I'm back! My husband and I made the move from Brooklyn, New York, to a suburb of Denver, Colorado last week. Our moving truck came on schedule, and, as I watched from my front window, it was loaded with almost all our worldly goods. Did I cry? I have to admit I did a little ... I've lived in my Brooklyn home over 36 years and it was sad to leave so many memories and so many nearby favorite people behind. But I also felt very happy and excited, as I knew I was moving to a beautiful state where my children and grandchildren live, and that life would go on and be exciting in a brand new way.
We began our 1,800 plus mile drive the morning after the moving truck left. My friend Rosemary brought muffins and hot coffee over that morning and helped us load up our car. We had a tearful goodbye, but best friends never really say goodbye do they? I know we'll be together again many more times in the future. Rosemary was really a lifesaver, as I had a few meltdowns when we realized we didn't have enough room in our Subaru for anything else, and we'd have to leave a few important things behind. She bundled them up and took them to her home for safe keeping. My husband will be coming back to NYC many times over the next few years for business reasons and little by little he will carry back what we left behind in his luggage, or ship them.
As we traveled west, I was a little apprehensive about making this trip in the winter. If you remember, my husband and I made the same trip--
click here to view-- last July, when the skies were blue and sunny and the temperatures were warm. It was so much fun at that time to see all the states in their summer glory. Now I was hoping winter weather would cooperate with us, as we decided to take the same route on Interstate Highway 80 West. As we drove through Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains, we saw our first snowfall.
The snow slowed us up a little, so instead of stopping in Indiana, as was our goal, we stopped for the night in
Maumee, Ohio, where we saw this beautiful sunset.
We got up bright and early the next morning to make up driving time, with
Kearney, Nebraska, as our next goal. The weather in Indiana was cold and grey, but road conditions were good.
The pretty barns I took photos of on our summer trip looked cold and forlorn on this ride, so I didn't take many photos of them on this drive West, as I did then. (
click here to see that post) It was also hard to keep my car windows clean from all the road slush!
Illinois had fairly good weather.
Outside of city area traffic, the roads there were very empty.
In fact, for many miles, our car and a few trucks were the only traffic. It was in Illinois, however, where we had our first excitement. My husband at one point noticed he was being followed by a state trooper. The trooper came next to our car and then dropped behind us and put on his lights and pulled us over. The trooper obviously wanted to see what we had piled high in the back of our car, and perhaps he had also noticed our cat, in his carrier, looking out the window and wanted to see if there was something
illegal dangerous in our car? After hearing our explanation about moving, and checking our license and registration, he sent us back on our way with a speed limit warning, so all was well, even if our hearts were beating a little faster afterward!
When we crossed over the mighty Mississippi River it thankfully looked fuller than it had in the past summer's drought.
We drove through all of Iowa in a pouring rain storm, but felt happy it wasn't snow!
The remains of a prior snowstorm had left interesting patterns on the plowed cornfields of Iowa.
On to Nebraska, where we began to see fog building up.
The fog became as heavy as pea soup, and we contemplated stopping earlier than our planned destination of Kearney, but we decided to drive on as it would be difficult to see anything at all off the interstate. It was truly scary, and eerie, driving in the fog and I said more than a few prayers as we kept driving.
It was in Nebraska that my husband received a devastating phone call that an esteemed colleague from work had passed away suddenly in his sleep the prior day. This man had been instrumental in convincing and supporting my husband that we should do this big move, and we felt his approving presence in our hearts even as we deeply mourned his loss. We finally arrived in Kearney, Nebraska, for the night safely, but our hearts were heavy. We also received word that my son and daughter-in-law were in the hospital emergency room that evening with my youngest grandson, as he was very sick with a flu-like respiratory virus! Needless to say, we did not rest well that night, but thankfully we heard good news the next morning that our grandson was doing better and was home again.
We crossed over the border between Nebraska and Colorado the next morning. Anticipation helped to keep us cheerful, despite the heavy news of the night before.
The North East part of Colorado is mainly flat plains, as far as the eye can see. As we passed by scattered cattle ranches all I could think of was the herds of hundreds of thousands of buffalo, along with the Native Americans, that once owned this land.
As we traveled further southwest in Colorado, we came upon the sight of frost on the sagebrush and trees.
Everything glistened like diamonds! It was so beautiful! My husband and I never saw anything like it, and we both felt like we were entering a magical fairyland.
Then the snow began to fall, and pretty soon we were in freezing white-out snow conditions, traveling less than 40 miles an hour.
At this point, we worried we'd never make it to our new home!
Then, like magic, as we approached Denver, the sky became clear and bright and the weather was fine! We drove on finally feeling all the tension of the past two days melt away.
There, in the near distance, was our home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains!
My sweet daughter and son-in-law were waiting for us at our new home and we were happy to see the "bump" of our expected granddaughter! We know many happy moments await us here in Colorado and I can't wait to share them with you!
Unfortunately, both of our grandsons were now ill with the flu and on quarantine from my daughter, so we are waiting till they feel better to see them. In the meantime, we have lots to catch up on! I felt like a newlywed again as I had to run out and buy so many new things just to settle in before the moving truck arrives tomorrow.
Our cat Bo had no trouble getting comfortable in his new home, although he felt as we did -- totally exhausted! Please bear with me our as lives get settled and I open and find places for everything in my moving boxes over the next few
weeks days. I now look forward to taking you to many places in Colorado, as well as returning to blog about New York City from time to time.
It's good to be home!
