We Crossed the Finish Line!

Sooooooo yeah…I kind of dropped off the radar there for a bit. My apologies to those who were waiting for more updates – I already felt bad enough about it, but I got a bunch of questions on my whereabouts and updates, so I’ve felt even worse. I should have kept up better. I don’t really have a great excuse, but my closest attempts would be 1) driving a moving truck 9-10 hours/day is exhausting, 2) moving across the country makes for a bit of a blur by the second half of the journey, and 3) 2 days in Vegas is SUPER distracting.

Anyway, the biggest update item? The eagle has landed…In Santa Monica, CA…holy cow!! We officially arrived and moved me in on Thursday 9/9 – total end mileage count from Chapel Hill, NC was a cool 2,699. I know. Exhausting just to read that, right?

It’s definitely been a bit surreal since arriving. I’m not quite to the point of believing that I live in SoCal now. Almost seems like I’m just on a little vacation or something, and that I’ll be headed back to NC anytime now. But no…this is the real deal. I’m staying….and SO happy about it. It already feels like the right place for me right now. You know how sometimes you just get a feeling about something/someplace? I got that feeling here. And it feels fantastic.

End points of interest/vital stats from the last leg of the journey out:

* Number of Budget moving trucks in the Las Vegas Westin parking lot - 1

* Money lost overall in Vegas by Lindsay - $100 (boo)
* Money won overall in Vegas by Matt – a TON (not sure he wants me to share the amount…but it was pretty amazing!)

* Lucky number on the roulette wheel at the Paris casino – 19 baby!!!

* Number of lovely drives over the Hoover Dam – 0 (apparently trucks are no longer allowed over the Dam…damn)
* Number of actual cities passed through between Albuquerque and Las Vegas – 3 (maybe 4…seriously, there was NOTHING on that leg of the trip!)
* Number of furniture pads rented in NC for the truck – 36
* Number of furniture pads turned in for the truck in LA – 39 (um…I guess they mated back there??)
* Number of my credit cards that were frozen due to irregular activity and locations – 2 (don’t worry – I made the calls and I’m back in business – thanks to Amex and Visa for having my back)
* Number of best brothers in the whole world – 1, and only 1
o Matthew, I could NOT have done this without you…thanks for hanging in there with me through the nonstop emotional rollercoaster (“I’m happy and excited!” “I’m so tired.” “I’m feeling conflicted.” “I’m hungry….AGAIN.” “Darn that new Nelly song! Makes me tear up every time!”), too many hours in the truck, seemingly endless pit stops to fill up the gas guzzler and get coffee, never really understanding when we actually qualified as a “truck” and therefore me asking every 10 minutes as I saw scary signs, building pretty much all my furniture, and more Mexican food than you probably ever thought you could eat in one week. What a trip. You’re the best, I love you – I’m so lucky to have you.

So that’s that….the journey is complete. I have arrived. Deep breath…and let the “SoCal Experiment” begin!!