You know that little puppet, lambchop, who sings that horribly annoying song, ‘This is the song that never ends’? Well imagine that playing 24/7 for 7 days straight and then multiply that by 50 and you’ll understand what our move was like.

The day before the move I got very sick, threw up, passed out and on top of being sick I was terribly weak from anemia (due to complications with my PCOS) and not eating for a week prior in a failed attempt at not being sick during the trip. When my parents arrived I was so sick that I wasn’t very good company but I really was happy to see them after almost seven years apart.

After several hours of last minute packing and herding unhappy cats into cages we finally left our apartment, exhausted and hot, and set out for the road. Just as we started up our new van, a van which has been to the mechanic just a week earlier to make sure it was up to the trip, died on us. We got a jump from the neighbor and then headed off. A mile down the road we stopped at a gas station to fill the U-haul and van (each time we filled-up the vehicles it cost us $200 and my wallet literally started crying) and as we’re about to pull out the van died again. We get another jump and head for our mechanic another mile down the road. It’s a Sunday and the shop is closed (as is everything in Ridgecrest on Sunday) and we’re charged another $200 just for the inspection. Before the mechanic arrives we have to sit in the hot van waiting and notice that the U-haul is broken and smoke is billowing from under the driver’s seat. It turns out that the airbrake, which we hadn’t even used, was stuck. So we called the U-haul mechanic, who informed us it was our fault at which point, and I’m not exaggerating, my mom became possessed with the demon of maternal instinct and proceeded to scare the holy hell out of the mechanic for upsetting me. Normally my mom is the sweetest lady and is non-confrontational to a fault but I seriously thought she was going to punch the guy. After that the guy changed his mind and conceded that it was their fault and agreed to fix it….by 2pm the next day.

So now we’re hot, sick, tired, leaking money like its water and angry. I’m crying, my mom is postal, my dad looks like he’s shell shocked and Sean is so mad he can barely talk. In the end we get a new battery for the van and the mechanic drops us off at a local hotel because we can’t get back into the apartment since we’ve already turned in the keys. We get two rooms since everyone is sick at this point and mom and I sit by the pool while the guys get dinner. We’re out there for about ten minutes, in the shade, when my face begins to feel funny. It isn’t until morning (after a sleepless night due to being sick and stressed) that I realize not only is my face sunburned but I have a big lump on my lip because something bit me in my sleep. The rest of the trip I look like a carnival freak but that was the least of my worries. At noon the men-folk go to see what’s going on with the U-haul while we check out and sit outside in the heat. They return and tell us that the U-haul will be ready at 4pm…hopefully. At that point we started to think the town itself was possessed and would never let us leave. So, we get a room (because it’s like 100 degrees in the van so neither we nor the cats can stay outside) and we all try to nap until the van is ready. At 4pm the truck is finally ready (turns out there were a ton of other mechanical problems with the U-haul) so we take off…again. That night we only made it three hundred miles before we had to stop for the night (we had to leave early each morning so the cats wouldn’t be in a hot van). The cages are so big they barely fit into the van so to feed and clean up after the cats we have to bring all the cages inside the hotels which was a nightmare.

The rest of the trip is a blur of one miserable day after another. There were dust storms, sand storms and rainstorms, road construction and driving up mountains was mind numbingly slow. I was sick most of the trip and barely ate or slept and everyone was horribly sore from being cooped up so long. Some of the hotels were decent while others were just awful. Even after all that the U-haul had a lot of problems including a gas gage that didn’t work and a passenger side door that wouldn’t stay closed. Finally on Friday at 7pm we made it to our house and unpacked a mattress, a blowup mattress and a TV and then crashed. There was a strong smell of gas in the house so we couldn’t cook and had to make due with sandwiches and fruit cups. Because we were two days behind my parents could only stay until the following night and they went out of their way to help us unpack and assemble furniture as much as possible. We repaid them by treating them to dinner at Olive Garden for Mother’s Day and giving them our old car. Mom cried like crazy when they left and I have to admit, as sick as we all were of each other after being crammed together for so long, I miss her a lot already.

The next day I decided to be super wife and clean up while Sean was at work despite how awful I felt. While cleaning the back patio I closed the door to keep the cats out at which point the evil creatures jumped on the door and locked me out. Sean was a real trooper and came home from work (so I was only out there 45 minutes) and let me back in. After that I decided to work exclusively indoors. Even after having the window open all weekend the house still smelled strongly of gas so I called the gas company and they checked our lines. Sure enough there was a gas leak and they cut us off. The landlords, who are exceedingly nice, apologized and called a plumber. The plumber was hateful and unprofessional and never actually came by or answered any of our calls so the landlords called another plumber who came out immediately and got us all fixed up.

We’ve been here a week now and things are a lot calmer and I feel a lot better. There are a ton of bugs here because we have a big yard and a lot of trees but I’m learning to cope with the bugs. The first night we were here a giant tick was on my shirt a hairsbreadth from my neck, and we’ve got some widow spiders and wasps, but most of the bugs are harmless even if they are super creepy. One of the odd things we’ve had to deal with is the age of the house. Because it’s so old there are few outlets, no lights in most of the rooms, sometimes the floors shake when you walk and sometimes the lights go out on their own. Worst of all none of the doors stay closed so keeping the cats out of certain rooms is a real pain. I have to say though they’re getting along great and seem to really like it here. Aside from all the bugs, birds and rabbits in our yard they also have their own room. It’s basically cat heaven.

We still aren’t totally unpacked and the house needs a lot of work but for the time being we’re taking things slowly and trying to not over do it. Sean and I have both had allergy issues since moving here with Sean surprisingly getting much sicker than I. He has a bad chest cold but I think he’s feeling better by the day and he likes his job and workmates so that makes me happy. I think things are going to be good here even if it will take us forever and a day to pay for the move and if things go as planned our next move will be into our own home. The trip was miserable but it was (hopefully) worth it and at least it won’t be another seven years before I see my family again.

Good luck and blessings, Prana

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