The Big Move - Part II

So then it was on to Amarillo, Texas. The red rocks and hills of Arizona and New Mexico are beautiful and the driving through there was really pretty easy. Unfortunately, the moving truck that Rob was driving had a governor on it and could not go any faster than 70 mph. I had to follow behind him and it was pretty slow going, which is hard for me to do. I found it was difficult at times to focus on what I was doing since I didn't have to think about driving, just about following him. Anyhow, we stopped for lunch in Albuquerque and realized we were much better off stopping in little towns and truck stops since it was very hard to keep the two of us together and get the moving truck through all the traffic in town. As the sun went down and we got closer to Texas, it started getting very windy and hard to drive. We decided to stop in Amarillo although we had wanted to go farther. We ate dinner at Red Robin and found a nice place to park the truck and get a room for the night.

The next morning, Saturday, February 17th, we headed out for Kansas City. There's not too much to say about the drive through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. It's all very flat and prairie-like and pretty in its own way. It's just that after 600 miles of looking at it, it tends to get a little old. Once we got past Emporia, KS there was snow on the ground everywhere and it was like that all the way to Iowa. Rob wanted to stay at Harrah's Casino on the river in Kansas City but we realized that since it was a Saturday night over a holiday weekend that was right after Valentine's Day, that probably wasn't going to happen. We were right- they were all booked and had no rooms available. So we went just past Kansas City to Liberty, Missouri and found a nice hotel to stay in for the night. Driving through a few parking lots in Liberty was my first chance to ever drive in the snow. It was not snowing, there was just snow on the ground. I was terrified of this (driving in the snow) but it turned out to be no big deal. The XTerra handled great and with its four-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes, I felt very safe. Of all the things going on with moving to a new place 2,000 miles from home, that was the one thing that scared me the most and I conquered it with no problems. I'm still concerned about icy roads but feel much more confident now.

Sunday morning we rolled into our new hometown in Iowa after a short drive from Liberty. The first three days had been about 600 miles each day and so the Sunday morning drive that was only 250 miles went by fast. We made it in time to get some lunch and get into our hotel room so that Rob could watch the Daytona 500. We even drove through town and looked at some open houses and went to Target to get some supplies. That night turned out to be rather exciting when Rob had an allergic reaction to something in his dinner which caused him to have a lot of trouble breathing. He doesn't know of any food allergies so we're not sure what caused it. But I called my doctor on the phone and she said to get him some Benadryl and if that didn't work, to take him to the hospital. Fortunately, we got to a supermarket quickly and found some Benadryl quick-dissolve strips. I ripped that package open right there in the aisle and gave him one and, thankfully, it worked. In about one minute, he was able to breathe much easier and it wasn't long until he was back to normal. I was very scared (he probably was too) but it all turned out okay.

I promise to get some pictures up soon but the battery to my camera is dead and I can not find the charger in this messy apartment! Soon though :o)