Cross country move #amwriting #amreading

View from my office

So... our move is done. We have successfully moved three people (me, hubby, and mom) five horses, a dog, and a cat from Colorado to Oregon. And all of our stuff. We have too much stuff.

We're into horses and cars and with both of those hobbies, you never know when something might come in handy. Can't. Throw. Anything. Away! We tried, succeeded, but still. The stuff.

First trip, hubby drove a 26' moving van hauling our Jeep (overloaded I might add.) I drove our 1-ton truck loaded with hay and corral panels on the truck, pulling an overloaded utility trailer with all the garage stuff. It's max is supposed to be 7000 pounds, we were at 10,000. Luckily the moving van couldn't go very fast, so that kept things (reasonbly?) safe.

Mom stayed home to take care of the horses, cat, and dog.

We unloaded in a day, dropped off the moving van, went out to dinner with some new friends, and then drove back to Colorado in 17 hours and 50 minutes. Not bad for a 20 hour trip!

Slept for a few hours, then loaded up the remaining miscellaneous needed to take care of the horses and survive for a few days, then headed out the next day. This trip we did slow, breaking it into two days with an overnight with a relative with room for the horses to relax. This was the longest trip any of our horses had done, but they are endurance horses, so have traveled a fair amount and are used to landing in strange places.

So, the property we bought needs some work. We knew that. It was a family gathering place and built a little oddly for a full time family. But we've got great remodeling ideas. The only real problem is the filth the renter left behind. Ugh, smokers. No respect for others. Sinks, floors, window sills, everything is just gross. We had to make a run to WalMart for cleaning supplies before the first unload. We already have carpet scheduled to be replaced and I've got candles running near full-time to get rid of the smell in the mean time.

But I'm thrilled. I love Oregon (except that weird thing about not being able to pump your own gas) and the people of Bend are wonderful. I'm thrilled with the restaurants (cuz I'm not cooking in that kitchen until the appliances are replaced). Get this - at a local gas station, you can fill your growler with 28 different kinds of beer (apparently no open container law here!) buy bait from a vending machine, and get the most amazing barbecued chicken on a stick I've ever had. But not pump your own gas!

We'll be working on projects, especially for the horses for a bit, so I'm going to take a break from writing although the ideas are still simmering. But the blog will continue, so if you or someone you know needs some book promotion, give me a shout. I love doing author interviews.

I'm also taking on some new editing and reviewing projects, so that will be fun. And best of all, the whole reason we moved to Bend? I've got 1800 miles of horse trails to explore!