2,480 Miles
Elk Mountain, Wyoming
After about 4 hours of light sleep, I wake up on an empty hardwood floor in a sleeping bag at 4:00 AM. House is sold, moving containers packed, car is loaded, all that is left is a 2,480 mile drive to Northern California with a 4 year old, 2 year old, 11 month old, a cat, and luggage enough to survive about two weeks.
Somewhere in Illinois
Day 1 - We set out for Iowa City, Iowa for our first night. All went well, the kids enjoyed seeing some scenery, although it was not much to see other than what we were used to in Ohio. Rolling hills of green grass, corn, cow fields, corn, and more semi trucks than I thought existed.
Pine Bluffs, WY
Day 2 - From Iowa City, we got up at 4:00 AM and managed to make it all the way to the border of Nebraska and Wyoming. Specifically the small town of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. We ended up getting there in the late afternoon, which gave us enough time to take a short hike at a nearby rest stop.
Day 3 - We were all starting to feel the fatigue of hours upon hours on the road but regardless, we pressed on. We drove through the entirety of Wyoming which was beautiful although it was mostly flat due to being in the southern portion of the state. We stopped for the night in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was right in between two large heatwaves out west that were occurring around the time of this trip. Luckily we were only in the car for about an hour when it was 100 degrees plus.
Day 4 - Another early morning to start our last long drive of the trip. Started off the morning with our cat, Tom Hanks, escaping his carrier while I was loading the car. Three men smoking cigarettes at 4:30 in the morning watched while I frantically chased our cat around the parking lot for a full 5 minutes. Luckily he gave up and let me put him back in the car. From there we drove to a small town in the mountains just outside of Sacramento, CA. It was such an incredible feeling seeing the “Welcome to California” sign, almost congratulating me for a long drive that was coming to an end.
Day 5 - The final day of driving, with only 4 hours left to get to our new home in Monterey. I planned to sleep in and let the kids sleep in as well, but due to waking up at 4:00 AM every day for the past 4 days, the kids naturally woke up a the same time. So we ended up leaving early which gave us plenty of time to get to the house in time to sign the lease. The last four hours ended up being stressful as the kids, as well as myself, were very done with being in the car for so long. But, we ended the trip on a good note and the kids got out of the car for a few hours to enjoy the playground in our new neighborhood.
To sum up the whole trip, I was pleasantly surprised of how well it went. I had so many concerns that built up in my head, none of which happened. No car problems whatsoever, no injuries, only one instance of car sickness on the last day, and we made really good time every day of the trip. The kids did so well for being stuck in a car for 4 and a half days, they enjoyed seeing new things and experiencing new places. They had their moments of stress, homesickness, and worry, but overall I am very proud of them all.
I would be ashamed if I ended this post without talking about our wonderful cat. Tom was the ideal travel pet, slept for the entire ride everyday and only woke up to look out the window for about the last hour of the trip. Yes, he did try to escape once, but I don’t really blame him since he was stuck in a car and hotel rooms for days and he is used to being an indoor/outdoor cat. I think it was his way of reminding me who is in charge in this pet/owner relationship.
We now live almost 3,000 miles away from where we grew up, within 0.5 miles of the ocean, less than 5 hours from two national parks, and most importantly we are all together as a family again after being separated from my wife, and their mother for over 4 months. We are excited to start a new journey here as a military family in a military community, and look forward to the new moments we will create while living in a new place.
