We moved back to Pittsburgh April 10. It was quite a journey actually! Usually the drive can take anywhere between 10 and 12 hours depending on traffic and how often we stop. Tony was supposed to get his official papers from the Marines at noon. They were being very strict and made him wait in an office until noon on the dot. Of course the past 10 days he was getting off for the day as early as 8:30 in the morning. Not Friday though! The day when we could have really used an early day. Even then, the guys who had to sign his paperwork weren't in the office so he had to walk around trying to find them. That weekend was also Easter weekend. Almost every single Marine on that base got a 96 (96 hours of leave) for the holiday and they were all getting off at noon as well. So needless to say, traffic was horrible. It took him 30 minutes just to get to the main gait--usually only takes about 10 if that. Then it took him an additional 30 minutes to get from the base to our apartment--usually 10-15 mins. It was almost 1:30 by the time Tony pulled up. He was so irritated and frustrated. But I was so excited because he was no longer an active-duty Marine! I gave him a big hug and said "Hi there civilian!" It seemed to make him relax a bit and laugh hehe.
My dad and grandpa had flown down together Wednesday afternoon. They came to help us load up and we needed the extra driver since we had 3 vehicles. I was so happy to see my dad, it had been since Christmas! So...Tony goes in to change into regular clothes and we start loading the rest of the stuff. By the time we finished packing up the truck, put my kitties in their cages in my car, vacuumed and swept the floors, turned in our keys at the office, filled up on gas, and weighed the two vehicles to get reembursed from the Marines for the move...it was about 2:30 when we hit the highway. So even if traffic was great and we did it in 10 hours that would put us getting in after midnight...
Traffic was very heavy. Dad drove the moving truck, which was a beast and it didn't get up to more than about 55 mph. It was heavy and blowing all over the place. So it was a slow start on our journey. We ended up spending the night in a pet-friendly hotel outside of Quantico. It was nice to rest and get a shower. We planned to leave at around 8:00 (I think, or maybe 9:00) When we reached for Malone's kitty carrier, he bolted under the bed. It was like he was saying "noooo we just got here! I don't want to go into the cage again!" Tony lifted the whole bed up so I could reach for him. Thats when I said "oh my gosh, Tony! There is a whole in the box spring and he is CRAWLING into it!" Yup, Malone found a whole and got up INSIDE the box spring. He was crawling all around in there. I was afraid he'd get tangled up in the metal stuff in there. So we carefully turned it on its side, found him in the bottom corner, then cut it open and pulled him out! He was wide-eyed but he agreeably went into his carrier and settled down in the cage for the ride.
On the road we went. We drove for a few hours, by-passing the busiest highways since traffic was still pretty heavy for the holiday weekend. When we hit 81 we saw a sign saying the road was closed ahead and to follow the detour. I thought "hmmm I hope this doesn't slow us much"...little did I know! Shortly after, traffic came to a complete hault. We inched along barely a mile in about 45 minutes. This went on for 4 miles, taking us almost 2 hours and 30 minutes just to get to the detour. My mom was on the phone with us looking at the traffic situation online saying it had been closed like that since 8am. We were there around 11:00 and 12:00. I think it was so poorly handled, escpecially since it was a holiday weekend with lots of travelers! The detour took us through a tiny town much like the area I am from. This place wasn't built to handle detour traffic from rt81. So we were inching along in there too. Finally we got on the road again and it was mostly smooth from there. We got home around 4:00-5:00 at last!
I feel so happy to be home. It took a few days to even sink in that I'm finally back home for good. I don't have to pack up 2 days later and drive back to North Carolina. I've been trying to make the addition homey and cute. Its getting tough since I have a lot of stuff and not sure where to put it all! Plus my kitties like to be in the middle of everything I do. But its coming along! Sunday mom made a delicious Easter dinner and my grandparents came over. Easter is one of my favorite holidays, it was great to get home right before it!
Its definitely nice to finally take care of Fanny and Dale. My parents had to do it for a whole year. And it wasn't an easy one. Both equines had a really rough summer with colics and injuries. I appreciate all the work they did and all the stress and money to care for them. I'm happy that I'm back and the burden has been lifted off them. Tony and I built a little riding area in the back for me. As soon as this weather breaks I'm going to take them back there and start conditioning them. Fanny might want to show this year, but we'll see. And I have always wanted to show Dale, maybe this year is his year!
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