Day 11 - We Actually Hear From the Moving Company

...and they don't know where our stuff is! Hooray!

Matt had to get back to work pretty much as asoon as we hit Simi Valley, so I think that's why his travelogue ended so abruptly. I'll try and catch you up, but it's all pretty hazy.

Day 2 (the rest of):
We actually did get somewhere. We stopped in Amarillo for the night, since The Big Texan steakhouse is one of our favorite places along the I-40. This is the place that offers a 4.5 lb steak, which you get for free if you eat it on a stage in under an hour (sides included). Great, kitschy, Route 66 stuff. Our tremendous good fortune saw a fellow give it a try during our dinner, and we were seated right by the stage. He was shaking like a leaf; not a serious contender, just a guy with a group trying to get the whole experience in for fun. The second he got up on that stage, he was surrounded by cameras like a moose at Yellowstone.
He didn't last long, maybe ten minutes or so. But we were all glad he tried. Such an event!

That night we stayed at a nice, simple Microtel. Cheap, clean, not luxurious at all, but guess what? They had free internet!

Day 3:
Driving, driving, driving. Made it to Flagstaff without anyone puking! Hooray! Stopped at a little shop called Indian Ruins and let the boys each pick out one small thing to take along. Kachinas? No. Dreamcatchers? No. Dirt cheap cheesy cowboy toys? Check! Josh got a sheriff badge, Joseph a little velveteen horse that fell apart within seconds, and Ben got a "Masked Stranger" kit complete with spurs and pistol. Guess they soaked up more Texas than we realized. We stepped outside to our first-ever sand storm. Indescribable beyond that. Just know that if you ever try to open our minivan's right sliding door, you're gonna hear some crunchy noises.



That night we stayed at Little America Flagstaff, which just rocked HARD. Totally old school, totally friendly, ginormous room, great food. We took pics with our cell phones, so Eric and Stacia are just gonna have to wait to see their old courting grounds. :) Matt took a couple of local "wildlife" photos, though.

Day 4:
Mmmmm... California Brown Desert. Towards the end of the Texas-Simi run there's an alternate route (Highways 18 & 138) you can take to alleviate the boredom. I've always called it the Loop-de-Doos highway. My dad used to take it when we drove out to visit his mom in Hesperia. It's one of those roads with lots of little tiny hills that are fun for bellies if you have enough space to take them at a decent speed (we did this time!). Standard stop at Charlie Brown's for the nice clean bathrooms, resolving to return and properly judge their claim to "real Texas-style barbecue," and on to Simi. At long last! Checked into a local hotel and SLEPT. Oh, yeah.

Day 5:
Got our apartment! Emptied cars! Ate at Denny's! Saw Wall-E with Aunt Debby! Life is good. Furniture-less, but good. Learned that Matt's mom had done grocery shopping for ten and was wondering when we'd be arriving. Decided to stay at the hotel one more night before we head up.

Day 6:
Matt needed to hang out at the hotel to get a half day's work in, so the boys and I hit Wal-Mart and headed to the apartment to do some laundry and prep for our next journey. After lunch (oh sweet Del Taco! How we have missed you and your mediocre chicken burritos!), we headed on up to Clovis to enjoy home-cooked food and family we haven't seen in too, too long. And Grandma's 94*F pool. Oh, yeah.

Days 6-10:
Mooching offa Grandma! Her magic remains firmly intact, btw. Ben, who would not set one TOE in water previously, now knows how to swim. She has SAVED my summer. Thank you!!! We figure we've mooched quite enough, however, and make our plans to head back to Simi on Tuesday. Especially since I forgot to put any sort of hold on our mail. Crap!

At least once a day on these days, I tried calling our moving company. Our scheduled delivery is "July 1 - July 9," but I'd kind of like to have a more narrowed-down view. No answer, no response to messages left.

Day 11:
Finally heard from Frank, my moving company contact. Said he spent two hours yesterday trying to track down our shipment, but wasn't having any luck. He'll keep trying (uh, YEAH HE WILL!!) and get back to me by the end of today, which should translate to 3 pm here in CA. We're sticking with our plan to head back to Simi. It's a 4-hour drive, so if we're here and get a call saying "your truck is at your apartment, where are you?" it would not be cool.

Key quote of assurance from Frank: "If I don't hear anything today, then it's because they're not telling me something, and something's wrong." Thanks, Frank! I'm glad we trusted your company with all our worldy posessions!

So that's where we are now. Getting ready to head home, as it were. I'm off to pack. After breakfast, though. Grandma's making pancakes!!