This is the short version... though it's still long.
Our movers, Nationwide Relocation is the worst moving company ever. Please don't ever use them. They never showed up for our move. We called them and they said, "Oops, we never assigned you a driver, we might be able to get someone out there next week?" Wow. So we rented a Penske, our amazing friends last minute loaded us on the hottest day in Nashville since 1950 something. 109 degrees. You Vegasans are scoffing at those balmy temperatures.
We kissed our favorite Nashvillians. We tried to sleep. A dear dear friend showed up at 4:45 am to help me get the remaining stuff in our car, and at 9:00am after our last family prayer in our house, we were on our way.
Up to this point I had been busy, and couldn't mourn completely because I was still experiencing the amazing ambiance of Music City, home of the Commodores, and birthplace of my children.
But then about an hour and a half into our drive, my Nashville radio station got static-y and I listened until I couldn't hear it at all. The kids were asleep. Everything was quiet. The land was changing, the trees were getting more sparse and short. The sky was getting bigger. I looked in my rearview. All my children were there. I looked at the road in front of me. All my stuff was in a truck with my husband. And I was driving in the wrong direction. Then I cried for 8 hours.
We got to Kansas, and met my brother's family at a spray park. We all loved it.
Family and pizza. It was very comforting.
We stayed the Sabbath at their house, where my sister-in-law made amazing lasagna and we all had comfortable sleeping.
We were out Monday at 7am for our 13 hour drive day. The land continued to change from rolling farmland to empty desert. Somewhere in New Mexico, my tire went flat. We were in the middle of absolutley no where.
Also, because we were in absolutely no where, we had no cell phone coverage, so I couldn't call Paul, to tell him to stop. I tried to pass him, but it was a rare downhill, and he was using it to it's full advantage for Penske speed. By the time he saw I'd stopped, he was about 1/2 mile ahead of me. So I started unloading the back of the van to get to the spare tire. I couldn't figure out how to get it. Meanwhile I was sure Paul would do SOMETHING to help me out. He probably thought one of the kids were peeing. So after loud frustrated yelling and no response, I got the kids and we all started walking towards the truck. When we got close enough that Paul could make out that we were walking towards him, and he got out to meet us in the middle. When we got the spare off, we realized that it was flat too. And I remembered when we did that. Argh! So Paul unhitched his completely fully packed car from the Penske, drove until he had service and then asked his brother to figure out where the nearest car garage was, and he went there and they patched the tire. He was gone about 1.5 hours.
It was a very hot day in the dessert of New Mexico. This is what we looked like:
I knew that the passersby would be worried about a woman with 4 small children stranded far between towns under the scorching sun, and had my speech already prepared about how we were fine, and thank you for your concern. After an hour, and NO ONE had stopped, I really knew we weren't in the South anymore. And then someone did stop, to restore my faith in mankind. They were two gentlemen from Texas. After I told them we wouldn't be stranded forever, they made sure that I had enough water and sunscreen. At least my faith in Southerners wasn't diminished.
The earth on the side of the desert road was prickly and the kids and I sat cautiously.
This was our time-out cactus.
We ate PBJ sandwiches.
We played 'I spy', which was exhausted pretty quickly.
We reviewed rattlesnake safety, because I had no idea what lived in those holes.
We sang primary songs.
Then Paul came back!
He put on the good tire,
and we were off!
We drove for about 3 hours when our second tragedy of the day occured. While in a ghetto gas station, the truck and car tow hit a pothole, bounced and broke the car carrier.
I had NO idea how to get out of this one.
Paul got on the phone with Penske and they hooked us all up. Thank goodness.
A tow truck was coming to tow Paul's car and the broken car carrier to Albuquerque - where we were headed for the night anyway. We thought about me going on ahead with the kids and Paul would bring the truck later, but decided against it when the gas station owner told us (before he closed the gas station at 6 pm) bwhere to park and don't leave our truck and stay together, because there were ruffians around. GREAT! It was 7 and there was no where to eat. This wasn't even a town, and the smattering of buildings were all pretty gross anyway. I think there was a dog kennel nearby because we heard constant barking. The sunset was pretty. We sang all 12 articles of Faith, got out the glow sticks my excellent Tara sent us. We ate her delicious candied nuts and some gummy candy. Dinner.
We pulled in to my sister's house at 1:30 am, and I had bruises on my arms from all the pinching I had done. After some life bringing laughter from my sister, we went to sleep for 3 hours. Armed with caffeine and music to sing loudly, we started our last day's journey.
This was my view for 3 days.
I don't recall seeing rain like this in Nashville. I think this happens only in the West and I appreciated it. Observe.
Also observe the difference between this landscape and the first picture in this post. Thank goodness the sky has something to look at.
When we drove into Las Vegas I hyperventilated. But we didn't die.
Our new ward's Elder's Quorum showed up right on time and moved us in so fast. That was very pleasing. They were so very nice. Our ward has been very nice the past three Sundays, and Paul already has a calling! Not in the bishopric! So things are going great.
Kisses for all the Nashvillians.
