Remember how we took a little jaunt to the other coast? Remember how I promised to circle back to one of the main focuses of that excursion? Well, friend, today is that day.
Magically my dad found out in his retirement planning that he could actually retire when he turned 62.5 (side note: why does the government think half numbers are ever a good idea for anything? seriously.) Huh. Well yes, that would be right around mid April. Neil was already planning on hauling the trailer out when my dad was going to move…but we realized it could happen in conjunction with the wedding instead of it being a separate trip in June. And the crazy scheme was born.
Neil didn’t really take pictures of the drive out. I guess there isn’t anything exciting about Garyn and Naomi reading or watching shows together. Aaannnddd…that about sums up their four days of driving.
They timed it just right to pick us up at the airport and we played with my sisters for the rest of the evening. The next day was “load the trailer day” and it was great. We had an old guy master packer who organized and utilized every nook and cranny (I was ordered to pack dresser drawers with kitchen stuff. The man was a machine). The park across the street offered some well-deserved play time and towards the end of the morning, my dad’s good buddy Paul showed up with second breakfast…donuts so fancy we quartered them so every one could have a bite of everything.

Day of rest on Easter Sunday, wedding and sleep. Monday back to it to tie up some loose ends. Oh wait! Right. At the reception Neil was chatting with the man who officiated at the wedding ceremony. He made a comment about taking the truck/trailer to a trucking weigh station if there was a concern with the weight. Well, funny thing wedding man! The truck was riding really low in the back so we were wondering! Neil and my dad did not ignore a sound suggestion. They took it to be weighed and, lo and behold, the trailer was loaded 7,000 pounds too heavy. Had they tried to start with that bad things would have happened. Probably in the middle of nowhere New Mexico because that’s how life rolls. The crisis was averted, but new complications taken on. My sisters came by to play and get some stuff we had of theirs and then the big kids and I got on a plane. Long and short, 4 U-Haul Pods were delivered, a crew undid all the brilliant packing work and stuff was re-packed over 5 receptacles.

Finally they were on the road. There were more delays and hiccups but nothing insurmountable. There were endless stretches of boring desert. So. Many. Truck stops. Naps. And maybe more than one “Dad lost his mind!” treats.

At the end of the trip, Neil asked our babies if they would ever be willing to do a long-haul road trip again. He got an enthusiastic and high-pitched, “YEEESSSS!!!” I’d say that’s a solid win.