Moving (Even Further) West! Part 2

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Don't start the journey in the middle!  Here's Part 1.

When last we blogged (it's a group effort, really), Chris was living the bachelor lifestyle in a rental house in Glendora, California (well, a mid-30's bachelor lifestyle.  "Tonight, I made salmon and brussel sprouts for dinner!"), and I was back in Peoria, Arizona with the kiddos, packing everything we owned into a rental storage POD.


Kaylee says watching Mom work is exhausting.

I had a few days of cramming stuff in the POD and packing more boxes when Toni arrived for her annual trip to come see me; while I can't apologize enough for making her sleep on an air mattress (particularly once I took over said air mattress after she left and slept on it myself), it was a lovely break having her in town to distract me from the packing and moving madness for a few days.


Getting ready to see the Queen tribute show at Casino Arizona.


With the lovely Trisha and Murph who joined us for the show.
Not pictured are the equally lovely Rebecca, Ashleigh, and Tara
who joined us for dinner as well!


At the Alton Brown show in Prescott the next night -
we were so close to the stage!

Eventually, though, all good things must come to an end, and Toni headed back home to the east coast and an actual bed in which to sleep.  For me, it was back to packing up the POD before it was picked up the following Wednesday, May 18th.  We went with the standard POD, which is 16' long, and although we weren't sure we could fill it up, we ended up donating a few things that couldn't fit to Goodwill (a huge shout-out to our buddy Matt, who came with his pickup truck to transport those items to Goodwill - there was no way I was fitting a full-size box spring in the Prius, although I did try).  


That is one full POD.


An exceptionally interesting shot of a bunch of our crap.

Eventually, the POD truck came back and loaded the full container back on the flatbed, hauling it away for us to hopefully see again in a week, but this time in California!


Loading up the POD...


...and driving it away!


See you soon, POD - I hope!

At this point, the only things left in the house were absolutely basic necessities - a few plates and cooking utensils (although not many), one hanging bag and duffel full of clothes, the aforementioned air mattress, the tv, and one chair and ottoman.  Essentially, everything left in the house needed to fit in the Prius and a rented minivan to make the journey to California in a few days' time.  It was pretty empty:


Just me, my Bobke t-shirt, and a can of Bud Light.

My final day in the office was Friday, May 20th, and I can't say enough about the folks I'll miss seeing each day.  My boss Jill even made all of us a great breakfast spread that day to send me off in style, with a very full stomach.  I also really appreciate everyone who came out to wish me well that evening at Four Peaks in Tempe; I don't have many pictures, because I'm truly horrible at that, but here are a few:


Deb, myself, and Jayme


Tara and I

Not pictured but represented that night (and always fondly thought of) were Ashleigh, Kristen, Danielle, Taira, Trisha and Chris, Eric and Laura, Jesse, Ryan, Charity, George, Steph and Mike, Stephanie, Courtney, Mark and Susana, Chrissy, and Jenna and her sister.  Not able to make it to Happy Hour but folks I can't leave out include Bryan and Jen, Christina, Keeli, Kristie and Kailyn, and everyone who came to Chris' So Long HH a few weeks before - we'll miss all of you!  Also, many thanks to Greg and Nicole, who took me out to lunch earlier in the week and gave me tons of suggestions on where to eat and what to do in the Glendora/Pasadena area, and to Murph and Meg for their wonderful support and, of course, tons of yummy Blue Buffalo dog treats (I can't vouch for their flavor myself, but the kiddos seem to dig them)!


Thanks, Auntie Murph and Auntie Meg!

After Happy Hour concluded, I headed back to the house to start packing up my car with the remaining items in the house.  After I was done with this, not much was left on the ground floor, only the wires maintaining the internet connection (WiFi or die!) and a really confused mastiff:




"Guys, where did everything go?"
Isn't this truly the saddest picture in all of the world?

For his part, Chris hopped a late flight back to Phoenix and grabbed the minivan at the car rental counter at the airport, getting back to the Peoria house around 11:30pm or so.  One more night on the air mattress, and then we'd head out to California for good, finally to live as a family of 5 again!

On the next blog, the epic adventures of three large dogs in a minivan.  You don't want to miss this.

Later!

Amy

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