On the Road!

 Monday the 17th finally arrived, whether we wanted it to or not...  A final night in our home, and then we were off to the sunnier shores of Toledo OH for an evening.  We had a not-too-hard time wrangling the cats into their respective boxes, dropped a bunch more stuff off at Aunt Dorothy's for her yard sale, Greg packed the cars with the precision of a Tetris master, we stopped at my dad's to bid him "see you next time!" (more than a few tears did I shed) and we were on our way.  

Our first big stop was in Buffalo for ramen.  It so happened that one of my college BFF's lives in Buffalo, so I sent him a message once I knew where we were stopping and asked him to meet us.  We enjoyed a really lovely lunch together and Leah enjoyed 'real' ramen.  She seemed to like it, as judging by the fact I was treated to listening to some sort of Japanime the whole way to Toledo from there on.  She also seemed to like Todd, having snooped through his and my private messages on Facebook and chatting with him a bit.  She declared him "the kindest man in the whole world." 

 

 

The main issue we had while driving is that although I knew that I90 in NY was a toll road, I wasn't aware it was basically a toll road through Illinois.  I put my EZPass up and prayed the entire way, but I kept getting passed through, so it seemed to work.  In fact, just a couple of days ago, I got an email that I'm only $3 in the hole to whoever the EZPass company is, so I paid that off and we can call it a day!  

We arrived at our AirBNB with no trouble.  The owners let us block them into the driveway so we didn't have to leave the car on the street.  In no way, shape, or form were we prepared for the spectacle that awaited us at this place.  It was a feast for the senses, to say the least.  Every last surface was covered with artfully arranged memoribilia and bric-a-brac and it was just absolutely fascinating to look at.  Like a museum, honestly!  We talked to the owners about restaurant recommendations and wound up downloading the DoorDash app and ordering Greek food for dinner.  What a world we live in, honestly!  It worked out just great--came quick and couldn't have been easier.

 

The cats were miserable having been locked up all day and then locked into a small bedroom, but we didn't dare let them run loose.  We were up bright and early the next morning, cats in boxes, breakfast procured from a local Panera, and I backed into their neighbor's car, which was parked at the end of the driveway.  I got out and didn't see any damage, so I decided to keep going, but we got a text later in the day asking if we knew anything about it, and I 'fessed up' and let them know it was me, and filed a claim.  It was a good learning lesson for Leah to see me take responsibility and I don't think I'd have felt very good about myself if I hadn't told the truth.

A few hours into the drive, we had a jailbreak.  Leah's cat Stepstool decided she wasn't riding in a box, and she chewed her way out the side of one of the soft side carriers we had brought.  She was swiftly followed by Lord Furrington, Leah's other cat, who manipulated the zipper on the other carrier and managed to get out.  Consequently, we were forced to make an unscheduled stop in Michigan to buy a new cat carrier, which REALLY made Stepstool angry, as it was one she couldn't get out of.

 

That night, we stayed in Rochester MN, home the Mayo Clinic.  We got another AirBNB and were greeted by the hostess, who lives next door.  As crazy as the other place was, this particular place was absolutely pristine and austere.  We decided to let the cats run wild as there was nowhere for them to really go and hide.  They were happy to stretch their legs and get away from each other.  We used DoorDash again and enjoyed a nice dinner together before relaxing on our last night before arriving in South Dakota.

Driving through MN the next morning offered some unexpected delights.  First off, we found signs for the Spam Museum!  We didn't know that there was such a thing, or that Spam hailed from MN.  We were 30 minutes early to actually go in, so we didn't get to take a tour.  But we stopped for photos and when we got out, Greg said, "I was thinking "Awww, we don't get to go to the Spam Museum!""  We're on the same wavelength for sure :) 

Then we continued on down the road and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sign suggesting we visit Blue Earth MN's Green Giant.  Turns out Green Giant foods is also out in MN!  They've built a massive Green Giant and we for sure had to go check that out.  Turns out there was a geocache hidden nearby, so we had fun finding that as well!

All the while, our mortgage representative had been calling me with last minute information about things that needed doing before we could close.  She called once to stay that I had to sign a particular paper before close of business that day or the sale wouldn't go through on time, so I pulled into a service area and took care of that.  Then a bit later on in the middle of BFE, MN, she finally called with the final closing amount for the down payment, etc.  I had to pull into a dirt patch and call my bank, who said they needed 24 hours to complete the wire transfer--we had 18.  Needless to say I was very anxious!

Me making real estate deals like a boss in MN!

 

Eventually we crossed into South Dakota.  We stopped at the Welcome Center to pick up bunches of brochures and take some pictures of our triumphant entry into the state.  I emailed one to my fellow senior librarian and captioned it, "You're stuck with us now!"  She emailed back "haha!"  

We stopped in Sioux Falls for a trip to Barnes & Noble for Leah's newest stash of manga novels and a quick lunch before getting back on the highway for the last stretch.  I thought it would be a quick trip between SF and Pierre, but it's actually nearly three hours.  We saw beautiful rolling grasslands all along and lots of wide open spaces which Leah and I were not prepared for, having never been to this part of the country before.  We stopped at our last AirBNB of the trip, dropped off the cats, and then headed over to our new house to meet up with our realtor, Bob Gill, to see that everything was in order for our closing the following day.  I asked him to bring a "sold" sign so we could have one of those stereotypical pictures on the front steps.  

Once we got inside, we found beautiful banners and signs and posters all over, as well as cards and gifts from Mary, her kids and grandkids, and some anonymous benefactors who wanted to welcome us to Pierre.  I've never had a nicer welcome, honestly!  We checked out the house and I honestly just fell in love with it immediately.  It is absolutely perfect for us, the right size and lay out and everything.  If you'd like to see a video tour of it, you can click here.  I immediately fell in love with the place, and I couldn't wait to move in!

We rolled back to the AirBNB and used DoorDash a final time to order from a local BBQ joint before collapsing and going to sleep.  The next morning, Greg and I headed to the title company and completed the closing for our house (the wire transfer went through just fine) and became homeowners together for the first time!

We picked Leah and the cats up from the AirBNB (the cats were not happy about going back in the boxes) and drove 10 minutes to the new house (the cats were very confused about such a short day in the boxes).  Our neighbors, Harlan and Yvette, came over and introduced themselves and we had a really lovely chat about the neighborhood and the house and they were happy we are cat people who like to garden, and vice versa!  We unloaded our cars and ran to a local big box store to get chairs to sit, as we had gotten rid of most of our furniture and we had no idea when the moving truck might arrive.  A co-worker at the library lent us air mattresses, and we were as furnished as we were going to get for a while!

That afternoon, we went to the local hospital, which was having a Covid vaccine clinic, and Leah got her first shot.  She gets her next one mid-June and we'll be able to relax a good bit more after that!

Afterwards, Mary had us over to meet her whole family and have a BBQ, which was incredible and really took the pressure off the Door Dash people!

And with that, we are now Pierre-ians.  Or is that Pierre-ites?  Pierre-isians?  Whatever it is, we are!  Four cats, three humans, two cars, nine states, 1800+ miles, and we did it.  I'm so proud of our little team.  What an adventure.

This House Was My Home

Saying goodbye to #17 is so difficult, in some ways more difficult than saying goodbye to our home in Virginia.  This morning, I laid on the floor of the empty living room, absolutely sobbing about saying goodbye.  It's been waterworks on and off for days... Leaving here is one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long while...

I had a history in this house--I started visiting it when I was in fourth or fifth grade for sleepovers.  I always loved coming here--Mrs. P was a warm homemaker and the house was always friendly and warm and beautiful.  I had dreams of living here, I seriously did.  

When I moved back home in 2017, my first thought was "Maybe I can own the Leonard Drive house!"  Then I found out that a young family was living there, and I thought they were never going to leave.  Only weeks later, I saw on Facebook that they did indeed want to sell, and I quickly visited and made an offer on the place, and by November 2018, my childhood wish came true.  I eagerly explored every nook and cranny.  I got new furniture for the place.  Like me, the place had been through some things but was still standing, and I couldn't have been happier to live here.  The neighbors were great, the street quiet, and I felt very proud of myself for being able to buy it on my own.  It was a symbol of my independence and my ability to provide for my daughter and I without having any kind of head start or help.  

I am giving it up now.  Not because I especially want to--in fact, I'd like nothing better than to keep it.  Unfortunately, the reality is that we would not be able to come back from SD to use it as often as I think would be useful in a vacation home to maintain the upkeep and taxes on it.  I got a very generous offer on the place, which will allow me to move into a new home in South Dakota, with my fiance and my daughter, and we will be able to start our lives as a family together.

Oh how I'll miss it though!  I can't say how terribly I'll miss my dad.  He has been a rock for me during this past 3+ years, helping with childcare, looking after his grand-cats, helping with maintenance questions, having us over to Sunday dinners, and of course letting us live with him for most of a year while we were getting established.  We had our fair share of disagreements, and we lived through some history together (I had to go to his house to watch the Capitol insurgency because we don't have cable), and we've laughed so much together.  He's been so good to me and Leah and Greg and Alia and 'the other one'...  Dad, you are a star.  Thank you.  

We've made some amazing memories here as well...  I hosted my fourth exchange daughter, Alia from Malaysia, here and it was a great semester with her.  Greg and I shared our first kiss in the living room and decided to get engaged in this house... I let Leah ride her bike into town independently here.  I had a really amazing start to my career at the local library, where I got to work for three years and became known as a leader in my field to a certain extent, which allowed me to get the dream job I really, really desperately wanted.  We've starred in shows and enjoyed the local festival, I learned about gardening and landscaping, we built an amazing fairy garden, and of course, we weathered the virus in relative safety.

Leah and I 'tattooed' our house in Virginia when we left--we found an out of the way spot where we could sign the wall and left our mark where we don't think it will be discovered.  We did the same tonight (with Greg), so that a piece of us will remain here.  I'm so, so grateful I had a chance to live in the house of my dreams.  I honestly didn't take a single moment of my time in this home for granted, and it's over far too soon.  I hope the new owner loves and honors and cherishes it like I did...  It deserves it.  

Finally, I thank all of you who had a part in our lives here.  When I leave tomorrow, with tears in my eyes to be sure, I hope you know I'll be thinking of you all with gratitude, and maybe a bit of awe.  This is not an easy place to live sometimes, but you have all made it much easier on me.  It's not goodbye, it's merely "see you later"... 

The Final Push

Tonight is our last night at #17.  Tomorrow, we head out on the open highway and by Tuesday, almost all traces of our time here will be erased when the movers and cleaner come, the septic and leech field guys do their thing, and we close this chapter on our lives.

The last ten days or so have been incredibly stressful.  We hosted a huge moving sale last weekend, and I thought we had gotten rid of everything there was to get rid of.  Little did I know!  Thankfully Greg's mom and dad were able to come up and provide much needed organizational support--I had thrown everything in a lump on the garage and it was all chaotic and disorganized.  Greg's dad did a lot of moving, his mom was good at categorizing and organizing, and then I was able to go through when they lost steam and price everything.  Good teamwork!  Once the sale was done, we took our leftovers to "Aunt Dorothy", a local woman who runs a huge sale every year to benefit the local nursing home residents.  And all week, we've been bringing her things.  It's wild. 

On Monday, we took Greg's car in for service, which wound up needing an extra day due to some repairs, which meant we were a one car family for several days, because after we got his car back, my car went in.  That meant driving both Greg and Leah to school and back, as well as trying to navigate pick up of the cars.  

Also Monday was our last Lion's Club meeting and I will miss those people so much <3  It was the first club I joined after I got home, and I was welcomed with open arms.  I have enjoyed serving with them and spending time with them, and I hope to keep in touch with many of them even from afar!

Thursday morning, my car was still in the shop, and I had to travel to nearby Carthage to sign the sale papers on my house, so I had to get my dad's car, go sign the paper work (40+ minutes each way for an 8 minute appointment!), pick my dad up, we drove to get my car, and then finally home.

On Thursday evening, our moving company called to say they couldn't do our move after all.  This left us 72 hours to get ourselves together and find a new way of moving our gear.  We ultimately found another moving company, only to have the charges declined on Greg's card.  He called his card company, and they have placed a 7-14 day security hold on his bank card, which meant having to use other funds (which we had available, thankfully!) to pay for the move.  UN-fortunately, however, we won't get the points from his card for our honeymoon next year!  Doubly unfortunately, our gear will not arrive for 4-21 days.  Anyone care to guess that ours probably won't arrive for 21?  So we had to scramble our packing plans--we'd gone from "Pick up Sunday and deliver Thursday" to "Pick up Tuesday and deliver sometime before mid-June".  

On Friday, both Greg and Leah finished school for the year.  Greg graduated with his AAS in land surveying technology.  Leah is no longer a sixth grader.  Leah also finished the sixth grade production of The Wizard of Oz, in which she had the lead role of Dorothy.  I'm so proud of them both.  It was a tough year for Greg especially, and I know Leah is sad saying goodbye to the kids she has been friends with for the 3 1/2 years that we have been here.  She had the benefit of a small school and a small group of kids who welcomed her into their midst so warmly.  She has had a great time at Clifton-Fine, even if I wasn't always satisfied with the way things were being done. haha

So to celebrate, on Friday night, we sparked up our fire pit and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, chased each other with the house, sword fought with sticks, and generally let out a lot of emotion. 

Sword fighting and fire in the yard--we live on the edge!

So then, I finally had some help getting packed.  And we had 48 hours to pack, because despite the moving snafus, we still have to leave tomorrow morning because of our closing on Thursday morning on the South Dakota house.  And because I didn't correctly estimate how much stuff we actually owned, our bill shot up a few hundred dollars, and we've been trying to cram as much as we possibly can into our cars, while leaving Greg plenty of open space for the cats, who are all traveling in style in the Gregmobile.  

Today was a whirlwind of packing--we had a massive mountain of clothing.  So much so that we actually donated eight giant trash bags full and still have filled a bunch of space bags and suitcases!  We sat down to dinner at 8pm, sandwiches from the local convenience store, and ate on 'the good china'.  I can't even remember the last thing I actually cooked here!  

Dinner on the 'good china' our last night in NY

My dad has wanted to spend as much time with us as possible, and we've been without basic supplies or food, so we've been running up and down the hill to his place to eat meals, watch football (SDSU was in a championship game of some sort but lost by 2 points :( ), and play games. We've also had people in and out to get furniture, much of which we wound up giving away, and a cleaner in to give us an estimate because we won't be able to clean after our stuff leaves.  Plus friends and neighbors have come over to say goodbye.    It's been an absolute whirlwind.

That's the mechanics of our last week in NY.  The emotions I'll cover in a second post...  Because I have a lot of them.  I've been waiting for this weekend since the end of March when I went to Pierre.  Now that it's here, I can't believe how much we've had to do!  Holy smokes, it's been crazy.  I can't wait to get out there and maybe be able to relax a smidgen--albeit on the floor as we'll have no furniture.   But we'll be there, and that's what will matter.  See you all from SD!

Starting to Plan a Life

Our lives in Pierre are slowly starting to take shape.  Here in NY, we are finishing--we accepted an offer on our house this week, and the packing is coming along nicely.  The garage is full of yard sale treasures and it's much fuller than our shed of keep items (that will change, I'm quite sure!).  I packed all the baking items! :-(  Officially no more baking till the other side!

What's exciting to me is making plans on the other end!  We actually have South Dakota dates penned on our calendar at home.  I can't wait for some of this good stuff...

On May 19, we will finally get to see our house in person!  On May 20, we will close on our little cottage in the city and on May 21, we will have our stuff delivered.  We'll spend the weekend trying to get somewhat organized, and then the real fun begins!

I start work on May 24th.  It will be the first time, I realized today, that I have worked full time in 12 years.  I am both excited and terrified to have a real schedule, and my own work space, which I have never, ever had in my professional life--it's always been shared space.  Funny what a luxury my own cube seems!

Mary sent me the Zesto recipe calendar for May.  Zesto is the local ice cream joint and on May 24, we will definitely be enjoying blackberry ice cream--it's like they knew we were coming!  On May 25, the local Expedition League baseball team, the Pierre Trappers, has its home opener for the season, and I bought Greg season tickets for his May 27 birthday, so we have a fun family activity to do throughout the summer.

Mary also clued me in to Oahe Days, a local arts and music festival with a small rodeo and carnival and food trucks, which sounds like so much fun!  So that is on our June calendar. 

Since we'll be living kind of right downtown, we've been mapping everything for walking and biking, and I think we're going to manage to be much more active.  Leah has already charted a course for the local grocery and convenience stores for snack runs, as well as the Y and the library so she won't be stuck home all summer.  This brings with it a lot of fear for me, letting her zip around alone, but I'll get her a phone plan and she'll be under strict instructions to keep me posted on her whereabouts.  

Right now I am, if I'm being honest, struggling with sitting around waiting to get moved and going.  Our reasons for waiting are valid--Leah is performing in her last show here at her current school and she's got the lead role.  Greg has two weeks of college left.  We need to get the house in order for our buyer.  There's so much to do, it's not worth rushing.  But boy do I want to! 

Just a short update for you all, and sorry there are no interesting pictures, but I hope you've enjoyed getting a little local flavor of life in Pierre for now!