs. Betty surprised us with breakfast the next day and stayed to help with the final boxes. We made a last minute decision to hire our church friend, Patricia Vernon to do a deep clean after we left since we didn't have enough time to clean it like we wanted. We finally finished loading the last of the stuff that fit around lunch time and we had to change where we planned to stop for the night because we didn't have enough driving hours left. Grandpa and Grandma Archibald left as soon as the truck was packed so they could get on the road first (knowing they would travel slower)
I drove the van (also packed to the brim from the middle seat back...) with Gwen, Alec, Freddy and Max. We left around 2 because Max was WAY PAST ready for a nap and was just getting completely in the way as we tidied up and threw away the final things (leaving the house in show-ready state as it was still on the market) Chris and Charlie stayed longer to finish the last touch ups like sanding the putty we had put on all the empty nail holes, and then they painted over the putty! They also drenched themselves in sweat as they pulled the many bags of garbage to the top of the driveway and finished all the final clean up. Its just mind boggling how long this process took.
I was loath to get too far ahead of Chris on the drive because I wanted to caravan together. So I tried to take up some time by getting one final lunch in at a favorite Starkville restaurant, the Little Dooey. Such. Good. Barbeque. Max lasted pretty well, because most of his tantrum like behavior was induced from hunger!
Chris got off around 4:00 and we couldn't use our walkie-talkies to communicate because we had more than 5 miles between our cars! (I didn't think about that when we bought them for this drive). Grandma and Grandpa arrived at the hotel first and reserved two rooms. The kids and I got in just after 8 and Chris pulled in around 30 minutes after us. Sweet Chris made up the time with super short stops and only fast food. It felt so good to be all together finally and on the road. We got out earlyish around 8 for another long day... but driving the cars was WAY better than the bustle and stress of packing up the house. I actually think the hours on the road listening to a book on tape while the kids watched movies (I was soooo ok with them putting movie after movie in) were quite enjoyable. I loved radioing in to Chris (who drove just behind me with two kids) whenever I felt like it.
And then Gwen screamed in the front seat.
Actually first she said, "Alec, stop" and then she turned around and screamed. She screamed and shimmied out of her seatbelt in the front seat without unbuckling it and was in the middle seat all in the time it took for me to say, "WHAT?" Trying not to crash as I'm driving down the freeway, I tried to understand what happened. She told me she felt something tickle her back and when she looked she saw a long dark tail. She thinks it was a lizard. Luckily there was an exit just in time and I pulled off as I radioed Chris telling him Gwen saw a lizard. We hang out at the side of the road of the off ramp and open the doors and look for it. The cars packed and a mess and we can't find anything, it could be anywhere (if there was really a lizard at all). Chris helps us look but after 20 minutes we decide to just keep driving but I make Alec sit in the front seat. (Gwen refuses). We drive not more than 20 feet before Alec screams "I saw it!" and I pull to the side of the road of the on ramp. Chris helps us look again and we see it in the bottom pocket of the passenger side door. I'm picturing a little green lizard that we saw on our back deck all the time... but its a massive SKINK... a blue, slimy-looking half-lizard/ half snake thing with a thick long tail and body and neck. I am sooo relieved its in the door so we can open it wide and with Chris standing between the door and the rest of the inside of the car we block its ability to get back into the car and lost amongst all the cracks and crevices there. No one wants to touch it and after 5 minutes of drying to scare it to jump out on its own, I tell the kids I'll pay someone 20 dollars to pick it up. Charlie bravely says he'll do it, but keeps jumping back when the skink moves. Chris eventually gets it to hop out of the pocket by using a Triscuit box and Charlie kind of helps with magazine. It slithers away into the dry Kansas grass and I kinda feel bad knowing it'll probably die in such a dry climate. But also I'm just a little creeped out.... It had been in the car with us for more than 24 hours!?!?! If it had crawled across my legs while I was driving, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have ever made it to Utah alive.
Grandma and Grandpa accidentally made a wrong turn and somehow added 2 hours to their route to catch back up with us. Chris and I found this out around dinner time and we decided to just stay where we were for the night and get to the hotel early so Grandma and Grandpa don't have to drive super late into the night to catch up. That was such a blessing to the kids. They've had to deal with stressed out parents for SO many weeks and the drive and skink incident were taking its toll, we were all a little anxious. We found a hotel and all went swimming after dinner and before bedtime.
That night, I woke up in the middle of the night because the room was shaking and rattling. Everyone else was still asleep but I woke Chris up and said I think its an earthquake.... mostly because I thought he'd tell me I was wrong and that everything was fine. The room and everything in it continued to shake for a few more seconds as we both just sat up and looked around and then it stopped. Everything was quite and nothing was wrong so we went back to sleep... which wasn't that hard since we were both SO exhausted. Moving 7 months pregnant is not EASY. We looked up on the internet the next morning and got confirmation. A 4.something earthquake was recorded just a little ways away!
We left early and weren't sure if we'd make it all the way home or if we'd have to stop for a 3rd night since we hadn't been able to travel as far as we'd like the previous two days. But we did! We drove constantly and pulled in after 9:00pm on the third day. Whew! We made it. Chris and I and James drove the whole way. I sorta thought Dixie would be able to spell me off with driving but they never actually traveled with us... and always ended up being behind or ahead of us, we only saw them at the hotels at night and in the morning. I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle driving that much, being pregnant with gestational diabetes, not really able to snack on food to keep me awake. I munched on ice chips and snacked on veggies, nuts and cheese occasionally but mostly it was the book on tape keeping me awake.
