Sunday, February 19, 2012

The long road home (a Part 2 of sorts)

So, I obviously didn't intend for more than a month to pass before I wrote part 2. But, in the words of a former supervisor, "Such is life in the big city." I don't understand it, but somehow it works here.

Anyway, to recap: My toddler, my 14-year-old dog, my sister and I are living in a room in my friend's house before making the 10-hour trek to Mississippi. Why didn't I fly? Why didn't I drive? Well, in a misguided attempt at big-heartedness, I told my mom I would bring her a bedroom suite. All we'd do is rent a U-Haul, hop in, ship my truck ahead to Arizona and be on our merry way.

Except: Those ads that promise a U-Haul for 20 bucks? Doesn't work like that for a state-to-state trip. The cost of the rental truck was quickly promising to eclipse the value of the set. Plus, all but the hugest trucks had just two seats, which means there was no way all of us would fit. So one of us had to drive the moving truck, while another drove my SUV. After finally finding a truck that wouldn't completely break the bank (I settled on Penske), my sister and I loaded things up. That night, we prepped everything so we could leave by 7 a.m. Of course, things were looking TOO good because put the lock on the truck the wrong way and had to resort to buying bolt cutters and chopping the whole thing off.

Putting that frustration behind me, we got on the road the next morning, prompt as ever. My sis had gotten a chance to drive the moving truck around the block and felt comfortable taking the first leg in the truck, while Cam and I rode together. Ten minutes into the trip, not even out of Columbia, Cam has to poop. I pull into the nearest gas station (which actually turns out to be closed down, but that's OK because it was a run-down restaurant and the owner just so happened to be there to let us in.).

Sis pulls into the "station" behind me and rolls past me to wait. The next thing I know: Boom! She hits me! Needless to say, we swap vehicles. About 12 hours, 4 stops, one audio book (for me) and several Korean music CDs (for her) and we FINALLY made it to moms.

And that, my friends, ended my life in Columbia, SC. But of course, it just made way for my new life in Arizona.