I have seen the Future and it Doesn't Look Good

Well, at 0802 this morning the trip across country began from Holden Beach, NC. We woke at 0630 to a blistering thunderstorm that rattled the house and brightened the dawn with lightening. The torrents of rain filled me with foreboding that I was desperate to shake off. Two melt-downs over breakfast before I had a chance to gulp down my coffee filled me with concern. Were we really going to do this and survive? I cried as I said good-bye to my parents. Moving is never easy, although I know we will see them again soon, it is just hard saying good bye. I am never good at it.

30 minutes into the drive, Little Miss Sunshine (LMS) started complaining of a tummy ache and proceeded to throw up all over herself. Then the check engine light came on. 20 minutes later, the expectoration seemed to have cured LMS’s disposition and a revoltingly expensive can of air freshener from a gas stationed seems to have cleared the air. We have decided that since the Volvo car place cleared our car before the trip, we’ll just have to hope that the engine light is a fluke. Please pray that it is so.

It took us over 6 hours to make it through North Carolina with a pit stop at Waffle House for lunch. Mr. Hawking has decided that breakfast, lunch and dinner should be at Waffle House. I am afraid his teeth will fall out if he continued to eat the amount of syrup in which he douses his waffles. The manager asked if we had just the left the beach and asked where home was—we got several double looks when we explained we were on our way to a new home outside Seattle, WA. We also passed the NC Wine Festival. You would be proud of our restraint.

325 work emails later, while fighting with terrible connectivity and a @$%^#$&% VPN line, I have struggled all day to catch up with work and convince myself I can work and move across country at the same time. We’ll see how it goes. I have 13 emails still waiting to be transferred out to those waiting breathlessly for my wealth of knowledge and I just found out that they will be doing maintenance on the server all weekend that I planned to work. Hmmmm….already things are not going as planned.

We are now in West Virginia and both Treb and I are ready to stop for some adult libation. The kids are unimpressed without our enthusiastic rendition of “Take me Home Country Roads.”
For all that the state of Virginia is so proud of itself, we’ve got to hand it to WV that not only do we have 70 mph on the interstate again; we have better internet connection; wider roads and better drivers. Take that Virginia! However, we also have tolls. Our toll booth guy’s name is Jimmy (not Jesus—he works on the New Jersey Turnpike).

We are singing songs about the states as 8 hours of Star Wars have finally worn off. The GPS says we will arrive in St. Louis at 2350, although we are not sure we will make it that far. We’ll see. We have seen from experience that plans are not worth the paper they are written on. As the Sailor reminds me, we don’t have plans, we have intentions.

We’ve been through two tunnels thus far that fascinate the kids, but make me grump since it means I lose my connectivity again. I am typing this in Word now, since trying to connect, type and upload online is a hazard that I am not going to attempt. WV is beautiful though. I have never seen so many shades of green. It is amazing.

Best Bumper Sticker: Everyone in Front of Me is a Lap down

Best News: My mom is officially in remission and free of cancer! She celebrates her 66th birthday tomorrow.

Most astounding: Our Stuff has already arrived at Fort Lewis. Go figure. I also have a tan, which I know is bad for my health, but hey, the sun felt great. And my mother and my mother-in-law get along great, but I can still beat them both in cards. They have it out to get me now.

The Sailor informs me that this post makes it sound like today has been a bad day, which it hasn’t really. More of an eye roller; “you have to be kidding me” sort of moment. Don’t I have another post requesting an eye-rolling icon smiley-con? Truly, this is a drop in the bucket and a typical Courie trip. I am sure that there will be more excitement to come.

Tomorrow is another day!:) We are aiming to see the St. Louis Gateway Arch before heading to Fort Riley, KS.