Those who follow the travel blog will know that we have been abroad for a few weeks as we were in between houses.  The original plan was to pack up one house, ship the contents to the new house while we galavanted across the globe (okay, visited family) and then return to the new house.  Well, that’s not how it worked out.  Here is the transition tale of woe.

The departure from KC was more than chaotic. The closing was moved up to May 31st with a provision that we would have until 8am on June 2nd to  be out of the house.  That should have worked out perfectly as we were gettin on a plane that day.  The two PODS that we were sure would hold everything were delivered on the 30th and local movers came on the 31st to load all our stuff which didn’t actually fit. We had an enormous amount of stuff left over and needed to get it out of the house. God bless Nicole at the UHaul at 31st and Main in KC – she helped us with the rental truck to schlep stuff from the house to the two storage units we needed to hold all our crap.  It took until 9pm on Friday night for the two of us to make the final run and leave the house broom clean. All of this in 95 degree heat.  Ugh.

But it was handled and we went on our little trip.  And returned to do it all in reverse.  We needed to empty the two storage units into a 26 foot truck which Frank would drive, towing the Mercedes, while Buddy and I rode in my Hyundai.  We arranged for the same local movers to help us do the loading on Monday and we were ready to rock and roll.  Except they didn’t show up.  So the two of us loaded the enormous truck (again in 95 degree heat) and 5 hours later, we were ready to hit the road.  We had hoped to leave KC by noon and make it to Bloomington, Indiana to see some friends.  Well we finally hit the road about 4:30 so that plan went out the window but we were determined to make it to Indiana.  So rolling through traffic and across Missouri and Illinois, we eventually made it to Terra Haute about 1:30 am.  Too tired to unload anything, Buddy got to sleep in the king size bed with us and we managed about 6 hours of shut eye.

Then it was on the road again: destination Cleveland.  I had gotten lots of recommendations for things to do and see while there and the drive wasn’t going to be too bad so things were looking up.  Until I plugged in the address of the hotel we had booked and Google maps kindly informed me that parking was limited at my destination.  Oh no.  I had booked this hotel long before we realized that we would be driving a truck towing a car.  I sent out a few emails to the hotel and we got on the road.  By the time we stopped for lunch, we had gotten word from the hotel that there was no way to park the truck anywhere nearby.  So we needed to beg for a no-fee cancellation (the deadline for that had passed) and find a hotel that would have room for us to park.  Kudos to the La Quinta Inn Cleveland Airport West for coming to the rescue.  Located right across the street from the Great Northern Mall, there was lots of space for the truck and they were incredibly dog-friendly.  The clerk who checked us in had Milkbones for  Buddy so she was a friend for life! We could even leave him in the room while we went to get dinner in a restaurant across the street – something we missed the previous night as we ate Wendy’s on the grass outside the truck stop.

Decent nights sleep secured, we were ready for the final leg of the trip: a mere 4.5 hours to Rochester.  And it started to rain.  And it kept raining.  Torrential downpours from Cleveland to Erie, PA.  There were stretches of the road where Frank in the truck behind me couldn’t see my car at all.  It was a nightmare.  But we made it and managed to get to the house-that-would-be-ours to park the truck and wait for closing.

NY has an interesting approach to real estate transactions.  Apparently only attorneys can handle them and there is an absurd amount of paperwork involved.  We closed on the house on Friday morning, just me and Frank and 3 lawyers – one for us, one for the seller, and one for our lender! But lots of signatures and just 45 minutes and we had the keys.  Buddy was stupidly excited to run around his new house.  Of course he had no idea it was his house but he’ll catch on soon. We then spent the next 4 hours unloading the truck ourselves – in 75 degree heat (much more to my taste).  We spent the first night in the new house sleeping on the airbed we used for our last night in KC.

On Saturday morning the PODS arrived and on Saturday afternoon the local movers came and helped unload them.  We found that there was some substantial damage to some of the furniture as the KC movers didn’t seem to secure anything so boxes fell and furniture shifted.  I need to see what the insurance implications are but I certainly can’t say that I would recommend Ray-Mac to anyone. Nevertheless, the PODS are empty, there are boxes everywhere, and I have no idea where anything is.  But I spent last night in my own bed in my new house and that is something to be thankful for.

Some of you might be aware of my penchant for bad rhymes by which I besmirch the pseudonym of Theodore Geisel.  In honor of our departure from the middle of the map, here is another such composition.  Enjoy!

The time has come to say goodbye
Yes it’s hard to face
That years have passed – they really fly
And now we leave this place.

The adventure has been an amazing one
With many more smiles than tears
To think of all the things we’ve learned
In lo these four short years:

BBQ is more than sauce
It’s something on which to compete
Baseball goes well with BBQ
Burnt ends at the K make a game complete!

We saw the Royals lose a hard one
Then watched them win the crown
The fountains blue and a small parade too
It really took this town.

I had heard the winters were pretty bad
But that didn’t seem to show
I’m still waiting to experience
A really bad Midwest snow.

We learned how to manage a “quaint” little house
And the challenges an old place provides
But Brookside never lost its charm
Especially during Christmas tide

We even found a great church home
From two churches made to one
We laughed and prayed then laughed some more
It will be tough to be outdone.

A canine also came into our lives
Many years after one did depart
Now Buddy really rules the roost
There’s no doubt who is in charge.

And life in KC isn’t bad
Great friends and fountains and food
Can’t say much for local wines though
(They really aren’t that good)

So please consider when next you plan
To travel to the East
That Rochester is not so far
A mere thousand miles (at least)

We’ll finally have a “real” winter
And wines more to our taste
But it’s true that we’ll have left behind
A bit of our hearts in this place.

And now a final “au revior”
No “adieu” for such kind friends.
I prefer to think that it won’t be long
Until we meet again

We’ll be traveling for a few weeks before we return to the moving saga so pop over to the travel blog if you are interested in following us in Iceland and Scotland. Otherwise, see you later!