We live in Vermont now...finally

Moving mostly across the country has been an experience we hope to never endure again.

Our original move date was June 14. We were going to rent a moving pod, pack it ourselves, and meet the movers and our stuff in Vermont. When Phil went to reserve the pods, he discovered that particular company did not service the middle of nowhere Colorado. He tried several different companies that offered the pods, and the best option required us to haul our stuff from Kremmling to Estes Park (which is on the other side of Rocky Mountain National Park). We thought that was a horrible idea and began searching for alternatives. We found a company that would come to Kremmling, pack up our boxes, and meet us in Vermont seven days later. Yay, life was good, and we continued packing.

June 14-moving day arrived. We had not gotten a call from the movers like we were supposed to, but we were hopeful nevertheless (aka naive). We waited and waited and waited. Phil called his contact who apologized for the movers being late but they had not realized how far out we were. (Rant: Look at a map! That should have been the first step of the planning process, not something that happens the day your movers are supposed to pack the truck. People can find Denver pretty easily on the map. We're only two hours away. That should not have been a big deal. Ugh!) They had scheduled a back-up date for the next day. Phil and I had family plans in Michigan for Father's Day and needed to be home. We were told as long as someone was at the apartment to let the movers in, they would grab our stuff and life would be good. We nervously gave our keys to a neighbor who had adopted Phil and me, packed the car, grabbed the cat, and left Kremmling a little after midnight.

The drive out was fine. Lucy does not travel well in her kitty carrier, so we hooked her into a harness and leash for the trip. Before we passed through Denver, she had climbed on top of some boxes in the back and watched the world go by.

Plan A was to stay in Michigan for a couple days, spending time with our families.We were there for almost two weeks. Our movers never showed up. Every time Phil called, they apologized and set up another move date. Lies. We canceled our deposit and began our search again for other moving options. It turns out, we were the best option. My mom traded cars with us for a while, and she drove around in our cute little Vibe while we drove her Yukon back to Colorado, packed a U-Haul trailer, and drove across the country again. 


The trip with the trailer also went well. I felt pretty awesome driving this massive truck with a trailer behind it despite being passed by every other vehicle on the road. Our journey took longer than we had anticipated which resulted in apartment hunting on the Fourth of July (Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!) still with the trailer attached to Yuki. I had been in contact with two landlords and found one more possibility on the way out. They were all very gracious and met with us on the Fourth. Landlord A drove us to the property so we didn't have to worry about maneuvering the trailer, Landlady B offered to let us spend the night in the apartment even if we didn't rent it so we didn't have to pay for a hotel, and Landlord C was shifty. 


We moved into Apartment B that afternoon. We are living in the upstairs of an old house a couple miles outside of Richford (where I teach). We have a huge backyard right on the Missisquoi River, two bedrooms (one small, the other smaller), a large living room, a real kitchen and dinning area, and a small bathroom with a clawfoot tub. There are wood floors in the bedrooms and living rooms and slanted ceilings which I have run into more often than Phil (go figure). 


After we unpacked most of our boxes, we were supposed to drive back to Michigan to swap cars and get our cat back from Mom and Aunt Betty. That trip was postponed, but at this point in time, everything is as it should be. Our car is much better suited for the narrow and curvy roads in Vermont, Lucy is enjoying the deep window sills in our apartment, and Phil and I have unpacked all of our boxes and have no plans to drive anywhere outside Vermont for a very long time.