The remainder of the weekend flew by and too soon Monday morning came. I had made arrangements with the Traffic Management Office (TMO) for the packers to come Monday and Tuesday. Then I had scheduled the truck to come pick up our items on Wednesday. We had to do it that way because we were replacing the carpet in our entire two floor home on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately there was a mix up with the TMO office. The packers came Monday to pack our three bedroom home and the truck was schedule to pick up Tuesday morning.
There were 3 or 4 packers and they worked until 8pm but they did not have enough time to finish our house. When the truck showed up they were still throwing the things in boxes. As the day wore on and the light faded the packers began throwing things onto the truck. By that point we were all exhausted and many of our items were not taken care of properly.
I was happy to see the truck pull away. After they left we still had to set up our air mattresses. We slept fitfully and dawn approached quickly. The men came to replace the carpet bright and early Thursday morning and we were off for the day to let them do their work. Surprisingly by 5pm they were finished with the entire house and we were left to spend the rest of the evening in peace. Friday and Saturday were spent cleaning and then we loaded up the vehicles on Sunday morning.
We were traveling with 6 dogs, so we had to figure out how to fit the crates in the pack of a Honda Pilot. It was a tight squeeze, that's for sure. One of the dog's was in a soft sided crate. He was so excited that he actually jumped out of the back of the SUV. His bag rolled around on the road and he started rolling down the street. We had to open up the crate and then Mike chased him down the street. The poor dog was so confused! (He didn't get hurt)
The cars were loaded, the house was clean and empty, and our household goods were on our way to our new home. It was sad to leave the place we called home for the past three years. My daughter Mya had made so many friends and I new she was sad to go. We stood outside saying our good byes to our house. The roses in the front garden bloomed and waved in the warm breeze. The street was silent as we climbed into our vehicles and drove away.
Our trip to Mike's recruiting station took 3 days. We mapped out our route before we left. We estimated how many miles we could drive the first day and then each subsequent day. The first day we drove the longest and made reservations at a La Quinta Inn that welcomed pets. The next day we left bright and early and drove 8 more hours to our next destination. We stayed at another La Quinta Inn as they were the only hotel we found that did not have a pet limit.
The following morning, Mike checked into his Headquarters. He met with his Sgt Major while I stayed with the animals. After speaking with his CO, XO, Sgt Maj, and everyone else, he received his actual duty station assignment. We were stationed three hours away from his headquarters in a city that was surrounded by nothing but fields and windmills. It was very different from what we were accustomed to.
We drove into town and found yet another hotel room. Luckily we were able to get a suite with a sitting area, two beds, desk, refrigerator and microwave. It wasn't much but it at least had enough room for the dogs, cats, the playpen and the four of us. There was a clean pool downstairs and vending machines, laundry machines, and a grassy area for the dogs. It wasn't perfect but after spending three days on the road it was a dream come true.
-------Coming up Next - The search for our new home-------
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