Greetings from Spokane, WA! It’s official: the Biggest Adventure of My Life® has commenced.

We were up bright and early this morning, out the door of my parents’ house at 6 a.m. We would have loved to linger, but there was still lots of work to be done – loading the vehicles, cleaning the apartment, and getting rid of more junk in the garage. We took a break at 9:00 and met Audrey for breakfast at Linda’s Homeplate, then I had to run to Comcast (always a joy) to return our cable equipment and deactivate our account. Once that business was taken care of, it was back to the apartment, where the three of us – Audrey included – were scrambling like crazy to get everything done before our final walk-through. That was originally scheduled for 11:00, but I managed to push it back to noon. We were still hauling things out of there four minutes before 12:00. It’s certainly been a stressful few days!

After that we had to pick up the U-Haul from my parents’ house, say goodbye to them and Audrey (ouch…yeah, there were a few tears shed), and then drive to the U-Haul rental center to hook up the trailer and load my car.

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There was a brief stop at McDonald’s for a bite to eat, and then we finally, finally hit the road. And promptly ran into bumper-to-bumper traffic once we crossed the bridge into Portland. And again a little while later in the Columbia Gorge; we actually came to a dead stop and sat there, not moving, for ten minutes. I have no idea why; there weren’t any accidents or road construction taking place. Suffice it to say, those delays cost us quite a bit of time, so we got into Spokane a couple of hours later than anticipated and had to scrap our plans to visit the cider tasting room Tara wanted to check out. Which explains why I am blogging at 11:40 after a very long day as we await a pizza delivery.

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But our trip is underway now, and the excitement is building. Tomorrow’s going to be a solid 10 hours, at least, as we drive through Idaho and Montana. Destination: Billings.

By the way, Sydney did remarkably well in the car. She didn’t let out a single peep the whole time, which makes me wonder if somebody swapped her for a lookalike when my back was turned.

Anyway. It’s late, and I should wrap this up. Long day ahead tomorrow. Mountain time zone, baby!


11 responses to “1,250 Miles in the Slow Lane – Pt. 1: Spokane, WA”

  1. EEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Mark, great to hear that you finally got underway and are on the road! I too hit horrendous traffic when I got to Washington, DC on my move from Florida to Philadelphia. I actually spent the night in DC because I was exhausted by the time traffic had cleared. I got a fresh start in the morning.

    Safe travels, my friend!

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    1. Traffic can definitely wear you out, Ron. That must have been a long drive for you, too. I bet you were exhausted!

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  3. You’ve trademarked Biggest Adventure of My Life? You go, Mark! I feel as though I’m keeping up in real time via Instagram.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lol. I thought about it! Does that count?

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  4. Best of luck! Hope the weather is favorable and the traffic reasonable

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Traffic hasn’t been a problem. The weather yesterday? That’s another story. But travel is always an adventure, right?!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. […] we saw her, we were backing a loaded U-Haul out of my parents’ driveway, about to embark upon a 1,250-mile journey across five states for a brand new life in the Midwest. That was 15 months and an entire lifetime […]

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  6. […] marks an auspicious occasion in the history of MarTar. On June 22, 2018, we officially left the Pacific Northwest, pulling out of Vancouver, WA around 2:00 p.m. The next […]

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  7. […] we saw her, we were backing a loaded U-Haul out of my parents’ driveway, about to embark upon a 1,250-mile journey across five states for a brand new life in the Midwest. That was 15 months and an entire lifetime […]

    Like

  8. […] marks an auspicious occasion in the history of MarTar. On June 22, 2018, we officially left the Pacific Northwest, pulling out of Vancouver, WA around 2:00 p.m. The next […]

    Like

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