Monday, July 26, 2004

A Dream Realized Chapter Two

My father retired in 1976 and my parents decided to move to California to live out their years of retirement in a house purchased by my brother to whom they paid a modest rent.  Even though this move entailed a cross-country journey, my folks opted to move themselves by way of a U-Haul Adventure.  My brother flew east and it was decided that he and I would help with the driving and move to The West.  This plan gave us three drivers to switch around between the huge moving truck and car with a smaller U-Haul trailer in tow.  I had never driven across the country before so I was pretty enthusiastic about the idea.  My mother's role, having never learned (nor wanted) to drive, was constant passenger and moral support provider.

The day of departure arrived, all their belongings packed up and ready to go.  My mother had two Irish Setters at the time who were going along as well.  This made for some interesting times across the country.  We stopped each evening mostly at Holiday Inns because at that time, they allowed pets traveling with you in the room.  Before we were barely into this journey, the highlight of the day was once we got the dogs and ourselves squared away in the motel room, out would come my parent's little portable bar and we all celebrated getting this far along with a cocktail.  I just loved that portable bar.  It was a nifty little thing.  I wonder what happened to it.  My poor brother, who developed a most untimely attack of brutal hemorrhoids, took himself off to the bathroom to stretch out in a nice warm bathtub in search of some relief each evening.  Poor dear.  I don't think U-Hauls are known for their excellent shock absorbers.  It felt like the truck we were driving had none at all.  A rough ride to say the least!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm loving this story already.  Reminds me of our own move west from Illinois.  Lisa  :-]

Anonymous said...

This was nice. I wanted it to continue....
: )

Anonymous said...

I keep having a recurring dream of being stuck in California at my grandma's house and needing to drive home. It seems like a fun thing to do...