Moving Mom and Gen

My mom and stepdad have been talking about moving to Arizona for a few years now. First my mom had to retire, which she finally did last October. Bobbins and I always had an attitude of believe-it-when-we-see-it, but sure enough, they got the ball moving really fast in May. They had a couple realtors sending them listings, the second of whom took them around to a few places on a visit. But he wasn't really working for them. We talked them into hiring our friend Jessica, and voila, she found them a place. They bought it sight unseen for $119K. Only Jessica and Bobbins saw it beforehand. It's in a condo complex about 15 minutes from our house. They have a garage and indoor laundry, and a community pool & spa for Coach.

I had always told them I'd fly to CA to help them pack and move, so there I was at the end of July boarding a plane to Burbank. I took MM along, partly for the help but mostly to ease Bobbins' burden at home and give MM a fun experience. She got to go into the cockpit after we landed. The pilots had already left. That's her trying to salute.

My mom and Gen lived in their apartment for over twenty years. I spent a fair amount of time there as a teen in the summer and holidays, then later visiting in college, graduate school, and later. So it was actually a little sad for me. I swam one last time in their pool, had one last night in my old room, one last shower in the creaky bathroom.


To their credit, my mom and Gen had most everything packed. U-Haul nearly derailed our plans, as they didn't have the big truck Coach had reserved. Instead, they gave us two smaller trucks. I didn't think everything was going to fit (it wouldn't), so we ended up taking some big stuff (dining set, bookshelf, filing cabinet) to the Villa for N&E to sell. Thankfully, Coach hired two guys to load the trucks, esp. the heavy stuff; one of the guys did it for a living and was an expert packer. Despite my fears, we ended up with a bit of room to spare in the second truck.

We got everything loaded and cleared out of the apartment by about noon. N & E brought over some sandwiches for lunch, which we ate by the pool. Then about 1 we were off, leaving for the last time. I think I was more sentimental about it than my mom and Coach. They were probably too harried and tired to think much about it. We stopped in Indio, then in Quartzsite, and rolled into Phoenix around 8. My brother Zach very graciously drove over to help us unload and set up the bed. They are in a ground floor unit, and the garage is right off the laundry room.

(At left is an old Ace shipping box that Coach uses as a tool chest. This is a legitimate antique in the Ace Hardware world. It weighs a ton and is solid, of course.)

Shots of the old apartment:

 

The new place:

Since they've moved in, they had new tile flooring that looks like wood installed, to replace that carpet. It's great.