The Move

Well, it’s been quite a week. Two movers came on Monday morning to start packing up all our stuff. They worked efficiently and had the whole house packed and labeled in boxes about seven hours. They came back the next morning to inventory and load all the boxes and furniture into the truck. Being freed from the burden of packing, Peter and I were able to follow behind to clean, sweep and vacuum each room thoroughly. By the time we left, the place was empty and spotless. It was so strange after three years, to leave this house we loved in a town that we merely tolerated. I was too conflicted to cry, a little nervous because we haven’t sold the place yet, and excited about all the prospects ahead. These kinds of major life decisions bring about so many different emotions, it’s hard to know where to even start.

Peter and I got on the road Tuesday afternoon and made it to Gallup, New Mexico the first night. This was the first of many towns along I40, which parallels the famed “Route 66”. We passed through Winslow, Arizona (don’t forget Winona) and stayed in Kingman on our second night of the trip. Needless to say, I had the song stuck in my head at various times during the entire drive on the interstate, not only due to the town names, but to the myriad of signs and billboards advertising tourist attractions related to this nostalgic piece of Americana.

We had a bit of an easier day on Wednesday, stopping for a few hours at Petrified Forest National Park, which is in the Painted Desert east of the Grand Canyon. Special geologic circumstances allowed for the preservation of these 250 million year old trees and also replaced the organic wood with a rainbow of minerals and crystals. The trees are scattered across the surface of the ground like newly fallen and cut logs. It’s not a traditionally pretty landscape, but the pastel shades of red, white, gray, purple, yellow and orange set against the bright blue sky give it a peaceful, if surreal feeling. Being a geology nerd will certainly help make your visit even more enjoyable :).

Once west of Kingman, we entered the Mojave Desert, which extends into the center of southern California and then goes up the middle of the state until the town of Mojave. It just goes on forever! There were intermittent Joshua Trees to break up the monotony, and I know most deserts are deceptively rich in plant and animal life, but they’re just not that exciting when you’re zipping along at 70 mph. Finally, north of Mojave we began to climb up into the Tehachapi Mountains, which were covered in dried grasses the color of amber on the south facing slopes, and carpeted with some unknown lavender flower on all the north slopes. The mountains must have been awash with color during the peak of the spring bloom after such a wet winter.

Coming out of the mountains, we saw the fruit and vegetable fields of Bakersfield for the first time. The central valley of California is flat, smoggy and frankly about as far from the typical image of California as you can get, but there’s no denying its agricultural importance. We saw field after field of grapes, peaches and almonds. We also passed a half dozen trucks pulling double hoppers of garlic on the highway and two trucks stacked with cardboard boxes of watermelons. All that produce you buy in the store has to begin its life somewhere and most of it probably came from the central valley.

We arrived in Three Rivers on Thursday afternoon around 4pm. Having just visited in April, the drive up into the mountains felt comfortingly familiar. With the air quality being pretty good, we were able to see the snow capped peaks of the Sierras as we began our drive up from Visalia. The green fields of the spring have dried to gold, but were no less beautiful. Lake Kaweah is much higher now than it was in April, due to the significant spring runoff this year. As soon as we got out of the car at our rental house, we could hear the roar of the Kaweah River.

As promised, the house had already been unlocked by the property manager so we could just walk right in and look around. It’s a small place, with two bedrooms and one bathroom, which is going to be a big change for us, but it’s a mansion compared to the 350 sqft cabin we shared in the Tetons for over a year. Our stuff has yet to arrive on the moving van, so we’re left to imagining where in the world we’re going to fit everything. But it has a big kitchen with lots of cabinets, a cozy living room and a great view of the river and surrounding hills in the backyard. For having rented the place based on a few digital photos sent by email, it could have turned out much differently!

This is going to be our last weekend to relax for a little while. No boxes to unpack yet, no stress or pressures from starting a new job, no big trip planned. Just a visit to the local organic farm stand, a classical music concert, some hiking and a little browsing around town on our agenda. I think that’s about all we care to take on at the moment :). We’ll deal with everything else starting Monday.