Well, we did it! Kendall and I loaded up our rental car with a few bags full of clothes and other necessities, and made the long drive from Dallas to New York City! I apologize for the lack of a blog post last week — we were so busy with packing, and I didn’t have time to do anything else! Kendall and I have been working and planning for years to make this move, and it’s finally here. We still haven’t quite settled down, yet, and are still looking for a permanent residence in New York City, but we knew that it was time to go. Kendall had experienced a really great phone interview on Thursday, and we had donated, sold, or stored most of our belongings. We have prayed and cried and prayed some more, and we were BEYOND ready to get a move on! And so it was that on Friday morning, March 17, 2017, we packed up our car and left the Lone Star State.

 

 

The first leg of our journey was to Nashville. Now, having been to college in Arkansas, and gone on many mission trips to Appalachia, this road is very familiar to me, but it was brand new to Kendall. We drove through Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, and ultimately landed on the Eastern side of Nashville, fighting through rain to get there. Since it was the first day of travel, we weren’t too tired, and before we even got to Texarkana, Kendall got a phone call follow-up from his interview on Thursday, asking for a second interview on Tuesday! He’s doing that this afternoon, and we feel confident that this is what God has had in store for him all along. So the feeling of ‘We’re finally doing it, and look at what we already have to look forward to!’ definitely got us through the 3 days of travel we had.

I drove us into Nashville, and by that time, the sun had gone down, and it was raining, which made navigating a little tricky, but we eventually made it to the hotel. And hey, look! There’s a Cracker Barrel right across the street! Now, if you’ve never been to Cracker Barrel, do yourself a favor, and find one. The next time you’re on a road trip through the Southeastern United States, find a Cracker Barrel, and have a meal. It’s good cookin’, and with a little store attached that sells all kinds of goodies, it’s a great way to stretch your legs. Vintage candies and sodas, clothes and accessories, home decor, and even pancake mixes line the walls, and you can even find toys for the kids. You can also buy the rocking chairs that sit out on the front porch, though if you’re on a road trip, I don’t know how practical it would be.

 

 

After our night in Nashville, we left early to head to Alexandria, VA. Now, the road from Nashville to Knoxville is one that’s pretty familiar to me, because of my many trips to ASP. But after Knoxville, Kendall and I were both sort of in new territory. And even though I’ve been to this region of the country many times before, it’s always been in summer, and it looks really different in Winter. (Where’s the kudzu?? I wanted to see some kudzu!!) But the morning fog that rolls through the mountains there is really quite beautiful, and nothing like we ever see in Texas.

 

 

We again made it to our destination after dark and in the rain, but we made it! And had some delicious grilled hot dogs and veggies, thanks to our wonderful hosts, Justin and Rachel Buczynski! The dogs had a great time playing together, and the humans had a lot of fun chatting and sharing stories about big moves and living far away from family, which, we all agreed, can sometimes be hard.

 

 

Sunday was our last day of travel, and it was meant to be really easy. About 4 hours worth of driving, through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and finally NEW YORK! Well, about 5 miles from the Delaware state line, we stopped because of a wreck on I-95. When I say we stopped, I mean that we had our car in park for about an hour and a half. People were getting out of their cars and walking up and down the traffic lanes. The girls in the car next to us had gotten out and started to play cribbage on their trunk! So, while we should have been arriving in Queens at about 2:00 PM, we didn’t arrive until about 5:00 PM. My understanding later was that it was a high-speed chase that resulted in the fatality of the driver. My heart and prayers go out to this person and his or her family.

At the end of three days of driving, we were all glad to have finally reached our destination. We saw the city about an hour before we finally stopped driving, and I was SO excited. It really is the most exciting thing to plan something for YEARS, and to see it come to fruition right before your eyes.

 

So, we’re here. We made it to the Big Apple. It was a long journey, not just the days of travel, but the months and weeks leading up to the actual move. We’re in Queens until Saturday, then we’ll be staying somewhere else. We’re not quite sure where that will be, yet, but we do know, for sure, that whatever happens, we’re in it together. Success or failure, we took this leap of faith, and we will look back on our life together with no regrets.