The Trip Home

After a long week and a half of packing, saying goodbye, and moving, we finally made it home!

The last couple of days were SO stressful.  There were multiple times that one of us would look at the other and say, "There's no way we can get this all done," and the other would assure him/her that we would get it all packed and finished!  Luckily we never had this thought at the same time or we might still be curled up on the floor of our ABF truck.

We used ABF to move...such a good idea!  The cost for us to pack an 11 foot section of a truck and then have them drive it to Baton Rouge was actually several hundred dollars cheaper than renting and driving a U-Haul would have been (plus waaay easier!).

I told Bech to smile in this picture.  I think his face sums up what we were both feeling.

You can sort of see how tightly packed our space was.  But we got it all to fit!

We finally headed out from Burlington Thursday at 5ish (to give you some reference, we planned to leave 10 or 12ish...so a little later than we thought!).  We had to drive to Alfred, New York that night--about 7 1/2 hours away--so we didn't get in until after midnight.

We spent that first night and the next day with our good friends, Mike and Laura Ashley.  They went to Ole Miss and are both ceramicists, so there was lots of "clay talk" during our trip.  We love them and had fun visiting with them and introducing them to Jack.

We left there and headed to Pittsburgh to see one of my best friends, Courtney.  Courtney and I make an effort to visit each other in each place we live.  I flew to Laramie, Wyoming, when she was getting her MA in Chemistry there, she spent our first Thanksgiving with us in Vermont, so it was our turn to head to Pittsburgh.

Courtney and I have been friends since Governor's school, the summer after 11th grade, and we have no cute pictures of us!  We always forget to pull out the camera until last minute and then the pictures aren't great.  This time, we tried to remedy that, and I think we did.  This one is a framer, for sure!

We went up the incline in Pittsburgh and checked out the view.  Jack had a blast.  And let me just add, Pittsburgh is absolutely adorable.  I loved this city!  It's set in these beautiful hills, and there is so much character!

Jack got called a girl in this outfit...really?

Mr. Goofball!

Yup, I love him!

Okay, dorky picture, I know.  But my friend Amy is from Pittsburgh and she LOVES Rita's.  So we got some...I have to admit, it's really good.  Not as good as a Brookhaven snow cone, but pretty close!

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday with Courtney, then headed in the car for Canton, Ohio, to spend some time with my Aunt and Uncle.

Jack had fun making a mess on their patio.

And we all had fun spending time with them.  We visited their church on Sunday morning, ate lunch and dinner out, drove around Amish country, and swam in the pool.

Jack loved his Aunt Teri.

And he especially loved his Uncle Bruce, or as we call him, Uncle Booboo!

More snuggles with Aunt Teri.

Monday morning, we hit the road bright and early.  We had planned to drive to Chattanooga and spend the night there.  But after we had been driving for an hour or two, I got the crazy idea to drive the whole way (15 hours) that day.  So Bech humored me (and made me drive the last leg, since it was my idea!) and we did it!  We stopped several times to eat and when Jack was getting antsy, but we made it into Brookhaven about 11:15 that night.  

 

Bech and I took turns driving and entertaining Jack.  These pictures are of Bech's attempt to entertain Jack.

We had a great trip home.  We loved visiting with friends and family, and Jack did great in the car.  There were a few times were he got fussy, but he mostly slept, ate, and played.  And we are so glad to be back in the South!