September 9th-Arrival at 2190 Norkenzie Rd

Last day of driving turned out pretty uneventful.  A lazy morning in Baker City led to a cup of coffee and about 30 minutes at the pool.  We hit the road and in answer to John and Erika's question, "Yes, Tesni is hooked on her tranqs."  I've included a picture of her just after we gave it to her.  The delivery of the pill was the worst one yet and involved lots of foaming at the mouth and spitting up pick slobber.  Unfortunately, none of that was captured in the picture.

Arrival at the new place: 2190 Norkenzie Rd, Eugene, OR 97401 was actually pretty awful.  Since we arrived at night we only had a chance to unload the air mattress and go to bed.  We awoke in the morning to a filthy carpet and the frige (that miss-spelling is especially for Brianne) was full of cat hair.  Come on old lady, were you're cats sleeping in there for Christ's sake.  Anyway, Alex vacuumed one room, which completely filled up the Dyson and I was walking around in bare feet and looked down to find that they were black.  After a day of cleaning and finding a person to clean the carpets we still had not unloaded the truck.  

September 11th was the fateful day of unloading.  We unloaded the truck with just our two sets of arms, which made me realize how weak I've become and how sexy and strong Alex is (added by Alex).  We unloaded the truck by ourselves when we moved to Cville (plus the apartment was on the 3rd floor) and I seemed to be able to muscle up and get it done.  Unloading this truck required lots of whining and making faces while trying not to drop the heavy items.  Of course, when we had finished unloading everything except for the two mattresses the Missionaries showed up.   We did have a nice chat about Bountiful and St. George.

You will also notice a picture of the shower head.  It about a foot short.  Alex was having to do some crazy back bends to rinse his hair.  I even had to squat down to get under it.  Thankfully there is a Home Depot right up the road, so we purchased a shower head extender.  Well,  I know we've said a few negative things about the house, but it really is quiet nice.  We'll post again once we've got everything unpacked in a few days.  FYI: Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the trash company is called Sani Pac?

There is also a picture of Mt. Hood taken from the truck and a picture of Carwyn sleeping diligently while we unpack.

September 8th-The First Glance at Oregon

I awoke to Archie feverishly foaming around the windows before the guy came to finish off the trim.  I was able to meet Brianne for coffee in the morning, so good to see my sweet friend again.  We said good-bye to Penny and Archie and we hit the road after giving Gabe a belated wedding gift.  One last stop at Caputo's for some lunch time sandwiches and we were off.

Another uneventful drive.  These blogs seem to be getting more lame as nothing exciting or dangerous has been happening.

We drove to Baker City, OR where we ate dinner at Barley Brown's Brew Pub.  A notable beer was the Hot Blonde, which definitely had a kick to it.  It reminded me of the jalepeno beer at Eddie McStiff's in Moab, UT, which no longer makes the jalepeno beer.  All in all good beer and good food.  An interesting factoid about Baker City is that the Armstrong gold nugget, weighing 80.4 ounces, was found here.  

We have no crazy stories about this hotel or town yet. . . 

September 7th-The Red Iguana

Well, Alex and I arrived in SLC at 1am on Sept 7th.  What can I say, the Longmont Olympics took longer than expected.  Using the car parking lights as trailer running lights proved to work just fine if you think jump starting the car the next day was no big deal.  FYI: 4 hours of straight driving with the parking lights on will kill the battery.  Someone in the truck suggested we pull over after 2 hours to let the car run, but someone else didn't want to stop.  These individuals will remain nameless.

Alex and I had a relaxing day visiting with Alex's family.  We had lunch at the Red Iguana, which if you have never been is the best authentic Mexican food in the United States.  I highly suggest either the mole amarillo or the enchiladas amarillo.  Don't be fooled by the fact that I listed to things with the word amarillo in it, everything on the menu is excellent.  The amarillo is just spicy deliciousness that can't be matched.

We also had a walk through Tanner Park with the dogs, which is a dog park/hiking trail.  I spent half the time worrying that Carwyn was going to run off and we'd sit around for hours waiting for him to show up again.  I hope my worrying wasn't too over the top for anyone involved in the adventure, but it has happened before.

We finished off the day with a lovely dinner on Penny and Archie's deck.

September 6th-

If you thought all those sports were a lot for one day, you were right.  We had to finish the Olympiad up in the morning and for lunch we went to the brewery of Dale's Pale Ale.  Best beer in a can if you've never tried it.

As you can see there are many highs and lows to winning and losing, but nothing beats a good competition.

After such grueling activity the drive from Longmont to Salt Lake definitely seemed long and hard.

Stay tuned. . .

September 5th-2nd Longmont Olympiad

Day 5: In Sept of 2005 Alex, Dan, Erin, and I had the brilliant idea to compete in our first Longmont Olympics.  Rules and games were decided on a napkin in a Boulder brew pub.  Dan and I competed against Alex and Erin in the highest tests of athleticism: pool, kickball, whiffle ball, HORSE, bowling, and mini golf.  Dan and I prevailed as the winners. 

In the second olympiad we decided to tone down the sporting events to accommodate a now pregnant Erin.  The decided events were: Pool, Whiffle Ball Home Run Derby, TOLF (tennis ball golf), HORSE, Mini Golf, Horseshoes, and Croquet.  Only two injuries in the second Longmont Olympiad.  One, Erin clocking me in the mouth with a whiffle ball.  Two, Erin nailing Alex in the shin with a horseshoe.  I suppose Erin was able to take some of her aggression out on us, which gave Dan a break.  Alex and Erin performed feats of athleticism never seen before to win.

Other highlights of the day included: The Left Hand Brewery and Carwyn and Cooper bonding.  Left Hand=Much better beer than MGD 64 and Ultra.  You definitely sacrifice taste for calories.

September 4th-Fried Chicken. Everyone Loves It.

Day 4 was a fairly uneventful trek from Maryville, MO to Longmont, CO (just outside Boulder).  The beginning of the trip began with me freaking out about running out of gas before we reached a gas station, to which Alex exclaimed, "It's for the Blog!".  Sure, running out of gas would make for a great blog entry, but dying in the corn and soybean fields of NW Missouri would be crappy.  However, we definitely had some words (i.e. stupid computer doesn't know shit) for Google Maps and its directions.  We drove North on I-29 and then headed West towards Lincoln, not just towards Lincoln but as you can see from the pictures straight through the town.  To which Alex proclaimed, "Damn it April, did it say O St on the directions!" and "I'm going to get a smack on your ass when we get to where we're going!".  Even though Alex claims to love maps, he some how didn't review the trip plan. 

At a rest stop Carwyn somehow ate 2 chicken wings that were lying on the ground.  I went back and forth for a good ten minutes not sure what I was scared of most: Carwyn having diarrhea in the truck or having to put Carwyn to sleep b/c his bowel was perforated by a stray bone shard.  As luck would have it we had to deal with neither, except for Carwyn's horrible dog farts in the truck. 

We passed time with some riveting map trivia.  Alex named all the state capitals except for 8, and I missed all the state nicknames except for 10.  For example, Alex asked me to name Iowa's nickname to which I replied, "Iowa's nickname? (pause) The Corn Eye State."

We arrived safely in Longmont to begin planning the Longmont Olympics.

Pseudo Oregon Trail Map

Brianne is a good friend and fellow blogger.  She suggested I post a map of our trek.  I hope you approve Brianne. 

If anyone was wondering.  No bridges have been out yet.  We have not had to forge a river or create a raft.  After cross the Mississippi and Missouri I have no idea how the pioneers did it.

September 3rd-These are the Days of Our Lives

Day 3 has involved a relaxing day in Maryville.  The day has included an am run with the dog, a shower with a shower curtain, a visit with my grandmother, a lunch where for the 1st time I had a Miller 64, chillin' at my mom's crib, a vodka tonic, plenty of entertainment trying to combine my animals with my mom's 2 cats, a walk to DQ, and the night is still young.

Read on if you would like to learn of some details to the day.

Am Run: I realized I haven't run in 2 weeks b/c of the move and I could feel it.  Never thought running for 25 minutes could wear me out so much.  Looks like I need to put my game face on and really put into practice that Eugene is called "The Running Capitol of the Country".

Grammy: If you know the relationship I have with my grandmother, today was no different.  It involved me telling my grandmother that if she could tolerate her leg wraps for just a few hours it was better than nothing.  To which she replied (while giving me the evil eye), "If you were in my skin you wouldn't be saying that to me."  I really do love my grandma despite all this.

Lunch:  I had a soup and salad.  Nothing interesting as I've decided that if I'm going to start running again I should diet like I mean it.  That being the case, I ordered a bottle of MGD 64, only had 2 buffalo wings, and 1 jalepeno popper.  I have nothing but positive things to say about the beverage considering it's a few steps above water.  We did a taste comparison using my beer and my mother's Michelob Ultra.  64 was the decided winner all the way around the table.

My Animals vs My Mom and Kim's Animals:  I do believe my cat and dog came out on top.  A lot more hissing came from my mom's cats, but considering my animals walk around like they've lived here for years tells you the score.

DQ: Who am I kidding, I'm not on a running diet.

A quick explanation of the pictures: You can see a picture of my mom's house, a few pictures of us on their new handicap accessible deck made for my lovely grandmother, and a picture of Kim trying to calm his cat down.

September 2nd-Missouri Loves Company

Day 2 of driving involved a 10 hour drive to my mother's house in Maryville, MO.  No night driving=No raging truckers.  I put in the 1st Spice Girls album (that's right, it's Alex's), which induced much hilarity revolving around the Spice Girls themselves.  Alex actually knows quiet a bit of Spice Girl facts.  For instance, Posh Spice never gets to sing b/c she's the pretty face of the band.  Apparently, she only gets crappy one liners which she sings like crap.  Of course Alex makes up a crappy one liner and sings it in his crappiest voice, "You want to make a chocolate candy bar, you need to start by making chocolate."  This may not sound funny as you read it, but I was laughing for 2 minutes straight easily.  I'm also surprised (or scared) that Alex knows which Spice Girl is singing during the songs.

The picture of Alex sitting next to me in the truck we lovingly call, "Honey, it's just like old times in high school."  All said in a red neck accent.

I've included a picture of the truck and the car carrier so you have a really good idea of what our lane changes look like.  

I also took a picture of the defensive driving sticker on the dashboard.  I really enjoy the picture of "Use Your Mirrors" as the truck is running a small car off the road.

We rode a cheetah to White Castle on Day 2.  If you at all like stoner movies rent Herald and Kumar Go to White Castle.  It is just a fast food joint, but after the Herald and Kumar movie we had to try it.  I can see how if you were high you would want to eat 50 of these little burgers.

Last picture, I grabbed a shot of The Arch as we passed over the Missouri River into Saint Louis.

Scariest driving moment on Day 2.  Again, I'm driving.  Let's remember that I'm driving a very heavy truck that takes forever to make any changes in velocity (or is it speed).  I'm driving N on I-29 doing 70.  All of a sudden a little motor bike cuts in front of me doing 60.  I slam on my brakes, lay on the horn and switched lanes.  Awesome trucker skills on my part.  I suddenly realize what happens to all my patients that end up in motorcycle accidents in the hospital.  Lesson of the day: Stupidity=Death.   

Night of September 1st-Jesus Denied a Room (aka Carwyn and Tesni)

Our first night trying to find a hotel was more difficult than expected.  Trying to find a place that allowed pets and had a place where we could park the truck was very challenging.  The one place where we thought we could sneak the pets in had a house party of 80 college students raging on the balcony.  We quickly decided to move on to the next town.  So we decided to stay in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

We arrived at a hotel that our AAA Tour Guide listed as a Holiday Express.  Only the Holiday was blacked out, making it Express Inn.  I can only imagine what happens at an Express Inn.  I think it has something to do with hourly rates and women I call "Professionals".  Concerns started to mount, but hell they told me pets were ok and the parking lot was empty (plenty of room for the truck).  We headed up to the room, which was surprisingly nice.  I looked in the bathroom to see that we had no towels or soap.  I went downstairs, where the GM said, "It's hard to get good help these days.  I've had to fire almost all of my house cleaners b/c they stole the soaps."  Tracking down towels was easy.  Tracking down soap proved more difficult, but eventually we came across one lone bar.  In the morning, I realized that there wasn't a shower curtain on the shower.  Taking a shower w/o a curtain proved to be a fun change to the routine.  Hell, I don't have to clean up the puddle of water on the floor.

Other events during the night: If you don't know my dog, for some reason he loves to eat cat poop.  The liter box had to be blocked off w/ chairs to avoid any miss events.  However, we awoke in the middle of the night to Carwyn feverishly drinking water.  Somehow he had broken through the barricade and eaten the cat poop w/o us waking up.  Note the empty cat box.  The comedy ensued when we began calling Carwyn a "turd burglar". 

September 1st-Westward Ho

September 1st-Westward Ho

We handed the keys over to the tenants and they immediately began planning the destruction of our garden.  

The cat was lost for 2 minutes, which then put me into panic mode.  Running around the house like a maniac makes me look just as crazy as some of my patients.  Turns out she was hiding in a cupboard.  

I loaded the car up onto the trailer, as I got half way up the whole front end of the car carrier flipped up.  Alex was standing in front of the trailer directing me, he's lucky it didn't shoot forward and kill him.  Turns out there were two massive cracks in the frame.  The next two hours proceeded as follows: Waited for Penske to come to the house, only to report, "Oh yeah, that thing is fucked."  Waited for Penske to bring a two truck to haul off the trailer, the tow truck guy exclaiming, "How the fuck did that happen."  Penske finally locating another car carrier for us in Waynesboro.  Meanwhile, April is held up at Laurie's house with the animals.  This was actually quiet amusing as Tesni had already received her tranq and was stumbling around like a drunk person.

Finally, we were on the road.  Once nighttime fell, truckers started to try and run me off the road (yes, I was driving), flashing their hazards and acting rude.  We decided that whatever was wrong with the truck could wait for morning.  Turns out, there are no running lights on the trailer.  As Alex started to freak out at Penske shouting, "They are trying to kill us."  I wisely pointed out that we can turn on the car parking lights.  Safety first!      

August 31st-Cleaning the Ranch

Sorry, no good pictures of Alex and I cleaning the house.  However, I did get a good picture of Bizz testing out the new cat harness.  If anyone was wondering this is the closest Bizz has willingly gotten to my cat.  Also, a great action picture of Alex and I auctioning off our condiments.

August 30th-The Covered Wagon

Warning: This has nothing to do with farting in bed.  Find another blog if that's what you are looking for.  

Penske somehow allowed Alex and I to rent a 22' yellow "wagon" to move across the country.  You can see a lovely picture of me signing our life away to the man behind the counter.  I think he thought he was getting a great deal.  At first they tried to pull up a 16' truck.  I used my excellent math skills and the power of visual observation to correct him and get the bigger truck.  I did a lot of heavy lifting that day, but not nearly as much if Erica and John hadn't come to help us.  Good thing we got the 22 footer b/c the thing is packed.