Apr

9

4am Monday Morning

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One downside to the move out west is all the time that is lost when traveling east (i.e. across multiple time zones). As Erin is now back on the road after a week off, we got to experience the joy of waking up at 4am so that she could make her flight en route to Jacksonville, Florida (via Houston, Texas). The good thing is that its a flat 30 minutes to DIA and I was driving slowly (still getting used to the 70+ mph speed limits out here).

All things considered, its been an insanely productive few days since we arrived in Colorado. We’ve purchased (and installed) much of our furniture and this place is really starting to come together. Next up is prepping the place to be painted, along with getting the local bank account and driver’s license.

On Saturday night I got to check out local band MFA at Trinity in Boulder with my brother and Chris. It was great to hang with them and begin my infiltration of the local music scene. I can’t wait to dive right in!

Now, about that WordPress photo problem….

Apr

6

Welcome to Colorado

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After a very short overnight in Lexington, Nebraska, we hit the road for the final leg out our trip. The landscape morphed from rolly-polly countryside and farmland to vast plans with the widest reaching horizon I’ve ever seen. This meant we were getting close!

With many, many hours on the road with nothing but the loud noise of a diesel engine and the vibrations of a poorly maintained Penske truck, one has plenty of time to be introspective about anything and everything. This trip has helped me realize just how big this country is, and how many different people there are throughout it. I’ve felt my perspective trapped very much in a northeast mentality for as long as I can remember (its all I’ve really ever known). I had taken for granted just how much there is to see and experience out in the world….outside an offices’ walls….outside a traditional white-collar career. I can’t believe what I’ve been missing.

We timed the arrival at our new home with a crack moving crew from the Denver area (who came highly recommended) - Two Guys and a Truck. While there were actually four guys, they emptied the truck that took us a day and a half to load in approximately 58 minutes. Seriously.

So we are moved in. We can’t find anything we need yet (still looking for my underwear and socks), but we are beyond happy to be here. Aside from traveling with two mattresses, a couch, a chair and a piano, we don’t really have much and the house looks ridiculously empty. In fact, I’m writing this from an ottoman as Erin is working on her laptop on the floor next to me. We actually just got cable, internet and voip installed a couple of hours ago, so we have a bunch of catching up to do.

Hopefully the next time I write, I’ll have a desk (or table) to write from…..that is if I can find the screws…..seriously.

Apr

4

Lexington, Nebraska

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Well our proposed ten-hour drive turned into a thirteen-hour drive (a new record for us). To add insult to injury, Iowa is a series of foothills…..rolling up and down, on and on for hundreds of miles. Each time I would have to climb one of these hills the speed of the truck would duck down to 65, 60, 55, 50, 45 mph (get the picture). It was bad. Oh yeah, and there was something like a constant 30-40 mph head wind that kept knocking the truck all over the place. Not fun! In fact, this truck has been banged around so much that I’d be surprised if the majority of our belongings haven’t been pulverized by all the vibrations and jolts sustained throughout the trip.

But there is more to Iowa than just endlessly rolling foothills. It is also the home of the “Worlds Largest Truckstop” a.k.a “Iowa 80.” An interesting thing about this trip is that our journey marks two firsts for me: the first time I’ve driven a diesel powered vehicle and the first time I’ve driven a legitimate “truck” (vs. a box van). There is a whole “trucker” counter-culture that I was never aware of. These guys may look pretty gruff, but they are friendly, sociable and accomodating. They’re never short on stories and are happy to hold the door open for you as you enter a truck-stop. They are the back-bone of the supply chain of this country……something that I never thought of appreciating before, but I do now.

After Iowa came Nebraska, and I don’t have much to share about that since we arrived in the state of “Warren Buffet” under the cover of darkness. However, its considerably flatter than Iowa (read: easier to drive in), but also more boring (akin to its southern cousin, Kansas). The cool thing about Lexington, Nebraska, is that it is 4-5 hours from our destination! We are so excited to begin our new life in Colorado and now we can almost taste it! With any luck, my next post will be from our new digs!

Apr

3

Schaumburg, Illinois

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Monday we found ourselves traveling through the rest of Ohio, Indiana and into Illinois….our arrival into which (Chicago) was timed precisely for 5pm so we could once again feel the maximum impact of rush hour and add an extra 1.5 hours to the trip just for kicks! ;-)

Seriously though, the trip has gone well so far. Zoe (the pug) has yet to go postal nor has she needed any tranquilizers (yet). Erin has been soldiering on following me in the slow-ass Penske truck that won’t travel over 68 mph. That should prove totally excruciating, though, as today we embark on presumably the most ambitious and most seemingly mind numbing portion of the trip…..Iowa and Nebraska. Today is supposed to be a 10-hour day…..the end point of which I don’t quite recall but from what I know of Nebraska, should be somewhat obvious once we reach it. I’m a little nervous about finding places to fuel the diesel truck as I almost ran out of luck yesterday in Indiana.

The only real casualty of the trip (other than my rear-end as the truck has essentially a park-bench for a seat) has been my i-Car-Play or the “thinggy” that lets me play my iPod through the truck’s radio. Well, yesterday, unbeknownst (sp?) to me, said device became entangled in the trucks emergency brake. Like a guillotine, upon release of the brake the lever severed the cord to the i-car-play (and thus, delivered a serious blow to my sanity). Thankfully my wonderful wife is out at Best Buy as I type this so that I don’t completely loose my mind talking to myself whilst traveling through Nebraska this evening.

Wish us luck.

Also…..for the record, I have photos documenting all this fun stuff but WordPress is still giving me grief, and that little bit of trouble shooting will commence once I get to CO. I realize that most blogs aren’t nearly as much fun without pictures, and yes, I suck for not realizing this problem before I left. So fire me. Oh wait, I already fired myself…. ;-)

Apr

2

Youngstown, Ohio

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Well after a much later start than anticipated (i.e. 4pm), we made it to Youngstown, Ohio tonight. With only seven hours on the road, we’re running behind schedule, but since we don’t *have* to be anywhere at a specific time, we’re going to take it easy. Its so much less stressful to travel when you’re on your own schedule.

BTW - having some difficulty with Word Press and the image uploader (all the thumbnails just show the background of CSS page) so I need to figure that out. Not to worry, I’m taking plenty of pictures and will share them as soon as the problem is fixed.

Apr

1

Moving day is here

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Well, its 11:13am on Sunday, April 1st. We were supposed to be on the road at 7am this morning. Needless to say we’re still packing a few (seemingly endless) last minutes items. I probably shouldn’t be writing this post (procrastination) but I wanted to share the craziness of the moment. We had some “troubles” with the moving truck and the driveway yesterday (pictures to follow soon) and eventually had to leave it on the street (read: bad driveway incline).

I just wanted to acknowledge the incredible efforts of my good friends (in order in which they arrived) Dave Aguanno (logistics commander), Frank Lukany (the piano lifting Juggernaut), Nick “The Stick” Afflito and Mike Tichy. Would couldn’t have done this without you guys and we’re eternally grateful! Much love. Now gotta go pack…..

Next post will *NOT* be in New Jersey!