Cross Country Adventure

So after several days sitting in a vehicle, we have arrived in IL. 6 states, over 2,000 miles, and 4 hotel rooms we are a tired bunch...although not so tired that the boys would just not go to sleep last night. We have a part day here and then we take off for MN for ten days. Thank goodness for the hotels laundry machine, we managed to get 4 loads done last night, otherwise we would be a crazy looking family in the clothes we have left that are clean.

Thought I would share some of the random photos I took along the way.

Checking Out...First Floor Tour

Welcome back to the house tour of the house we just moved out of. I hope this gives those that never got the chance to tour to see the house...and even possibly help those who may be moving to Travis and qualify for a CGO 4 bedroom.

This is the view from the front door, the carpeted area is suppose to be the combo area of living room and formal dining. We used it like a family room/playroom/office...I think it is pretty crazy to have kids eating over carpet. Been there, done that!

This is the area we used for our dining area.

Looking back at the front door. Small inset, coat closet and front door...have you seen three different types of flooring yet ;)

Here you can see the tile, carpet and the linoleum....and no they are not level and I stubbed my toes on it numerous times. And don't get me started on the giant pillar and tile at the bottom of some very steep stairs.

Another look at the living/dining room combo, view from the kitchen.

We enjoyed having an open floor plan, being able to see what the boys are doing while I cook makes referring fights a lot easier.

Side by fridge with water/ice. Pantry and laundry room entrance to the left; a provided microwave to the right.

Laundry room with garage entrance straight ahead, bathroom and laundry sink to the left and kitchen to the right.

1/2 bath

Space provided for an additional side by fridge.

Washer/dryer hook up, both gas and electric available.

Looking in from the garage.

Checking Out...and a Tour

We are officially checked out of housing as of 2:45pm yesterday. 415 of Travis AFB has been our home for almost 2 years. It has been the nicest house we ever had the pleasure of living in and we had some wonderful neighbors as well. I thought I would give you a tour of our now empty house (since most of our family/friends didn't get a chance to visit), starting with the outside today. 

 CGO housing 2150 sq feet 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths

2 car garage

Side yard, view from the street to the left...love the primroses I planted.

Front garden

Side yard from the street the right side.

Backyard

Patio

Storage shed

Hope to give you a tour of the first floor soon, so stop back soon!

Boxes Galore

This is what yesterday looked like at our house...

Fun times!

Originally the packers were suppose to show up on Thursday to start boxing up what we had left, but called on Wednesday to reschedule for a Friday only pack. I agreed as long as it got done on Friday and everything was still out of the house by Monday. I was surprised to only see 2 packers show up at 1030 (scheduled show was 8-10) and was starting to get a little worried about our time frame. Thankfully around 430 two more guys showed up, J came back from some errands and I went back to the TLF with the boys. J managed to get home around 8 after the packers finished their work.

We have been blessed to have some awesome friends while stationed here and they were wonderful enough to watch the boys for us during this process. The boys had a blast going to soccer with them, swimming at the pool and we even put together a grill out complete with s'mores the other night. We will really miss our backyard gang of boys!

Giant Tetris

We finished loading the trailer last night, every space/gap is filled. Maybe I should host a guessing game on how much all of our stuff weighs, at least the portion that we move. Closest one gets a prize that I will pick up along the way of our route. Who's in?

Counting Down

Ya that's how I feel too buddy.

J may have done this for the last time this weekend...hitting up Vegas at the same time.

This guy lost another tooth...the other top center won't make it much longer either.

Been sorting things out like school supplies just in case we aren't quite settled in late August.

Sorry Target, trying to reuse what I have this year.

Tested suitcases we have in the torpedo tonight, now to fill them so it can be locked and loaded...

ya don't laugh to hard on that one remember I feel like doing this...

Apparently the boys had too much fun seeing Venus cross the sun last week.

Arm the Torpedo

Ok, so we aren't going nuclear...just maybe getting a little crazy with less then a week till the movers show up and less then two weeks until we drive away. We will be putting thousands of miles on the van this summer, hitting Illinois before driving up to Minnesota and then back to Illinois for a couple of weeks before driving down to Dallas for a three week work-ation. J found the Thule carrier on Craigslist, figuring we would be a little cramped with suitcases, electronics, and stroller in the van.

Anyone else being a road warrior this summer or going someplace special for summer vacation?

An Unexpected Pet

While taking the totes out for garbage day I spotted this guy hiding in the corner. With the move we have been "gathering" all the extra non-donation worthy stuff next to the totes, so i think he thought he was getting a safe little hideout. The boys loved going over and checking on him throughout the day. We will have to see if he's still there tomorrow!

**Update** In the dark of the night this guy took off, the boys are still asking if we can keep him for a pet. While this furry guy sure was cute (and preferred over the cheese eating furry guys), I think moving a dog cross country is a big enough of a challenge!

A Trip to the Park

J got some new running shoes and wanted to try them out...so we all walked down to the duck pond to play while he ran on the track there. The boys and I enjoyed watching the geese, ducks and the occasional turtle in between playing on the slides. Enjoy the couple of pictures I snapped with my phone that night.

Point Reyes in April

So back in April, when my parents visited and J was still home, we went up to Point Reyes lighthouse once more. This time we could drive to the parking area for the lighthouse (last time you park and bus in due to the little roads) and had more time to spend walking around and to hit a couple of the attractions.

We took the steps down to the lighthouse and wondered around for a while watching for whales.

If you look closely (or click on the picture) you can see a red arrow I drew on the picture...it is pointing to the whale that was swimming out in the ocean that day.

Going down to the lighthouse didn't take much effort, but going back up however was quite the workout. J did it with N on his shoulders and still beat the rest of us up.

Along the way we saw some of the local colors and textures of nature.

We also had some breathtaking views.

About half way to go mom!

At the top they have some small hands on stuff for kids and adults to interact with and they also have a volunteer helping to point out various wildlife and plants of interest.

N and Grandparents with a whale skull.

The giant trees that grew on the rocky hillsides were pretty neat with the gnarly branches and odd angles.

J decided that N couldn't have all the fun of being carried around by daddy.

We then drove over to another side to a beach known for elephant seals. I think this beach had more then the beaches down by the Hearst Ranch where we had last watched them.

We then stopped at an actual beach were we could walk (and N could dig) and take in the ocean air and watch the waves come in.

If you get the chance this is another great day trip if you are in the NorCal region.