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ChrisandDave.com
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Thursday, 04 August 2011 00:00 |
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Thursday - August 4, 2011 - We had made it to New Orleans, not in record time, but were we in a hurry? There were plenty of headaches prior to our leaving, which I'll detail in my next installment, but the drive down had gone pretty smoothly.
There was still one thing left to do though: unload the truck into our storage space. First of all, why are we doing things this way? Well, we are subletting from our friends Rachel & Paul for five months, so we need a place to put all, or most, of our stuff until the New Year. Luckily the storage facility is three blocks away.
Thursday morning arrived all too soon. First things first, we needed to actually rent the space, which went smoothly. Public Storage, my hat is off to you! So much easier and professional than dealing with U-haul in Philadelphia! That taken care of we applied ourselves to the task at hand. I was dropped off with Jim at his place, where we'd left the truck the previous evening. Dave went on ahead to see if he could round up some cheap help over on Claiborne Ave (yes, when in need, it's always available). Jim and I piled into the big yellow taxi and headed down to St. Mary Street. When we arrived back at the storage facility only to discover the truck was 6” too high to pull into the enclosed garage. No matter, we parked just outside, the only problem would be that we'd be unloading in the direct sun. It was 95 degrees on Thursday, and the heat index pushed the actual feel to about 115. This was not going to be a light endeavor. One of the saving graces: our space was on the ground floor, in very acceptable air-conditioning, the others... Dave found three guys to help us. Annoyingly one of them skipped out even before we got started. Apparently he didn't want to work 'that hard' so he left. Yeah, fuck you too, buddy.
I estimate we started to unload around noon and in hindsight I probably pushed the pace a little too hard. The way we'd packed the truck had most of the boxes we needed to store first coming off the truck LAST. We still managed, amidst the horrendous heat of the mid-afternoon, to unload everything within 2 ½ hours. At times I think the two guys helping us thought I was a crazy man, but things went very smoothly, so I'll cling to that. “keep 'em moving and get it done” was my motto that afternoon. It was probably about 120 degrees in the truck at times, but we took turns unloading and finally we cleared it out. The air-conditioned environment of the storage space probably kept me from passing out any number of times, and in the end, we fit just about everything in the two spaces we'd rented that morning. One last series of trips over to the apartment with the remaining boxes and supplies and I found myself standing in a cold shower thinking, “Jesus Christ it's hot outside!”
Dave and Jim showed up with the last of the stuff and while Jim and I trudged things from the porch to the second floor apartment Dave dropped off our two helpers. The only thing left was to return the truck and be DONE with the whole thing. <Break Time, at least for a few minutes>
Back in the truck, stopped for a refueling, then on to the drop off. Jim and I sat in the air-conditioned comfort of Rupert while Dave took care of the last few details. “My God. It's done!” I thought. Jim looked over at me, “I did it! We did it!” I smiled and gave him a high-five. “I didn't want to scare you or anything before we started out, but that was the biggest truck I've ever driven ” he wavered. “You were great though! And we're HERE, so that's all that matters. ”
Not the end of the story, there is plenty to tell about the days leading UP to pulling out of Philly on Sunday afternoon. That's for tomorrow though. |
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Tuesday, 01 June 2010 20:04 |
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The idea of Memorial Day weekend wasn't even on my mind when we decided to travel a month ago. The main point of the trip was to attend my niece's birthday barbecue and see my father. Ok, the real reason was to give myself a break from the vise of what had become my life over the past few months in Philadelphia: relentless, compulsive escapism. Stop paying attention to yourself for a second and lessons and meanings begin to pop out of the smallest things - ironic in and of itself... since you'd think we would pay attention to the big things, but we don't. Those just seem to slip right by us.
I only come 'home' once or twice a year. Rochester may be the place I was born and raised, but it hasn't been my residence for what now has been over half of my life. I moved for good in 1990 and have hardly looked back. Family holidays, weddings and funerals have been the impetus for returns. I know I'm not unique in this, as many people have little to no connection to the place they grew up, especially if they moved around a lot as children. It does at times make me feel odd though, especially considering I come from a large family that is still heavily concentrated in western New York... and my father has lived in the same house now for 51 years.... the house I grew up in. Is there guilt about not coming 'home' more often? Do I feel strange about calling it home (in quotations?) Yeah, I do.
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Tuesday, 02 August 2011 00:00 |
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Tuesday - August 2, 2011 - Roanoke, it's been fun. Leaving Virginia and descending the mountains was quite breathtaking. Once we finally got to the level plains and crossed into North Carolina both Dave and I looked at each other and said, “I wonder how Jim is doing on that?” He was fine.
We were headed due south for Atlanta and the driving was fine.
I have to say that for two relatively new drivers I am impressed with how Dave and I are holding it together. I had only been driving for a week before we pulled out of Philly on Sunday, July 31st. And I had only gotten my license on Friday the 29th. Dave had been licensed for about 3-4 weeks. Our 'green' status and our carbon footprint was going to take a hit on this trip though. 1300 miles in an SUV and diesel truck is a bit much.
Today was kind of boring, but the drive was relaxing. Dave has a limit of about 2 hours at a stretch behind the wheel, so I stayed driving for 3.5-4 hours. I'm actually enjoying it. North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia... in and around Charlotte got a teensy bit hairy, but we managed. At the end of the day we pulled in to a La Quinta in Norcross just outside of Atlanta and it was again time for martinis and food. Jim needed martinis, I stuck with some Leffe Blond. Separate rooms tonight, as our snoring was a bit much for poor Jim last night. (It's the least we can do.... I can certainly empathize) Back to the room for a night cap of Red Stripe and it was time to crash...
<crash_hard_now>
More tomorrow. |
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Wednesday, 03 August 2011 00:00 |
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Wednesday - August 3, 2011 - Craziness. That's what this was... taking Rt 85 directly through downtown Atlanta, even after the morning rush hour. Dave wanted to drive, so I let him. I'm glad I did, my congested city driving is still rather nerve-wracking. I settled for the less nerve-wracking passenger position watching Dave navigate through it all. Any couple can probably attest that watching your spouse drive causes... 'tension.' This is something I have to ease into accepting, and just move on from it. We got through it all and out of the city in one piece. Atlanta: I have to say I'm glad I was just passing through. Not much more of Georgia now. Montgomery, AL here we come.
I felt a little bad taking over for Dave after about 2 hours, but it was time for his break. He'd done the hard part getting us out of Atlanta this morning, now the highway driving in Alabama was simple, open and sunny. As soon as we crossed into the state we decided to stop at the 'Welcome Center' which was truly the first sense I got of being in the deep south.... the trees, the lushness, and a different feel all together from the Carolinas & Georgia.
After we got out of the city this morning Jim had told us, “fly, be free, ” so we put the pedal down and scooted off down the highway. We weren't going to see Jim until tonight when he pulled in to Coliseum Street with the truck, but it didn't really matter, the rest would be smooth sailing right on into Nola.
A stop over in Montgomery for lunch then jumping on to Rt 65 southbound to Mobile. In and around Mobile and on to Biloxi, MS a number of flash storms dumped quite a bit of rain on us. the type of rain that keeps you from seeing more than 50-60 feet in front of you. A little unnerving, but still, that's what windshield wipers are for. And you know? There are STILL assholes that insist on speeding through weather like that. Perhaps they were some of the accidents we kept having to slow down to a crawl for? Nah, right?
Route 10 West from Mobile to New Orleans gave us some interesting sites, specifically the very long, elevated stretches of highway above the swamplands. Up and down, over miles and miles and miles of wetlands. This would be the case all the way into Louisiana and over Lake Ponchartrain. We were headed right into Nola now, and we'd just have to meet up with Jim at our final destination. We pulled into Coliseum Street at roughly 7pm on Wednesday evening, parked Rupert in front and shortly thereafter Jim pulled up with the truck. Wedging it in to the spots directly in front of the house we took a short breather before we met up with our friend Megan at the Avenue Pub on St. Charles for the hand off of the keys. I don't seem to remember what else we did that night, aside from hurriedly unpacking the car into Rachel & Paul's apartment, before we collapsed in exhaustion. We'd made it.
BUT, the truck still needed to be unpacked. Tomorrow. Just think about it all tomorrow. |
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Wednesday, 26 May 2010 22:15 |
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Well, here goes...
It’s time to answer some questions and say, “yes, we are moving.” Dave and I have decided to say goodbye to Philadelphia and move south... the deep south. New Orleans will be our new home this time next year. Why New Orleans? It was a hard sell actually, for me. Dave fell in love with the city the first time he went there back in 2004. It grew on me over the years to the point that now it’s our preferred destination when we travel. 2010 has been a year of many changes for both of us... and will continue to be. It’s not easy to leave a place you consider home, and that’s just what Philly has become for me since I moved here in 1990. I came out here, I met my husband, I’ve had many careers, many loves, many highs & lows, and many great times with all the great friends I’ve met along the way. We don’t leave without a sense of loss, but for both of us the draw of something new and different is too great. Who knows what the future will bring, but it’s time to do something else.
So this means two things... one more Turkey Sandwich Party the likes of which Bonaparte House has never seen. (Mark your calendars for the weekend before Thanksgiving 2010.) And one more of Dave’s greatest loves of Christmas time... the 12 ft Christmas tree will grace the front windows one last time.
But it’s the end of May right now and there is a lot of planning to do, many things to finish, many things to wrap up and to end. As I said above it’s a sad thing to say goodbye to all the great people who have come into our lives in the past 20 some-odd years, but we’re going to use this time to truly take advantage of you all. (Ummm, that didn’t sound right) To … celebrate the great city we are leaving behind and to also celebrate our future, your future... and the great unknown.
And yes, Dave is ALREADY starting to plan for the parties this fall.
And I'm going to document the entire process here... for better or for worse. But no matter what I say, as Dave likes to remind me "he signed a piece of paper and now we're married" so he's not going to get rid of me over it. (If you've never read the story about our wedding, page down and read "Straight Outta Compton" below. |
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