March 2022

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Once we learned that Chrissy and Johnny were expecting a baby in early May, Valerie very much wanted to be on-hand for the birth and to help out with the newborn.  Therefore, we decided to end our time in Maryland and return to California.  In addition, since Chrissy and Johnny were planning to look for a larger place to live and wanted to relocated to San Diego, we collectively decided to look for a house that would accommodate everybody.

Departing Maryland

We found a place that suited our requirements and Chrissy and Johnny moved into it at the end of February.  So, in early March, we packed up our apartment and had everything stuffed into two U-Haul moving containers that would be shipped for us to San Diego.  We celebrated Valerie’s birthday on the 11th and stayed with Cyndie and Ming for a few days before starting our car trip across country on March 17th.

Along the way, we stopped off to visit my sister Sheila and her family in Tennessee, then on to San Antonio where we spent a few days with Ralph and Carlie.

On March 30th we completed the drive to our new home and began unloading the containers.

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November 2021

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The second week in November was time for the annual family reunion at Dale Hollow Lake.  Since we were living in Maryland, we could drive to the event this year.  We took our time with an overnight stop in Charleston, WV.  Our first stop was to visit Hew at Nolin Lake.

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On the 13th, we continued on to Eagle  Cove on Dale Hollow Lake.  We enjoyed all of the usual festivities, particularly the White Elephant gift exchange.

At the conclusion of the weekend, we drove back into Kentucky to visit with Nancy in Louisville.

Later in November, we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with Valerie’s sisters in Maryland.

The Move – Day 6

At long last, the drive is over.  Day 6 began in Kingsport, TN, and ended at our destination in Germantown, MD.  We crossed two state boundaries:  Virginia and Maryland.  Once again, we had scattered clouds and temps in the 70’s.  On balance, we couldn’t have asked for better weather for our drive.  We were very fortunate.

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This drive has reminded me just how awesome air travel is.  It’s incredible to think that in 5 hours you can cover the same distance that we just spent 6 days driving.  When we arrived, we didn’t have to start moving into the apartment right away.  Valerie’s sister kindly offered to allow us to park in their driveway and spend the night with them so that we can get a fresh start moving in tomorrow.

Day 6 miles driven was about 407.  Total for the trip was a little over 2,600.

The Move – Day 5

Day 5 began in Memphis, TN, and ended in Kingsport, TN.  Today was all Tennessee, all day.  We had another good weather day with scattered clouds and temps ranging from low 60’s to low 70’s.  But, the big news is that we entered the Eastern Time zone.  I know, but it’s all we’ve got.

The other big news is that tomorrow will be our final driving day.  The last time we traveled across the US in a vehicle, it was in our motorhome in 2016 and we took about one full year to complete the roundtrip.  All things considered, I think I prefer the one year version to the six day version.

Day 5 miles driven was about 460.

The Move – Day 4

Day 4 began in Oklahoma City, OK, and ended in Memphis, TN.  We had mostly scattered clouds and temps in the high 60’s.  Quite pleasant for our needs.  We offed Oklahoma, ate all of Arkansas and tiptoed into Tennessee.  However, no time change today.  We remain in Central Time.

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We spoke to my sister earlier today and she gave us the heads up that the I-40 bridge that crosses the Mississippi River into Memphis was recently closed when they discovered a crack in it.  Turns out that it was good information to have but knowing didn’t change the fact that there is only one other bridge to get us into Memphis and naturally, it was very busy.  Google maps navigation gave us a suggestion that allowed us to bypass perhaps 1.5 miles of the backup so only cost us about 15 minutes delay.

Day 4 miles driven was about 480.