Coast to Coast

I did it!!! I drove 2,728 miles. It was....interesting. Instead of allowing the Marine Corps to move our household goods we had the BRILLIANT idea to move ourselves!! The idea was to take advantage of the uhuals ability to tow. This allowed us to tow my husbands mustang cobra on an auto trailer. Then, the military would have to pay us for the move, we would make some extra money, all that goodstuff. So I strapped on my Super Wife cape! I secured our condo in Chula Vista CA, spent a month packing our house in Camp Lejeune NC, 6 hrs loading the uhual, an hr hooking up the auto transporter and loading the mustang, 1 full day cleaning the old house for our move out inspection and then finally moving day- as our 34 feet of truck and trailer pulled out into the street I followed in my little SUV, complete with bulldog, two cat carriers, and a giant suitcase. Oh and the diaper bag containing Mollies food, water, dishes, and toys. Oh and the diaper bag for the cats. Oh and my "goodie" bag containing snacks, gingerale, and road trip cd's from my best friend.

The first day the Paz convoy successfully drove 390 miles to western NC where we enjoyed time with my family for a few days. The next drive was a bit longer. It required two stops for gas. $240 each time. By the time we reached Little Rock,AR we were exhausted. We could see our hotel from the interstate. Perfect! Or, not! Our uhaul was too large to make the turn and become stuck...high centered. It was 95 degrees out, the pets had been in the car for 13 hrs. One of the cats was rolling in his urine as we were paying the tow truck $250 to move our truck 5ft. The nice gentleman at the front desk opened the back gate for us and we staggered up to our room, bathed our cat and slept for two days. The next stop was at a truck stop in Oklahoma. I ate a pickled sausage, corn dog, pork rinds, mountain dew, and a sugar daddy lollipop. My dad would be proud. Next we arrived in Amarillo TX. The only memory I have of this stay was traffic and the delicious burger I ate at Whataburger, yum. The drive into Flagstaff AZ was breathtaking. The air was fresh,crisp,clean, mountain air in the middle of a forest surrounded by desert. That drive was amazing but stressful. The animals had picked up on the traveling routine and were behaving very well. However, the uhaul experienced mechanical problems due to the climate changes (perhaps). Who knew a vehicle could burn $180 in only 200 miles? Whoa. I was beginning to think we would never make it. On the 8th day of our trip we saw the "california welcomes you" sign!!!! We made our way past all of the boarder crossings and inspections and arrived at our new home at 6 pm. I guess I was still wearing my super wife cape because somehow my husband and I with no other help, unloaded the entire truck, 6,700 lbs of furniture, in 3 hrs and had the truck returned to the drop off location before 10 pm. We have been living here for one week. Everything is unpacked, we are starting to get settled. We hit some bumps in the road.... our central air went out during an extremem heat wave, the next day we experienced the massive power outage, and today we couldnt get our sprinkler system in the garden to turn off. I am not fretting or frowning. I am happy. We did it. A new journey is upon us.


"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."James 1:2-4