Ugh, Moving

On the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, the moving van showed up in Long Beach and we started the process of unwinding life in our house there. It's always sad to see a home deconstructed, but at least we got to look forward to reconstructing a new home on the other end.

Allie was none-too-pleased with the chaos but she tried to remain calm.

It only took the movers two days to pack and load! That is a record for us, by a lot. On Saturday morning Allie and I hit the road on a cloudy morning and headed south to pick up our niece Lauren from San Juan Capistrano, where she was visiting my mom.

With Lauren in the car we were able to easily get to Tucson in a day. (It's only an eight hour drive, but I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to driving that far in one day by myself.)

Along the way we stopped in Dateland, which as far as we could tell consists of exactly one store, and we loaded up on dates. It looks like a tourist trap (which it is), but c'mon, who can resist a place called Dateland?

We got to Tucson in time for a dinner with Brad in a very empty house.

It wouldn't be empty for long. First thing on Sunday morning the movers showed up and we did everything in reverse.

The movers did a good job of taking care with the Polish chest. Peter and John know that if and when we decide it needs to go in a different place that we'll wait for them to visit before making any moves, as moving the Polish chest is their area of expertise.

The unpacking took days. Lauren stayed and was a huge help. Everything in the house is now unpacked. The garage is our next frontier. As for the house, although it's unpacked, it looks like a tornado came to Tucson and tore through our house only.

Lauren and I found some time to play too. There are some good hiking areas around here. We hiked  at Sabino Canyon where it was lush.

Later in the week we hiked at Saguaro National Park and it looked like Arizona.

Life is far from normal, but that's the direction we're heading in. Allie's been out in the neighborhood and here she is getting petted by a neighbor. She had a hard time adjusting at first but she's warming up to the idea of a new house and a new life. We all are. Ugh, moving.