Actually, no. We’re moving to the beautiful, peaceful, and eminently affordable area west of Seattle, but we’ll have easy no-driving, no-I-5 ferry access to downtown Seattle. It will be effin’ awesome.
Once we get there.
The moving van loads up on Monday morning. Once it has loaded up the remaining contents of our 2100-sq-ft house, we get to load up the cat and the four-year-old in our crossover SUV and start to drive. We project the trip will take 4.5 days. Sometimes in fits of optimism we think 3.5, but we’ll see. Not sure if desperation will drive us to travel for longer or shorter times. While my husband is in this for The Journey, I think everyone else is quite definitely in it for The Destination. We’ll see who wins.
I don’t know how I want you to respond. Just wanted to share. Turns out moving to Seattle is a royal pain in the ass. I hope it’s worth it.
I have felt your pain. Drove/moved from Oregon to Missouri then Missouri to CA. It’ll suck then it’ll be over. Enjoy the sights. Run the kids around at the rest stops if you can. Fill the car up before you think you need to, because there’s a shit load of nothing out there. Keep an eye on the cat. Panting is over-heating. (Your basic info :))
Not sure what else I can offer you other than you’ll see things a lot of other folks who live in the US never do. It’s kinda neat.
I loved that trip. You really get a feel for just how big this country is that you don’t when flying over it. You could do a drive-by of the Corn Palace.
Our weather FINALLY cooled off so at least unloading will be fairly comfortable! Safe travels and welcome to our beautiful state!
My family made a similar move when I was a kid. We hit a good number of sights including Yellowstone, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Wal Drug. I figure that doing it that way has two points in its favor: 1) It made the trip more interesting and gave us things to look forward to each day of the trip. 2) Decades later, I don’t remember all the time spent in the car but I do remember going to some interesting places I don’t know that I’d ever get around to seeing otherwise.
Good luck to you and I wish you well! I have done a similar drive (just a family vacation years ago, not a move), and I have two comments.
The Corn Palace is pretty neat actually. It’s corny (de
rp!) but fun.
You WILL stop at Wal Drug. You will actually not have any choice by the time you get there.
I’m not kidding. You will be driving along roads and you will see approximately eightyfive kabajililliongillion road signs for the place. At the point you get to it–you will be ready to put the 4 year old into the cat carrier with the cat, let them fight it out, and call whomsoever emerges your child.
I’m guessing they probably have some cool place to stick a cat carrier these days. Go, get the free water. Look at the goofy crap. Stretch your legs.
(oops! 3 things!) Brothel Museum??? Dammit, that would’ve been fun! I have been to the Museum of Sex in NYC with my folks…wait, that wasn’t fun. That was a little uncomfortable. And I was in my 40’s at that time.
Moving sucks. It doesn’t matter how much you are looking forward to your new home, the moving part just sucks. If you freeze kitty’s water bowl, the ice will slowly melt so kitty can drink cold water and won’t have water sloshing around in the carrier. The other option is a large rodent water bottle. Cats figure them out really quickly.
Good luck with the drive. Remember to stop on a regular basis to stretch your legs. You don’t want to get to your new home and not be able to move because you are so sore from the drive.