8 days, 5 boxes, 2 sisters, 1 car and a dream. I don’t think it’s really possible to explain how amazing and life-changing the road trip was. It was a week of my life that I will never forget and ALWAYS be able to look back at this special journey with my sister. She is truly, an amazing woman and my best friend….But, this is in hind sight. Let’s go back to the beginning.
I had planned the trip for her school February vacation week. Originally, I had assumed that fighting was inevitable and this could potentially be the end of our sisterhood as we knew it. Alexandra was offended I even brought it up.
Me: “So we are probably going to fight at least once on this trip.”
Alex: “WHAT! How could you say that! We are not going to fight.”
Me: “….?”
I mean, I wasn’t concerned about her at all. She’s a lovely person with unlimited patience and a nurturing non judgmental side. BUT for me; being in an enclosed or claustrophobic space WITH limited sleep AND irregular meals that can potentially cause my stomach distress…. I think there’s a book about me already released by Robert Louis Stevenson. You may have even heard of it, “Jekyll and Hyde.”
Anyways, we took precautions nonetheless. My wonderful mom bought us healthy non stomach upsetting snack foods and I brought enough Prilosec to help an middle aged overweight smoking male that eats only hambergers, coffee, and ammonia feel at ease. Plus, with an abundance of pillows, blankets, and of course, trusty Mr. Bear (whom I now sometimes call just “bear”, I’m 23, formalities aren’t necessary) comfort was resolved.
The greatest man
A week before the trip I also took Sandy (my blonde SUV) in for an oil change and tune up at Cowgills Auto Shop. Now I feel because of the circumstances it is fair to name my car mechanic. Plus- Sandy and I are out of state for an undisclosed amount of time. I told them to call me if she needed ANY work done and so I left her in the hands of my parents trusty mechanic for over 20 years. I get a call halfway through the day that my car needed new breaks which I was kind of expecting. They quoted me on $700 and I decided breaks were an important part of my car, and since I was driving 3000 miles I probably needed them. At the end of the day I get another call that she’s ready to be picked up, the cost… $1300. WHAT????? Uh, how much was my oil change? SO I freaked out. (I mean I’m moving, that money is saved for shelter!) I called my dad, in tears, who said it must have been a mistake. Just in case, the Saintly man (yes, my father could run for saint hood) came with me the next morning to pick her up. I decide to remain composed and deal with it myself, only allowing him to speak up if necessary. (He’s also 6’10″, so if you don’t know him personally he can be quite intimidating). Anyways, the mechanic comes out and my dad says “I think there may have been a miscommunication with the bill.”… and the tears flow. not the pretty “I’m a girl with glistening in my eyes” tears, the kind where my whole face is contorted into an unhumaly looking mess, I’m bright red with basically the Niagra falls coming from my eyes. “Ya saa ii asss ss sss ssseven unnned ollars aaa i onnn oww eree ouuu ott haatt umm berr.” So, Shep comes to the rescue as I SOB. The guy, feeling bad, lets me take my car for the $750 breaks and oil change. Dad may have paid for parts later, I’m still not sure on that part. But it was a messy situation which made moving that much more stressful. The good news is I got a discount on the work they did. The bad news is 3 months later and my breaks sound like a small animal being tortured but I feel too bad to call them to yell at them for giving me sucky breaks.
The Goodbyes:
Goodbye party
The week leading up was packing the car, giving stuff to good will, cleaning, saying goodbyes. (On a side note- it’s eye opening to see how much stuff you collect over 23 years of life.) The Friday night before I left my sister threw me a goodbye party with my closest friends invited for drinks and board game playing. Then the night before I left my mom had a dinner with my two closest friends, my family, and my high school coach/ friend/ second mom MB and her family. It’s amazing how loved you can feel when you leave some place. But it’s also weird because you’re like “oh I love you too but I’m moving across the entire country not knowing when I’ll see you next.” But, it was great and I truly am blessed with loving friends and family.
A farewell coffee with friends
Lynne
Kristen
