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.