Relocation Road Trip with Mom, Part 2: Driving + Hello to Austin!

Monday, June 28: Driving to St. Louis

Today was the first of our all-driving days, with no schedule to keep at all since we didn't have any plans to meet up with anyone. The one factor that I hadn't considered but that worked in our favor was that this was the day we crossed into the Central Time Zone, so we "gained back" an hour in our day by the time we arrived at our hotel, the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. 

I hadn't thought to check the Cardinals game schedule, but sure enough, there was a game that night, so the hotel and surrounding area were quite busy when we checked in. I had selected a AAA "park and stay" rate, which included the cost for parking at a public garage about a block from the hotel. We unloaded all of our stuff and checked in before I moved the car. The staff person at the front desk, Katie Morrissey, was incredibly friendly and helpful, finding us two rooms next to each other despite the full capacity of the hotel. She also gave us breakfast vouchers when I explained that we didn't really need the special AAA rate for both rooms since we only had one car to park!

Once we got up to our rooms, we were impressed by the view of the Arch and the river.

We weren't so impressed, however, by the lingering smell of smoke in the larger room. I convinced Mom to take the other room and called the Front Desk to inquire about any options to move, but nothing was available. I did at least get $50 taken off the cost of that room, and once I'd been in it for a little while, I stopped noticing the odor. The worse part of the room ended up being the very loud air conditioning unit, which I had to turn off in order to sleep. Luckily, I was able to cool down the room quite a bit before going to bed, and then I put the a/c on again briefly any time I got up to help keep it at a comfortable temperature.

I checked work email before Mom and I met up to go downstairs to the Market Street Bar for dinner. She had a bowl of very hearty chicken noodle soup with a side salad, and I had a delicious grilled salmon and veggie plate. The portion size was so large that I took half of the salmon back to the room with me to save for lunch tomorrow! All of the hotels I had selected had mini fridges in the rooms, which made storing food very easy. Two of the reusable bags we brought from Marshfield were lined with thermal insulation, so we were able to keep things fresh and then cool them down again at night. The bottle of orange juice and jar of peanut butter even lasted us all the way to Austin!

Tuesday, June 29: Driving to Oklahoma City

We had another day of driving through the Midwest. Our lunch break was at a rest stop along the highway, where we were able to eat our leftovers at a table in the shade. Much of the route today paralleled Route 66, so we saw lots of references to that as we drove and any time we stopped at one of the public rest areas.

Our final hotel night was at the 5-month old Omni Oklahoma City, an absolutely beautiful property near the arena and convention center. All of the staff was very friendly and helpful, and the Front Desk person went above and beyond to give us connecting rooms that looked out over the pool and a new urban park. My room was a corner suite, and I definitely wish we'd been staying more than one night to really enjoy these amenities!

I went to swim laps in the amazing pool while Mom rested a bit. Then we went downstairs for dinner. Unfortunately, only two of the restaurants were open during the week. We first tried OKC Tap House, but the high tables and chairs weren't very comfortable, and it was just two warm and humid to sit at the regular tables outside. So we ended up at Bob's Steak & Chop House. We shared shrimp and calamari appetizers and a side of sauteed spinach and mushrooms. My favorite part of the meal was my cocktail, a smoked Negroni, which was brought to the table under a dome literally filled with smoke! I should have taken a picture of the presentation, but I wasn't quite fast enough.

My evening entertainment was the multiple remaining short French films, which I enjoyed while also watching the thunderstorm and heavy rain outside the windows.

Wednesday, June 30: We Made It!

I got up early for a short sunrise run in and around the urban park and then swam laps in the pool (grrr... not open when it was supposed to be... annoying). I fetched breakfast for Mom and me from the Park Grounds coffee shop, and we ate at the table in my suite before packing up the car one last time and hitting the road for the final leg of our trip.

The worst traffic we encountered during the entire journey came as we got closer to Austin! I texted with J during the day to confirm timing and plans to meet up with the moving truck at Mom's new home. J was able to be there on-site, which was particularly helpful when the truck backed into a wire that knocked out a transformer and electricity to the surrounding neighborhood. Yikes!

Mom and I finally arrived at J's house in the late afternoon.

We unpacked the car into a cool, quiet, and empty house. J suggested that we just stay there rather than coming over to the new place, so we were sitting in the living room when B came home with the kids after picking up C at camp. Eventually, the four of them headed over to meet up with J while I took advantage of some alone time and worked on laundry for Mom and me. 

We all took care of ourselves for dinner, and the evening wrapped up when the truck came by for its second stop and unloading of several pieces of Mom's furniture that have a new home with J (dining set, sweater box, porch chairs). Everyone was pretty tired and ready for bed after all of the day's activities, and I got to watch a final French film before going to sleep and preparing for the next couple of days of part-time work plus helping Mom to unpack and organize and start to get settled into her new home and her new life in Austin.

Relocation Road Trip with Mom, Part 1: Goodbye to Marshfield + Family Visits

I took two weeks away from Sacto (June 20-July 4) to help Mom relocate from Marshfield, MA to Austin, TX. She lived in Marshfield (my hometown) for 50 years and in her Ocean Street house for 27 years, so there was a lot involved in making this major move. The logistics and practical planning were pretty intense, but the emotions were even more overwhelming as she took her leave.

Wednesday, June 23: The Clean-Out

My sister, J, and I had both spent time in Marshfield during the spring to help with organizing and purging. The official moving process began on Wednesday morning, when a local company called Dirty Deeds came to pick up some furniture (two twin beds, game chest, sewing cabinet, chairs) that wasn't making the trip to Austin and also clear out the entire garage. That part of the process took less than two hours, but you could already notice a different feeling in the house.

Thursday, June 24: The Packers

On Thursday morning, two packers arrived to box up everything that wasn't already packed in our suitcases or clearly labeled as needed for the remaining night and the 5-day road trip. Mom didn't quite understand how thorough and meticulous the packers would be, however, so she ended up "losing" her book to one of the boxes along with all of the shoes she'd left on the closet floor! She made a stop at Marshall's after her afternoon hair cut appointment to buy a new pair of shoes and some other necessary items, and we opened up one of the boxes in the entry way to dig out a jacket for her to take on the road trip. 

We were left with all of the furniture and a couple of essential "naked" lamps in the living room since the packers boxed up the lamp shades. We also kept the computer fully set up and available so that we'd have wifi until the last minute, and the packers left us several boxes for the next morning for the electronics and also all of our bedding, as we were still sleeping at the house for one final night. 

I had been able to get in a final swim at the Duxbury pool in the morning, and Mom and I spent most of the day outside on the back deck while the packers worked. Such lovely weather! Sunny, clear, and a slight breeze. For meals, we continued our attempts to eat as much of the remaining food in the fridge and freezer as possible, although Mom did pick up some fast food for her lunch.

Friday, June 25: The Truck & The Departure + Overnight in Providence

The final day was Friday, when the driver and a crew arrived to load up the big moving truck that would transport all of Mom's stuff to Austin. We started off the morning with coffee and breakfast courtesy of Mom's realtor, C, before the truck arrived. The crew were very efficient and friendly, and Mom and I had to gradually move from chair to chair as they wrapped up all of the furniture for loading onto the truck. It felt like being in a labyrinth with all of the boxes around!

Everything was done by mid-afternoon, and C came back to pick up the house keys from Mom so that she could show the house once it goes on the market after the July 4th holiday. As we did a final walk through, I noticed that the 3-drawer file cabinet in the office had been left hiding behind the door! Luckily, we had plenty of room for it in the back of Mom's car, along with our suitcases and other bags and packages of snacks. We bid farewell to the house and the kitty picture that I had painted on the back of the garage several years ago.

For this first part of our road trip, we drove to Providence, RI, just under two hours away, and stayed at the Omni. We took advantage of the valet parking, especially since we had a lot of stuff to unload that we didn't want to leave in the car overnight (too much stuff.. we started to streamline almost immediately!). After getting settled into our rooms, we had a lovely dinner at the hotel restaurant, Fleming's, dining outside in a protected patio area to avoid a 2-hour wait. Mom ordered a chicken dish, and I had the sea bass accompanied by two glasses of a tasty sparkling rose. 

Once we were back in our rooms, I got started on watching the offerings of the Sacramento French Film Festival, which was shown this year in a hybrid format with a few films in-person at various locations in Sac and the remainder available through the virtual platform. I was particularly thankful for the technology this year, as it allowed me to watch almost all of the films throughout our road trip and travel time.

Saturday, June 26: The Sister in New Jersey + Overnight in Pennsylvania

The first full day of our road trip began with a destination of Sparta, NJ, to meet up with Mom's sister, J, at the house of my cousins G & C. This began our daily routine of getting ourselves ready, re-packed, and back into the car between 8:30-9am each morning. Despite some nasty traffic in the New York and New Jersey area (no surprise), we arrived for lunch just 20 minutes past our ideal meet-up time. We had a lovely 3-hour visit with family and enjoyed the yummy DIY salad that C had prepared. Mom and J got some time to chat alone while I got a tour of the yard and pool. 

Then back into the car for a couple more hours of driving to Bloomsubrg, PA, and our hotel for that night, Comfort Suites. After we checked in and toted all of our stuff to our rooms, I headed out to get gas and a couple of beverages, and then we had a picnic dinner in Mom's room with the food we'd brought with us from Marshfield. Given the somewhat later lunch, neither of us wanted to go out for a "real" dinner. We had a bit of a scare when Mom though she'd lost one of her brand new hearing aids, but luckily I found it lurking on the strap of a mask she'd tossed into her cosmetic kit. Phew!

I started watching a French film in Mom's room but was frustrated by a drop in wi-fi once I got back to my room. So annoying. And not resolved by the morning either, so I had to do my daily workout using my cellphone. At least the reception was strong enough for Zumba and yoga videos, but that small screen isn't nearly as nice as the laptop.

Sunday, June 27: The Brother & Overnight in Michigan

It was already humid and getting warm when we packed up the car in the morning and headed off on our day of driving, with a destination of Plymouth, MI, for dinner with Mom's brother, J, and cousins C & P and C & T. We had a bit of a challenge with the directions, which weren't helped by our somewhat spotty technology (my older iPhone, Mom's GPS). Luckily, I had printed out all of the directions ahead of time and also checked the route each morning before setting off to try to avoid any unexpected changes or road closures. Mom was an awesome navigator for me! 

She drove for a bit after our lunch stop and unfortunately was at the wheel during our first encounter with a nasty mid-afternoon Midwest summer downpour. Scary stuff! Minimal visibility, but we got through it together by staying focused on the taillights and back of the vehicle in front of us and by my keeping track of the lane marker to my right. Yikes! We were both VERY glad when that was over!

I texted my cousin C during the latter part of our journey to confirm timing and plans. We got to our hotel, Comfort Inn, and had about an hour to settle in and refresh before the family came to pick us up for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant in the charming downtown area of Plymouth and enjoyed a wonderful family meal (despite the rather lack-luster air conditioning in the room where we were seated). When we got back to the hotel, we both crashed in our rooms, and I watched another French film before going to sleep.