MN to NB

I've been wanting to post an update, but have been absolutely swamped - literally and figuratively!

We started loading the truck on Wednesday evening, 6/11. Six friends helped and, except for their inclination to play "let's see how fast we can throw everything on the truck," it went fine. We couldn't have done it without them. But, we still spent twelve hours on Thursday, 6/12, packing the truck and cleaning the house. We ended up pulling out of Saint Paul at 5:30 pm.

We should have made it to Madison, WI, where we had a reservation, in about 4 hours. But, near Baraboo, WI we were in a single lane of traffic, literally stopped on I-90. It took us an hour to go four miles. Turned out that the right hand lane, farther up, was under water. It was bizarre to drive by with water on the middle lines in the interstate! So, we got to Exit 135 around 10:30 or so, in the rain, and stopped at the hotel. When we got up the next morning, I-90 was closed from Exit 135 north. So, if we had stopped a bit to the north, as we had once planned, we wouldn't have been able to continue south on the interstate. And, if we had left on Friday, same thing. But, we were headed south, so all was well. Well, so to speak. Rain, rain, and more rain. Here's a story about the closures.

On Friday morning, 6/13, we headed toward Chicago, but stopped in Elgin, IL to meet an old friend for breakfast. I was driving with 22' rental truck with my mother (77YO) while P drove our '98 Honda Civic with 7YO and our lab-spaniel mix. She was behind us a ways, but when she didn't show up I got concerned. Thank goodness for cell phones. She had missed the exit and was on her way to Schaumburg. They turned around and made it back to the restaurant where we had breakfast before continuing on our way. We arrived in Cleveland, OH around 9 pm where we were meeting another old friend and her fairly new husband for dinner. This would all have been uneventful... and faster - were it not for the torrential rains. Ugh! And I don't know who designed the highway in Cleveland, but... weird. There was a 90 degree turn with instructions for, I think, 35 mph in the middle of the interstate. But, we made it, had dinner, and traveled another 45 minutes to our hotel in Conneaut, OH, on the OH/PA border.

On Saturday, 6/14, we traveled through the Southern Tier of NY, visiting Wellsville. P has distant relatives there that she had never heard of, let alone met, so we planned a lunch visit. That was good because there were kids there and 7YO got to run around for a couple of hours. We then made a stop in Hornell, NY as I wanted to photograph the headstones of my great, great grandparents and great-grandparents. Alas, I couldn't locate them, there was no caretaker available, and I did my knees a grave injustice. The pun was not intended - I just noticed it on review. But, hey, I'm leaving it! On to Albany where we spent the night in the very worst Super 8 I've ever visited. Yuck! Oh, and in case you wondering, yes, it was still raining on and off.

On Sunday, 6/15, we took off for the greater Boston area, Newton to be specific. We were going to lunch with another old friend, her partner, and their 8 year old twins. Fortunately as I exited Route 9, with the intention of turning left on Chestnut Street I noticed the sign: 11' 8". Yikes! The truck requires 12'1" of clearance. Whew! After a minor detour we made it. 7YO was able to play with the boys and their Wii, their nerf dart gun, and otherwise have a blast. And, yes, our friend realized that 7YO had just played with his first, to our knowledge, "gun." Oh, well. From there we drove to Freeport, ME. After a short dinner and a quick visit to LL Bean - where 77YO bought more long sleeved shirts for the weather of an Atlantic Canada summer - we turned in, ready for the last day's drive. And, yes, there was still rain.

On Monday, 6/16, we slept in and took our time preparing for our departure. We stopped in Houlton, ME to fill up and then headed toward Customs. First, US Customs for the export of our vehicle. No problem. They had the materials we had sent via FedEx and the fact that P's last name on the title is not her current name wasn't an issue. Then, over the Canadian Customs. Again, no problem. The whole thing took about an hour, but some of that was the fact that there were four of us, a dog, and two vehicles. We were in!

We made a brief stop at the New Brunswick Visitor/Information Center, picked up some tourism literature for 77YO, got 7YO a Sprite, and headed toward Fredericton. And, yes, it was still raining. I thought we might make it the whole way, but having downed an entire Sprite, we had to make one more stop for 7YO.

We arrived in Fredericton around 5 pm. The fabulous fellow from whom we are renting for the summer had prepared a supper of ham, scalloped potatoes, and fiddleheads. After supper - it was overcast, but not raining! - we took my mother by our lot and showed her 7YO's school. Then, it was time for bed.

This morning we unloaded the truck into our storage space. Rather, our realtor, her husband, the fellow from whom we are renting, and his son unloaded the truck. We helped, but they were miracle workers. Compensated, but miracle workers nonetheless. We were drenched. Once we got everything into the space or in the car to bring back to the house, we picked up 7YO and 77YO and went to get lunch and run errands. And, yes, it was still raining.

I've been writing this with my legs up, both knees wrapped in ice. My shoulder is trashed. But, we're almost done. Tomorrow we have to return the truck to Maine. 7YO and 77YO are going to hang out here so that will be nice. P and I might even be able to have a quiet lunch in Bangor before heading back. After that it will be a matter of dealing with the car, the builder, etc. and hoping for a sunny day! I really can't believe we're finally here.

Oh, and P has an interview in July. She's one of two people they're bringing in to interview for a position that is basically her dream job. She's going to be beyond bummed if she doesn't get it, but we just keep saying that if that's the case it's meant to be.

Sorry for not being able to post from the road - they would have been more interesting - but the rain really slowed us down and days became much longer than they should have been. But, we're here!