All packed up…

Here’s a sneak peek into what our moving trip was like from Virginia to Tennessee. I didn’t get a picture of all of our vehicles, but it was something.

Sorry for the length, but it was quite a day.

We reserved a 26′ moving truck from Uhaul a week ahead of time. We were told that they would give us a call to let us know where to pick the truck up at. Well, by 5pm Friday evening (we were supposed to pick it up Saturday morning) we still hadn’t heard anything. So Hubby tried to call and was on hold with them for over an hour. Finally, he called the office where we scheduled the rental and by 7:30pm the Corporate office finally called us back. Well guess what? They didn’t have a 26′ truck anywhere in Virginia. But they could offer us a 17′ truck. Oh, a 17′ truck? That should hold the same amount of stuff, right? We told them we would need more space than that; that we have furniture from a 2600 sqft, 4 bedroom with a basement to move. They set us up with a 17′ truck, a 6’x12′ enclosed trailer, and 5’x9′ enclosed trailer. The lady on the phone said she would text us the info as to where to pick them up. I got two texts. That would make you think that one location had two of the things we needed, right? Well, how foolish of you to think that!

One of the texts stated that we needed to arrive at one location by 7am and the other by 8am. I Googled where they were and discovered one was 1-1/2 hours away from our house and the other was 1 hour away from the first location (but closer to home). It was going to work out that we arrive at the one by 7am and the other by 8am. Finally, something is working out. So we get up at 5:30am on Saturday, drive the 1-1/2 hours to get there by 7am, are excited to see that they have a 17′ truck and the 6’x12′ trailer AND (wait for it)…they don’t open until 9am! Are you kidding me? At this point, we can only start to laugh. When the lady arrives a few minutes early (and a little miffed that someone is already waiting) she tells us that the truck she has is already rented, that we are only able to pick up the trailer from her. Ok, no problem. Didn’t really want to drive that big truck back across the mountain anyhow. She sets us up and we are on our way. She was kind enough to look up our other reservation number and said that it looked like we were going to end up with a 24′ truck. Awesome! We won’t even need the other trailer then. Savings!

As we are heading back to Charlottesville to pick up our other items, I call the next place to let them know that we are on our way. The gentleman states that the person that handles rentals isn’t in yet, but should be there within 15-20 min. Again, it is now 9:45am and our reservation was supposed to be for 8am. With some relief, we find the place quickly. Our relief fades once we see what is on the lot. One tiny trailer and a beat-all-to-hell-made-in-1972 truck. Um, I am NOT letting my family drive that thing 7 hours away. We walk in and there are about 12 people standing around. One guy says, “Here to pick up a Uhaul?” We say, “Yes, we have a reservation.” Guy says, “So do the rest of us. Good luck.” Needless to say, the man handling the rentals was not pleasant and friendly and full of great customer services skills, telling us only that there are no trucks available in Virginia and he couldn’t help us. Oh, and also, “You were supposed to be here at 8am.” The last comment almost through me over the edge of my good Christian nature and my Florida-backwoods-Southern-upbringing almost reared her head.

To make a longer story shorter, the guy who took the original reservation did end up finding us a 17′ truck and a 5’x9′ trailer. By the time we arrived back home, the packing that should have begun at 9am didn’t start until 2pm. Mind you, this is Saturday afternoon and Hubby has show up at his new job on Monday or his start date would be pushed back 2-4 weeks. We had hoped to leave for Tennessee by noon on Sunday, but didn’t get out of there until 6:30pm. We arrived at our new house at 2am Monday morning. Luckily, the landlord left the key for us and we were able to come right in and crash. We had to leave a number of items that just would not fit in the trucks. I have more pictures on one the four cameras I have, but can’t find them right now.

All us girls – me, Baby A, and Lola the dog – were in our Yukon pulling the 6’x12′ with the queen mattress and box-spring on top of the truck and the king mattress and patio table strapped to the top of the trailer. The boys were all in the truck that was pulling the smaller trailer. It was a sight! Here are the pics from the “girls” truck:

Don’t worry, we dropped the bar stool and little bike off at donation, so Big Dog had a little more room.

Baby A’s hair is looking a little more wild than usual. Did I mention it was 98 degrees on moving day?

We are glad to be here and getting settled in Tennessee. The move has been good for us and we are thankful that Hubby has a permanent job and not on a travel assignment anymore. We continue to be so blessed and we are very thankful for it.