Cross Country Road Trip!


Packed ready to go

 I took this picture moments before Lacey Cope came to pick me up to take me to the airport. Tom, Stan and Jeremy had left in the Penske and Camry fifteen minutes before. It was a bittersweet moment. I was grateful the year of planning and preparation was coming to an end. I was glad it had all gone so smoothly. I was pleased that my “job” of the past four years- renovating our house, had turned fruitful. But then, I was devastated to be leaving my nest, the home I rocked Scotland in, the home Tom and I created together. The home we celebrated my Master’s, his PhD, and many Christmases and Birthdays. The home we hosted family and friends.. . I shed a few tears. Picked up my backpack, and closed the door behind me. 

22′ Penske- Bring it on!

I’m not quite sure when the idea germinated, but Tom’s Dad decided he wanted to help Tom drive our truck of “stuff” across the country. Stan’s own Dad had done the same for him, and it was a memory he’d never forgotten. He wanted to pass on the legacy. Somehow in the planning they decided to include Jeremy in the mix, for comic relief I suppose! So on Monday around 5:30 the three “boys” set off for the wild west. A 22′ Penske towing a Toyota truck and a Camry between them, not to mention the back seat full of gatorade, M&M’s, chips and oreos. Determined to have fun, they stopped at historic landmarks along the way, ate junk food, and drove and drove and drove. 

“Touch down Jesus” Notre Dame- Indiana

Notre Dame University- Indiana

Iowa! World’s Largest Truck stop- Iowa

My dream made reality… Corn Palace- South Dakota

Missouri River

Hot slice of Americana.

Wall Drug Store- South Dakota

Amazing what a determined group of people can do.

Four of the great ones. Mount Rushmore- South Dakota

Little Bighorn. Powerful, especially after visiting Tibet last week. Little Bighorn, Montana

They arrived in Moxee, WA at my parents house early Friday afternoon. We unloaded some of our garage stuff and our nicer furniture pieces, and then enjoyed the evening, chatting, eating and celebrating a belated birthday for Tom with a homemade Key Lime Pie.

Saturday morning we set off for Seattle to unload the rest of the truck, minus a few boxes for a rental, in our storage unit. We arrived at the unit and within five minutes the piano movers called to say they were 30 minutes away. Which meant we had 30 minutes to unload the truck so they could get to the piano at the very back. While I tried to help, but mostly entertained Scotland, Stan and Tom frantically unloaded the truck on either side of the road in front of the storage unit. They were removing the final few boxes just as the piano movers arrived. 

Scotland and Poppa Foutz admiring Poppa Pete’s impressive work packing just about everything we own in a 10′ x 10′ storage unit.



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