The Move

Good news! I have located the cord which allows me to upload my pictures from camera to computer, so now I can relay the story of my trip from Austin to Raleigh. Yay!

Packing was less terrible than I imagined it would be, although it was by no means something I would want to do again soon. I had tried to sort through all my things and donate and discard in the weeks prior to me moving, but there were still a few things that I found that needed to be let go of on the day of the move. My dad and Aaron were incredible help with packing up the Uhaul. If I were doing it alone, I probably would have given up and stayed in Austin. One of my greatest fears was that I would have more stuff than the Uhaul could hold, but thankfully this was not the case and I even had a little extra space left. With the the trailer packed and my car on the dolly, I bid farewell to Austin apartment and stayed my last night in Texas at my parents'.

Driving Day 1

Hoping to get ahead of morning traffic, Aaron and I left some time after 7. I was tired, Aaron was tired, and it looked gross outside. And cold...very cold.


So, on the road went me and my worldly possessions. Aaron and I enjoyed listening to our favorite morning show, JB & Sandy, and getting used to driving something a little larger than our compact cars. After a few, er, "bumps" in the road, I got the hang of driving it, and trucking along we went.

Texas took a long time to get out of, but doesn't it always? We saw the Sanderson Farm chicken factory, lots of cows which Aaron was eternally excited to spot, and smelled dead skunks. Lots and lots of dead skunks.

Louisiana did not take too long to drive through, but it was rougher than Texas due to the road conditions. To say the road surface was uneven is an understatement. And, since Uhauls are not built for comfort, we left Louisiana feeling a little beat up.

I think leaving Louisiana was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Not only because of the roads, but because you get to drive across the Mississippi River.

This is the Mississippi. Looks like...a river. Had we been driving in the other direction, I could have gotten a picture of a steamboat, but our side was steamboat-less.

The Mississippi River Bridge. I am sure it has a better name than that, but you get the idea of what it is.
Aaron. Aaron scared. Of what I don't know. This may have been one of the times when he recalled all the work he needed to be doing for school and freaked out a little. Or he could have been providing me comic relief. It is hard to tell sometimes.

Mississippi and Alabama blended together, so there is not much more to say about driving day one. We stopped and slept at a Super 8 somewhere past Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was late, we slept. We woke up...

Driving Day 2
...and we were hungry. Aaron wanted Wendy's. I wanted a breakfast taco. We found a Wendy's but it had not opened yet. So, we walked to the nearby Waffle House. I have only been to one other Waffle House in my life and it was not a great experience. I ordered toast and, when I got it, it was drenched in butter. Yuck. So, I was leery of this. But, they did have breakfast tacos. Or so I thought...I hope it is apparent what is extremely wrong with this picture. I do not know which is more bizarre, mayo with my taco or pickles with my taco. I mean, mayo? On eggs and bacon? The taco itself was not too bad...until I reached the cheese. It was not shredded cheddar; it was canned nacho cheese consistency, but without the spicy kick. Not the breakfast of champions I had hoped for.

It did not take long for us to get into Georgia, a welcome relief that now only two states were between us and Raleigh. I like Georgia. I have not visited there but once, but it seems like a state I would not mind living in. It has peaches and BBQ and Coke. Southern accents. Paula Deen. Now that I live closer to it, I may have to pay Georgia a visit.

Georgia's one great excitement was that there was a wreck further up on the road we were traveling and, Aaron and I, wishing to avoid long delays, figured out a new route to get us to Greenville, SC where we could return to our normally scheduled route. Off the beaten path we went and what an adventure it was. Since I was navigating, I pulled out the atlas and figured out a way for us to get off the highway with the wreck and not lose much time. Aaron, being the driver, drove. It worked well for about 20 minutes until Aaron saw a sign for the highway we eventually wished to return to. This was not part of my navigation route, but it was too late to say anything now. I feared we had not gone far enough and would intersect with the traffic from the wreck. Well...the sign for the highway and the highway were a bit farther apart than Aaron thought it would be...by about 30 minutes. But, once on the highway, traffic was clear and all was once again right in the world. And we got to see "backwoods" Georgia, go through a few towns we never thought we would see.

I do not recall much of South Carolina. Lots of Chick-fil-As.

North Carolina - finally! Aaron was happy.

Unfortunately, the beauty of North Carolina was hidden from us. Why? Because of fog.

It gave off this creepy, Civil War ghosts feel. Sadly, fog soon led to rain, which turned to downpour. And, due to time change issues, we were unable to get to my new apartment before they closed for the day, so moving was delayed until Saturday morning. But, I am not sure I would have wanted to move stuff Friday evening. I could barely move myself!

Moving in was not as easy as moving out, and that is because I am weak. Weak! I can carry boxes, but not furniture. And definitely not a recliner sofa. But, everything got in my apartment, which is still in the process of being unpacked. I hung something on the wall yesterday, so cosmetic progress is being made...very slowly. I am still searching for a job, but everyone I have spoken says that it should not be too difficult, so I hope they are right.

Moving, all in all, was pretty fun. Hard and a long road (literally and mentally) to get here, but so far I am glad I did it.