going and going and going...

We are finally here! Let's see if I can condense the last week down into a post small enough to write before I collapse.

We got the truck loaded on Friday, managing somehow to use just over 10 feet of the truck. I say somehow, but it was completely due to my Dad's awesome Tetris skills. Then we cleaned and cleaned and went to a wedding and cleaned and then we loaded up the cars and took off early Monday morning. We each drove a car loaded to the gills with stuff we urgently needed (or forgot to put on the truck) and had walkie talkies and a huge bag of back up batteries so we could keep each other awake. I thought before we left that that would be a bit superfluous because we had cell phones, but actually I was really grateful we had them with us.

I was also extremely grateful we DIDN'T have the kids with us. I missed them, but I barely made it 600+ miles per day--I can't imaging trying to make that drive with kid friendly music and tiny bladders. (I still had to deal with Chris, but at least he was in a different car!!) Just kidding--although I have to say he insisted on more bathroom breaks than I did. But maybe that was him being sweet and looking out for me cause he knew I was trying to muscle my way through.

Anyway, we stopped in Denver the first night and went to dinner with Nikki and Joel and Nikki's fiance Brian (whom we hadn't met before). It was actually a lot of fun, and we ruined the poor waitress' night by sitting there taking up the table for hours.

The next day we drove through Kansas, which was actually a lot prettier than I thought it would be. That's not saying much, but some parts were quite beautiful. Kansas City MO offered a strange welcome--we started across the bridge that takes you over the Missouri river into the city across the state line, and as soon as we saw the "you are entering Missouri" sign, there was an absolutely horrible smell like lake stink and yellowstone and landfill all combined into one. Then we got out of the car and practically drowned just trying to breathe! We drove through several little thunderstorms, so every bit of the drive was extra humid. We were so tired that we couldn't bear the thought of staying up any longer even to get good KC barbeque. So we went to Dennys. I know. But it was really late and we were so tired!!

So then we drove to St. Louis, and as even though I swore I wouldn't, I simply couldn't pass through the city and not go up in the arch. Well that was interesting from the get go. First of all there's a huge security check point to even get into the ticket office. Well, we had been moving and cleaning, and Chris had his big knife in his pocket. you know, the big giant one that flips open, the one he bought from a cop and was (barely) legal in Utah? Yeah, it's not legal in Missouri. So much so that when Chris tried to surrender it they wouldn't take it because they couldn't be in possession of it either. So we had to go put it in our car which was like two miles away down six miles of stairs and through several clouds, literally on the bank of the Mississippi. So we went back and bought our tickets for the tram. The tram was interesting--8 round cars that supposedly seat 5 people but really were made for gerbils--attached on in a row so they all swing independently from each other. Yes, I said swing. Often. Creakily. The tour guide said that the trip up takes 4 minutes and the trip down takes 3 minutes because gravity is on your side. I couldn't help thinking that I didn't want gravity on my side--I wanted FRICTION on my side. and big fluffy pillows. And WIDE OPEN SPACES!! It was very odd at the top, because it is very very apparent that you are inside the arch. That's hard to describe, but you know how the inside of cool looking buildings is usually nondescript and it's hard to tell that there's a difference until you look out the window? Well the inside of the arch is triangular just like the outside, and you lay on the slanty carpeted walls and look out the tiny slits for windows. We took pictures, but the camera's dead so you'll have to wait.

We drove on and on and on and on and finally we made it to Columbus. It was just at sunset and absolutely beautiful. Since we got here we've been going crazy, unpacking boxes, organizing, baking, shopping, building furniture, cleaning, you name it, and all the while Zoe and Jimmy and running around yelling and screaming and fighting and playing and whining and eating (or refusing to eat). FINALLY, after dinner tonight (saturday) we've got the cable all fixed and working so we can watch the Olympics and check email and, of course, blog.

I have to sleep now, but when we get the truck and the furniture I'll post pictures!