Settling In

Tuesday Morning (and Wyoming Public Radio)

I’m sitting here in my VERY sunny kitchen at 8:33 (MT) on this bright and cool Tuesday morning listening to Wyoming Public Radio. No Michele Martin. No Kojo Nnamdi. No Diane Rehm. We do have Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered and Fresh Air with Terry Gross, plus some really cool, eclectic music from 9 to noon. And there is Sirius, after all, which we don’t yet have in the house but I hope to get soon.

S leaves for school before 7 am and arrives at his office within 5 minutes. Today is his actual first day of class. J and I leave for his school at 7:25. J is very bummed that school starts 2 weeks before Arlington, but I know he’ll be more appreciative come June, when school ends on the 3rd.
Yesterday was his first (half) day and it was fine. He came home talking about the 8th and 9th graders in his Advisory Group (i.e., TA) he hung with and how he wants to ride his bike to school (yikes!) and how he’ll get to play rugby (double yikes!). Again, I realize that I have to “let go” of a lot of things these days and one of them is my no-longer ‘little boy,’ who officially became a teenager this past month. Can you sense my tears through the monitor?

I should be unpacking and organizing, but it’s been ages since I’ve sat at my laptop…mainly because it took time to get the wireless internet up and running since we couldn’t find our router in the gazillion of boxes we moved from Arlington. So I plan to take a half hour or so and try and…purge.

For those who don’t have the time (or the patience) to read through it all (and truth-be- told, this is more for my own personal record) you can stop here since you now know (a) we have indeed landed in Laramie, (b) we are finally in our new home together with our thousands of pounds of personal belongings, and (c) school has indeed started for both my boys.

Catching up…

It’s been 25 days since we left Arlington, but it seems like a life-time ago. I tried to keep a running diary during our journey, but I didn’t get to post any of it since internet service was sporadic and there were so many other things requiring my attention. So…I apologize for the long (and numerous) post(s), which of course you don't have to read.

Sunday, August 22 (Prelude…to a new beginning)

Today is the day before our…"new beginning." It feels strange to be in this new and unfamiliar house, especially after spending time visiting with my brother’s family and then KN and the kids. I feel a bit empty. I know J is a bit bored…and anxious about his first day of school. He keeps asking, “How will I know where to go tomorrow?”

Saved…by a teacher

J’s resource teacher called and asked if he’d like to visit and have a tour of the school this afternoon. We met Ms. M and an 8th grade ‘student advisor’ who was so excited to show him the ropes. We spent 45 minutes walking and talking and the 8th grader took J to the University Student Union, which is one building away from his school and where he can hang after school and study or get a snack. As a dependent of a UWYO faculty member, he gets his own UWYO I.D. card. Very cool indeed!

Saturday, August 21

This morning we had to say goodbye to the N family. It was great having them here (almost like we never left home) and I know it was good for J to have A here as it helped him transition to his new home.

I’m feeling a bit bereft…having spent several days first with family and then with friends...not knowing when we’ll see our Arlington friends again…


Friday, August 20

We went to Vedauvoo this morning, an area of rocky outcrops in Medicine Bow National Forest just 15 minutes south of Laramie. K and I stayed below while the kids climbed the rocks and this mama tried not to get too anxious.

I'm finding that this "citified" mama bear needs to start doing some "letting go." We're in a new land with lots of opportunity for exploration and new adventures and I need to 'shed my city skin' and embrace the 'big sky, western' me. Hoo boy...easier said then done for an old timer like me!



Vedauvoo is a favorite with experienced rock climbers, hikers and campers and probably where J will most likely take rock climbing lessons some day. See there?! I said, "will most likely." I'm already starting the process!!

A Great Farmer's Market

In the afternoon we drove K and the kids by J’s school and S’s office and spent some time checking out the local shops and an awesome Farmer’s Market where we got corn on the cob fresh picked that morning and field greens from the UWYO student agriculture green house, which made this awesome salad…yep, lots of tasty flowers in there, which we enjoyed for our first cooked dinner in our new home…and with dinner guests no less!


Thursday, August 19

KN and the kids returned to Laramie this afternoon. Having them here is almost like being back home in Arlington, except that we’re not…

Ate dinner at a what appears to be a local favorite and had some tasty brews from Grand Tetons.

Wednesday, August 19 (The Next Day…)

What the house looks like the day after the movers left.



Yep. That's my dinning room furniture in the kitchen area. We've gone from essentially 6 rooms on the main to 3 & 1/2 in our new home. So furniture is a mish-mash from several rooms.

We do, however, have just as many windows (if not more) as in our home in Arlington, which is great!

Everywhere that Mary went…

Late this afternoon, I looked out one of our front windows to see several men (one with a long rope) and young boys chasing a dog across the track and football field, which is directly across the street from our home. (The photo below is the view of the Junior High, which is directly across the street from our house. If you maximize the photo, you may be able to see the snow capped mountains, which is what we see from our front porch...nice!)

It was funny watching this dog out run and out maneuver everyone. After watching a bit longer, I noticed that the dog had a strange gait, more like a horse and I wondered, “What kind dog is it?” Imagine my surprise when I realized that it wasn’t a dog but a sheep! I laughed as I watched grown men try and corral the sheep only to be outwitted by this frightened animal. The boys finally managed to corner it near the school and that’s when I noticed a baby lamb running along side its mom!

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!

Tuesday, August 18--- Moving Day Redux

One very long truck...

The cars...

Monday, August 17 (Laramie Homeowners…)

We are officially Laramie homeowners! We closed on the house today, but our truck won’t arrive until tomorrow. We plan to sleep in the house tonight, on blankets from Walmart and pillows we lugged from Arlington. Staying in the house will give us an opportunity to try and figure out where to put the tons of furniture and "stuff" we felt we "just needed" to have.

KN and the kids left this morning for points North and West and will return on Thursday to spend a few more days with us in our new home.

Saturday, August 15 (Goodbyes and Hellos)

My brother and his family left today to catch the train back to Chicago. It was great fun to explore our new neck-of-the-woods with them. They promise (are you reading this?!) to come back again and visit us in Laramie. It was sad to see them go but we have plans to be in Chicago over the winter break.

After watching my brother's family drive off, we drove to Bloomfield (9 miles outside of Boulder) to wait for KN (from Arlington) and the kids (A and E) who will spend two days with us before heading off to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. What a wonderful way to slip into our new life with family and friends coming to visit...makes us feel like we're not so far away after all.

Friday, August 14 (Estes Park & Boulder, CO)

We spent Friday in Estes Park with my brother and his family who took the train in from Chicago. My SIL has family near Colorado Springs and my niece wanted to check out the University at Boulder. We drove down to Estes Park, which is as beautiful as I remember it from 30 years ago, and took a ghost tour of the Stanley Hotel, which supposedly inspired Stephen King’s “The Shinning” and where the TV mini series was filmed.

After the tour we had lunch and window shopped in the town of Estes Park before driving to Boulder, where we did more window shopping. What a fun town!

Wednesday, August 12 --- Arrival

We arrived in Laramie today, August 12th at 12:30 MT. We’re settled in at the Hilton Garden Inn where we'll stay for the next 5 days until we close on the house next Monday. S just told me we traveled in the car for 37 hours between Arlington (Atlanta…Chicago) and Laramie.

37 car hours in 11 days…no wonder we’re exhausted!

Just found out that our closing (and possession) takes place too late Monday afternoon for the truck to unload, which means no moving in until Tuesday…bummer!!!

Truck-jam on I-80

about an hour out of Laramie. We may not have bumper to bumper traffic on I-80 or even many cars on the road at one time, but there can be a lot of truck traffic congestion at times.

Almost…Due West

had a restless night last night and woke up feeling ill. So it was a long 4 hour drive this morning. Have the chills, body aches, a headache and a temperature over 100. Since it came on so quickly, I’m wondering if I acquired the flu somewhere during our travels.

While looking for hot tea at the Hotel in North Platte, another guest greeted me with a “good morning” and asked, “Where's the coffee?” I looked up at him and showed him where it was located and he got embarrassed and said, “Oh. I’m so sorry. I thought you worked here.” Hmm…

Tuesday, August 11 (Actually Heading Due West)

We left Chicago early this morning and S drove 12 hours to North Platte, Nebraska, where we stopped for the night. We ate dinner in one of those popular American eateries with the “extensive menus.” During dinner, J said, “I don’t want to move to Laramie.” It was a tough moment for me…I realized (again) that while we’re focusing on all the minutia of the move…the nervous uncertainty and the excitement of our new adventure…we can forget about his feelings and how hard this must be for him. We’re sure he’ll be fine, but as with all of us, it will take a time.

Maybe it was what “J” said, but I had a tough night. Even though we’ll arrive in Laramie tomorrow, we won’t be able to take possession (or move into) our home until Monday, August 17. We’re all exhausted from the entire experience and the living out of suitcases. Also, I keep thinking about the truck and all our belongings sitting in the hot, near 100 degree temperatures I’ve been hearing about in VA. I worry that so much could go wrong…

Saturday, August 8 – Monday, August 10 (Chicago)

As in Atlanta, we had a wonderful time visiting with family in Chicago. We even took time to relax and actually took in a movie…Julie and Julia, which I found to be delightful...while the boys saw G.I. Joe. Ate more food we won’t get in Laramie, including a dinner at McCormick and Schmick’s. When told he won’t get the same seafood in Laramie, J's response: “Oh yeah. It’s called the frozen food section.”

I 'tried' to capture on film some of the things I love about Chicago. Like the skyline...

The old buildings not part of the skyline...

the via-ducts, which for some strange reason I have always found intriguing since I was a little girl...

Friday, August 7

Drove North today, to Chicago. We would have loved to make stops along the way, (like Nashville, which J loves) but alas, we have a tight schedule to keep. S drove the distance in one day…11 hours straight!

Sunday August 2 – Thursday August 6 (Atlanta)

We’ve consumed tons and tons of sushi since we’ve heard the only sushi place in Laramie has closed.

While here in Atlanta, we learn that we lost our e-mail address when we disconnected our FIOS bundle…not sure why we didn’t focus on that. So, we apologize to anyone who may have tried to send us an e-mail lately and got it kicked back. We do have the same cell phone numbers, however, and we’ll send out our new e-mail addresses once we’re settled in.

Saturday, August 1

After saying goodbye to the family renting our home, we first head south to Atlanta, to visit family for a few days before heading…due west.