The Forerunner

Our plan is simple. I'll drive the box truck to our apartment. Teri and Freja will fly in the next day. The two of us will set up the place and then I'll fly back to complete the house. After a LONG almost 12 hour drive I arrived in Mount Horeb.



After dealing with the details of moving into a new place I was ready for a break. I took a very short stroll and discovered the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub. Naturally I thought, "great name!" When I went in I found a lively crowd, a great wooden bar and lots of tables with a super high ceiling. It felt like I'd been here before. As I waited for a table I ordered a house stout. It was PERFECT, as was the food.

My waitress welcomed me to the town when I mentioned I'd just moved in. I'd worn a red t-shirt, it was one of two clean shirts I'd brought at random. As I glanced around the room I couldn't help but notice most of the patrons were also in red. Some of the kids even had painted faces. I asked the waitress what gives with all the red. Apparently I'd arrived on homecoming night.



I then walked to the game myself. I'd not been to high school game since I left school myself. It was an electric event. People were really happy to be there, and there were kids running around everywhere unsupervised. The fact that not only could I walk to games, as well as a great pub, but people felt safe enough to let their kids play really let me know I was in the right town. Especially when the learned the school team is called the Vikings!



So basically we've moved to a Nordic/Northern German town, complete with trolls!



The next day I was able to walk to Schubert's Diner. If you know me, then you know how much I LOVE old diners! The fact that most of the things I enjoy are in walking distance make this the perfect town for me.

Packing it Up

If you've never made a major move before, let me tell you, it's a real pain in the butt. I've moved many, many times over the years and the hardest part is winnowing out the things you need to keep from all the chaff. For me personally it wasn't so bad. I paired things way down in 1998 when my first marriage ended, and again when I moved from Pittsburgh in Greensburg. Teri, on the other hand, has been in this house for around 20 years and raised my step children here. Everyday I made it a point to empty, sort and pack at least one crate/area. My focus was on the garage and basement, where the bulk of stuff was stored. Teri tackled the kitchen, clothing and toys all of which required a lot of wrapping and sorting. All in all we did pretty well and it went a lot smoother than I had imagined.



Just how to get all this stuff from here to there? After looking a few options we chose to go with PODS as they had a great pricing and long term storage. I ordered two, both to be sent into storage until we move into the house. The first one I packed to the rafters, the second one awaits to be loaded as I write this. We then rented a box truck and it was packed with all the furniture, personal items and equipment needed to make the apartment comfortable.

Leaving Family Behind

The hardest part about moving so far away is all the family we're leaving behind. My parents, sister and niece, and Teri's older children, mother and sister are all in the general area. We'll miss them all terribly. It's one aspect of Freja's growing up in Madison I feel will be lacking is extended family interaction. It's going to especially hard on my parents, who've spent a lot of time with her.