The MOVE

Finally, after many goodbyes, too much packing, and a U-Haul stuffed from ceiling to floor, we hit the road on Tuesday, Nov. 11th. We all rode together in the U-Haul cab and towed our Rav4 SUV behind; we'd sold our other car in Maine so we only had one car to worry about. The cab of the truck was surprisingly comfortable and Fin's carseat fit in well.

We're off!




The first day, we made it to upstate New York where we stayed in one of the worst motels I have been in EVER. There were cobwebs and dead spiders in the corner, mildew all over the shower curtain, a bathtub that didn't drain, fingerprints on the sink, soap that crumbled apart when you tried to use it, and thin flat pillows. It was so late and we were so exhausted that we ended up staying instead of spending the extra energy to find another place, but I spent a majority of the night halfway on top of Dru, convinced I would wake up with bed bug bites (which, happily, I did not). Ugh.

Me and Fin in the nasty motel room


Fin, ready to hit the road again


Our family, commemerating the survival of the night in the gross motel

Fin was such a trooper - he was content and playful for a majority of the trip. I pumped while on the road thanks to the car adapter that powered my breast pump, so that minimized stops to feed Fin.

Our little trooper, fast asleep

The second day, we made it to Michigan where we stayed with Dru's brother's family. We were SO happy to not have to stay in a motel again. We ended up staying for a few days which was awesome; Dru's sister-in-law, Marietta, cooked mounds of delicious food and we had a great time just relaxing, chatting, and playing with Dru's nephews, Isaac and Jacob.

Dru's brother, Darris, and his wife, Marietta (Mars) with Fin

Fin liked Auntie Mars

While the boys were at school, Darris, Mars, Dru, Fin and I went on a walk to cute downtown Chelsea, Michigan. It was a beautiful day.

We couldn't find Fin's hat, so he borrowed one from his cousin - doesn't he look like Elmer Fudd with a pacifier?!?

Hanging out with Isaac and Jacob

Fin's cousins having fun with him

The Smedshammer boys - not too many of them in the U.S.!

Silly Smedshammers

That evening, they took us to Ann Arbor, MI. The boys enjoyed entertaining Fin on the car ride there.....

....and Fin enjoyed the attention

We hit the Borders there, where Fin had his supper

And then us bigger people had our supper at a yummy Mongolian BBQ

After a few blessed days of relaxation and fun, it was back on the road again. Fin slept hard while we hit state after state - we drove through Michigan, Indiana, and most of Iowa.

We slept at a very decent Super 8 in Iowa that night, and then....I'll bet you can guess....yup, back on the road. Fin didn't mind.

That day, Sunday the 17th, we made it through the rest of Iowa and all of Nebraska; we stayed at another nice Super 8 that night and the next day drove through ALL of Wyoming and a bit of Utah. We didn't do much sight-seeing; instead we entertained ourselves by counting the number of roadkill deer (morbid, huh?...hey, what else would YOU do in boring, flat Nebraska. BTW, we saw over 40 dead deer along the interstate...yikes). Towards the end of Monday, the 18th, we decided to stop and look at Devil's Slide in Utah before staying the night in Ogden.

Dru and Fin in front of Devil's Slide

Me with Fin in front of the slide -- Fin does not appear to be impressed

Finally, the next day, we crossed the state line into IDAHO! WAHOO!! Everybody started smiling.