Good Bye Virginia

The packers and movers have left. It is Friday night and we decide to go out for one last look at the beautiful scenery from the balcony. What is the grille still doing here? I must have reminded the movers 10 times that the grille was still on the balcony and they still left without it. Of course it is Friday night and no one is in the office. I will have to make the call on the drive back to Texas. Oy! It is always something.

The truck driver had to come back on Monday and pick up the Weber.

It is FINALLY time to say good-bye to Virginia! We have all the plants packed along with the items that the moving company would not pack. We are ready to drive back to Texas in the church bus. I thought that for this installment I would also share some of the signs we saw along the way, of course with my take on them.

Good bye House!

The main reason we drove the church bus to VA was to take all the house plants back with us and they certainly took up most of the room in the van. The largest plant was a plant our middle son received in the 4th grade. It is close to 20 years old now.  We call it the hair plant because it grows like hair and sheds too. We could barely get it into the back of the van.

The Hair Plant

The rest of the house plants

There is a farm outside of Leesburg, on Route 7, that always has a bale of hay out by the road decorated like something fun, or relevant to a current season or Holiday. The first time we saw them it looked like an "Angry Bird" in a slingshot. Not long after that it looked like the green pigs from the "Angry Birds". This time it was decorated as a Lego soldier in honor of the 4th of July.

The head of this Lego solider is made of a wrapped bale of hay.

Virginia is one of two states that does not allow radar detectors. On every highway they have signs reminding you that they are illegal along with a sign that says "Speed Limit is Enforced by Aircraft". How exactly does an aircraft enforce a speed limit? Do they swoop down in front of cars to slow them down or drop something down on the cars? How can they enforce anything from the air. The sign should say "Speed Limit is detected by Aircraft" or "Speed Limit is Monitored by Aircraft", not enforced.

Virginia also has one of the nicest seat belt signs. it is not threatening like the "Click it or Ticket" signs.

Arkansas`s Welcome sign is not just a warning to buckle up, but it must be their way of warning you that their roads are so bad that you have to buckle up for safety. The sign says "The Natural State", is that because the roads are going back to their natural state of dirt and rocks?

This must be one of the Natural State roads.

One of the things that has always surprised me is the number of Adult Stores along the highways. The only time we were happy to see those signs is when we are playing the sign game in the car where you find words for each letter of the alphabet. Adult stores for X, Dairy Queen for Q, and it was a crap shoot for Z.

OK, I have to ask what do they sale at an Adult Factory Outlet? Overstocked items, clearance items, old models, unpopular items, irregulars........ it boggles the mind!

I am a big fan of the car window sticker, I love the family stickers with the dogs, or the figures in Mickey Mouse hats or in Star Wars outfits.  Personally we have the flip flops and dog paws, that`s right ADORBS!, My favorite all time family sticker was one on a mini van, driven by a middle aged man, that had a picture of a man, woman and 2 teenage boys and above the woman was a message bubble that said "position available." What I don`t understand is this truck and its owners lack of self control. How can he possible see out his back window?

This is a new look for the trucks on the road. The Trailer Tail!! It is suppose to be aerodynamic and saves the driver on fuel costs. To me it looks like a poorly designed kite. Worst of all it is hard to write on the back of the trailers, so it ruins my fun.

I am just throwing this one in because it cracks me up. The cab of the truck was bright purple and it was labeled with the trucking companies name all over. They must have run out of paint for the back, because I am sure the name is not "Durple Sage."

I just love the humor on this truck. Not your everyday "We Make Wide Turns".

I have to include one picture of Kudzu. This vine just fascinates me. It is literally eating the South.

We stayed in a Hotel in Memphis and I will just say it was not the Ikea Suites we stayed in on the way to VA. It was closer to the Bates Motel. It was dog friendly, just not people friendly. Fortunately we were so tired that we collapsed as soon as we got into the room and didn`t really see how bad it was until the morning. What a DUMP!

Bathroom door frame.

Metal trim around the bathroom light.

Room door. Makes you feel really safe, right?

This was a 2800 mile round trip and my husband is not the most relaxed driver. His number one pet peeve, and instigator of road rage, is the slow driver in the passing lane. Most states have Highway signs that say Slower drivers use the right lane, but who decides if they are slow drivers? Obviously people cannot self diagnose themselves. Texas has the best sign. right lane is for passing only. No judgments to make, it is direct and very clear.

This sign should be on every highway in all 50 states!

We are definitely in TEXAS! It is HOT, HOT, HOT!

Toto, we are not in Virginia any more.

Meet Our Moving Crew

I will not show you any pictures or use their correct names, but they are an interesting group and I want to tell you about them.  There have been a total of 6 different men that have been here over the last 3 days. This is the first moving crew we have had that did not include women. They were in from Baltimore and we got the whole Colts vs Ravens debate out of the way first thing. We had to broach the subject due to the very large pictures of the front page of the the Indy Star covering the Colts` Superbowl win. We talked it out, and let it go.

This was our safe space during the packing process. Everything we need to get through 3 days of packing. We would stand here all day working on our computers and eating our junk food. Don`t judge our choices.

Don: He is in his early 50s and very tall. Don seems to be the man in charge, although he may be second to the driver. Don has a very deep voice and at times is very hard to understand. He knows his stuff. Don is in charge of the puzzle, the packing of the truck. When he is done it looks like the game Jenga. I pray no one pulls something out of the middle. Don is a big fisherman and loves to cookout. A very nice man.

Forgive the stickers, but I wanted to protect the packing company and our names. Don did a great job packing! Doesn`t it look like Jenga?

Ralph: He is 62 years old and has been working in the moving business since he was 14. He is the older brother of Don. Ralph loves to talk and talk and talk. Politics, wages, family, music, comedians, you name it, he will talk about it. He is fun to listen to and is kind of the father figure for all the guys on the crew This man can pack a box. Late in the afternoon he starts singing crooner songs to us all while he works.

Tre:  He is in his early 30s and is the guy that is in charge of the Truck and the "stickers". He will be driving the truck to the warehouse in Texas. He also has to put a sticker on every box and piece of furniture and then log them so they can be inventoried when they are delivered. He is very quiet and has a bluetooth headset on all the time. When he is on the phone he seems to be just listening. One day I could hear a woman's voice on the other end of the line and he was just saying uh huh over and over again.

See the stickers on all the boxes (not the dollar signs). Things have changed since our move 3 years ago. The stickers back then did not have a bar code on them, so all the numbers had to be written in and the items hand written. They still do some of that now because not all the companies have a scanner for the bar codes. It is a work in progress.

Leaf: He is an older man in this late 40s, short, and quiet.  He has an injury so he was a packer of boxes only and the other guys would carry the boxes out to the truck. The 2nd day there was a big debate on how he was injured. One of the brothers thought it was in a war, and the other smacked that down because of his age. Still don`t know how he was injured. He was only here for the first day.

Derek: He was a young man in maybe his late 20s and wore Crocs to work. He was very polite and very strong. He was only here for one day. Derek does not eat pork, so we had to special order his pizza. A really nice and polite kid.

This kid moved everything wearing Crocs. To me it was like wearing flip flops.

Pete: He is the cousin of Tre  and I would guess in his late 20s or early 30s, Pete is by far the quietest of the crew. He has tattoos all over his arms and is strong as an ox. He was here the last 2 days and does mostly lifting. Pete seems to be very shy and very polite. He loves to eat continuously and loves to drink very cold water.

So that is our crew. We are on day 3 and hope to be completely done by dinner. Then my husband and I get to pack the church bus for our 2 day drive back to Texas. Yippee!

The Last Road Trip to Virginia

After 16 long months, the day has finally come, We Are Moving!!! This will be our 5th major move and with the last couple of moves we had to rent a van or Uhaul, drive to the old house and pack up all the plants and liquids along with the stuff we didn`t want  or they wouldn`t let on the moving van. A shout out to Capps the van rental company in Plano, TX. There are no rental companies that rent vans for small moves in the last few states we have lived in. We rented a 15 passenger van with all the seats taken out and named it the "Church Bus." Off we went for our 2 day trip from Allen, TX to Leesburg, VA. We will travel through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia. Here are the highlights. Maybe low lights?

The very long white Church Bus.

The trip through Texas was short and sweet. It was non eventful, which is just what you want for road trip.
Cannot say the same thing for the trip through Arkansas. One of the first things we noticed, and it was very apparent in the Church Bus, was that the roads have not been paved in many, many, many years. It was the bumpiest ride for hundreds of miles.

I-30 in Arkansas looked like it had been carpet bombed.

It never fails to surprise me what people will put on top of their cars. This is your typical mattress on top of a small car driving 70 mph on the highway. At least they were not trying to hold it on with their hands. On one trip to upper Michigan we did see a deer tied to the top of the trunk of a Camaro.

Hillbilly Mover? I added the cool sunglasses to cover the plate number.

Into Tennessee we saw this building that looked like it should be in Las Vegas, and when got in front of the building, we saw it was the headquarters for the Bass Pro Shops and Ducks Unlimited. Is it just me or wouldn`t you expect the building to be outdoorsy looking instead of a Vegas hotel?

Did we take a wrong turn? Are we in Vegas?

WHAT???? No casino?

The whole time we are on the highway in Tennessee there were these overhead signs that said, "Look Before You Lock". We had no idea what that meant. Thank you smart phone, after looking it up I found it is to remind you to take you child out of the car, before you lock the door. I guess there have been a few cases of people forgetting that their child was in the car, and they locked them in the car in the blazing heat. I did not realize the problem was so bad they needed a state wide campaign to remind people that they have children. They also have the, "Click It or Ticket It" campaign to make sure you wear your seat belts, Yet, what they need is a "Take a Seat so You Don`t Fly Onto the Street" campaign. In Tennessee you can ride in the bed of a pick up, on the highway, if you are over the age of 12. Am I the only one confused?

This sign needed some explanation .  Look where, before you lock what?

These teenagers were flying along in the back of a pick up,
 but the driver and passenger had to have a seat belt on. 

We passed a highway construction crew building an interchange and it looked nothing like the High 5 in Dallas. Come on Tennessee, you can do better than that. Let the Big T state show you how it`s done.

The little T state and their little interchange.

The big T state knows how to build an interstate.

Time to stop for the night in the Home 2 Suites by Hilton. Or, as I like to call them, the Ikea Suites. All the furniture looks like it came right off the Ikea showroom floor. There are desks and cabinets along the back wall, a hospital like curtain between the living area and beds, and the smallest closet I have ever seen. Not to mention the smallest toilet that is low flow and seems to be running all the time. Then there is the picture over the couch that for some reason is not centered, and it drove me crazy every time I looked at it. But the beds were comfy and the hotel is dog friendly.

This is half of the back wall in the Ikea suite.

The hospital curtain in our Ikea suite.

Was the designer drunk when they hung this picture?

Day two! Texas is a big state and has its own kind of beauty, but there is noting more beautiful than the mountains and scenery in Tennessee and Virginia.

Beautiful!

Even more beautiful!

Kudtzu, or The Vine That Ate the South is both beautiful and destructive. This plant was introduced to the US in 1876 from Asia and it has been eating away at the South`s landscape ever since. It can devastate and destroy the surrounding plant life and it covers everything. It was used to cover a trellis over a patio or used as ground cover, and then it got way out of control. It is so very expensive and time consuming to try to stop the spread of this aggressive vine.

Kudzo is taking over the South!

As we were driving along our last hour or so we were following a Semi that was so shiny that we could see our selves in the back of it. So there we are the white Church Bus behind the shiny Semi . Don`t ask how close we had to get so I could get the picture. Maybe they need a sign for the highway for that. Maybe, "Stay Back Before You Flash" or  a sign on the truck that says "if you can see your reflection you are too close."

The Church Bus`s reflection in the shiny semi.

We pulled into the drive in Virginia and went straight to work on getting ready for the movers.
It is going to be a very long, but also long awaited week!