Road Trip Part III

 

So to conclude this little series on my relocation to Texas from New Jersey, let me describe the end point of our three-day, 1,550 mile journey. Ten days ago we closed on the house down here and moved in.

Now, I suppose some of you reading this may be veterans of “moving.” I and my family are not. The last time I moved, in 2004, was from an apartment to a starter home within the same state, about 30 miles apart. My buddy and I rented a medium sized box truck and loaded up all the possessions of the newly-married Mr. and Mrs. Hopper. This took two or three hours. Then I drove the truck up the NJ Turnpike, met him at my new house, and we unloaded in another three hours. (The Mrs. was pregnant with Little One and primarily did the supervision.)

Simple.

I already documented the vast logistical acrobats involved in our current move. But ten days ago there was light of a sorts at the end of the tunnel.

We woke at the Marriott early, packed up the dog and our bags, drove through a Starbucks and raced to the office of the title agency where the closing would be held, just on the northern edge of Dallas. Our real estate agents here, an older couple named Gary and Cathy, were excellent, accommodating and knowledgeable. We chatted friendly until the banker came in, and she explained the six thousand documents we had to sign one by one. For such a momentous occasion, it was light-hearted and a fun welcome into Texas.

Charlie tuckered out from the move ...

However, we were a little behind the eight ball time-wise, so we motored down the highway to get to the house. Which we had to find, never having been in its neighborhood or even inside it, save for a Zoom demo. The movers and the cleaning ladies were already there, waiting for us, and sure enough, as we pulled up a trio of maids were resting in the shade under a tree on our front lawn. We let them in first to get to work, the movers following along with our furniture and the six thousand boxes we brought down from NJ.

It was a steamy overcast day in the mid-90s, the doors were open all afternoon as movers (three of them this time) were in and out over the course of five hours. We also had an AT&T tech stop by to get our WiFi and our TVs working. I made a run with the girls to the local Walgreens to get about a dozen Gatorades for us and the moving guys (and nearly got us killed racing down a one-way the wrong way – damn out-of-towners!) I also bought us a bottle of that special Walgreens champagne for later. Actually, it was Korbel Brut, but I thought it noteworthy that I bought it at a Walgreens. We got back and the last thing on our list was the delivery of our refrigerator.

The Mrs. decided to drive about to find some dinner for us and returned with Panera salads. We had to open up boxes until we found our plastic forks and knives. The house was finally beginning to cool off around 9 when, amongst a maze of boxes in various stages of being unpacked, we uncorked that champagne and drank a toast to the new homestead.

We’ve accomplished a tremendous amount in the past 10 days. The wife started her new job today. I’ve applied to three jobs already, and I’d like to maintain a one-a-day par. To keep myself enthusiastic I walk for a half-hour every morning when the temperature is in the frigid 80s compared to the normal mid-90s to 100. After my walk I open the garage and do six or seven exercises with my free weights. Patch has been active, too, biking all over the neighborhood and trying to make friends with the girl next door. Both of my little ones hang out at the park across the street.

Heron and ducks by the lake a mile from our house ...

Oh, the trusted Pilot died. Rather, it was put to sleep. While the wife was car shopping for the new job (she has a $400 a month car allowance) she had the dealer look at the undercarriage and it turns out it’s completely rusted through – muffler and both catalytic converters. Rather than spend the couple thousands to fix a nine-year-old vehicle, we just bought me a used Accord. I pick it up in a day or two.

So as of today, ten days in, the house is about 90 percent unpacked with about 90 percent of everything in its rightful place. We have a handyman and a landscaper. The girls have appointments for orientations to their new schools a mile away. About the only issues I’ve discovered is that our faucet cartridges in the master bath are shot and one lawn sprinkler seems to be aimed directly at the house, but we’re addressing those. All in all, it was about as painless a move as I could have hoped for.

Again, for those who’ve helped and supported us, a hearty and heart-felt THANK YOU!

Now, look for some more Hopper-esque posts in the near future, including one on the JFK assassination, a peak interest item of mine from ten years back. Hey, I’m in Dallas now, so it had to happen!