Scrappergirlie Goes Texan!

Wow what a year 2011 has turned out to be!  So much has been going on, hence the decrease in blog activity.  One of the biggest changes is that I joined a new company and we moved to Texas!  Central Texas that is, right in the heart - near San Antonio and just down the road from Austin. We had been talking about relocating to Central Texas in the next few years. My hubby is from TX and thought it would be a great place to get some land and build a house.  We had JUST moved in February from one apt. to another in the Bay Area and hadn't planned on another move this year.  But the stars aligned and when the Universe points you in a specific direction you need to follow. 

So we packed up our 2 cats, 2 cases of wine, and a bag (AKA the blow up bag) full of all of my favorite adhesives and alcohol inks that I couldn't bear to through out since the movers would not transport flammable items.  The movers came on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and we hit the road that night.  Yes, we drove 4 days through the desert, in the summer!

No, we didn't fill the entire truck, just 1/3.

Day 1 (Friday)
Starting Point: Mountain View, CA
Destination: Palm Desert, CA
Distance: 475 miles
Time to Destination: 11 freakin hours

Items of note:

• After doing a good bit of online research into cross country travel with cats, I somehow got it into my head that the cats would be happier on the trip if we put them together into a single large carrier as opposed to keeping them separate.  Yeah, that didn't go over well.  The hissing began as soon as the second cat made it into the container.  So off we went to the pet store to get 2 brand new carriers because the moving truck had just departed with our previous two inside. After the slow start, we finally made it out of the house and were on our way.
• We made pretty good time until we hit L.A.  Accident on the 405 slowed us a bit and then we hit road construction on the 5 that REALLY slowed us.  It took about 2.5 hours longer than we planned to get to Palm Desert.



Somewhere in the Southern CA desert.

• It was reallllly windy when we arrived around 1:30 AM.  Each night we had to unpack the cats, the wine, and the blow up bag.  Because of the heat, we didn't want to take any chances.

Day 2 (Saturday)
Starting Point: Palm Desert, CA
Destination: Phoenix, AZ
Distance: 256 miles
Time to Destination: 5 hours

Items of note:

• This was our shortest day, and the day on our trip we looked forward to the most.  Waiting for us in Phoenix was my niece, our good friends the Twists, and our new friend from WoW, Anthony and his girlfriend Raquel.We had lots of time to visit with all three sets of friends and it was so nice to catch up.
• Remember the wind I mentioned in Palm Desert?  Well that wind never let up the entire weekend until we hit El Paso!  We saw huge dust devils along the drive, but the AZ desert is beautiful. 

We're in the desert now!  On the way out of CA and into AZ.

• The cats held up pretty well but we ended up with the female kitty howling and meowing until she panted and tired herself out for the first hour of road time each day. After that first hour of torture and near panic on our part, she quieted down until we reached our destination.  We hung towels on the inside of the back seat windows to keep it dark and it seemed to help them a lot.  Each time we went over a large bump or found a particularly bumpy stretch of road she peeped up with a meow of protest but then went back to sleep.  The male kitty was a trooper the whole time and just slept all the way through.
• We had a great time in Phoenix and now the longest distance awaited us.  The next day we would hit TX.

Day 3 (Sunday)
Starting Point: Phoenix, AZ
Destination: Van Horn, TX
Distance: 550 miles
Time to Destination: 9.5 hours

Items of note:

• This was our longest day with the most miles covered.  Nevertheless, at the end of it we would at lease be in our new state.
• We crossed 2 state lines that day: NM and TX and saw some amazing scenery along the way.



Texas Canyon, off the 10 on the way from AZ to NM.

• Almost immediately after crossing into NM, the scenery changed.  The path we traveled took us through a higher elevation and the shrubs were much different.  I've heard great things about northern NM but the southern part we traveled through left much to be desired.

Rest stop off the 10 looking over Los Cruces, NM.  Elevation 3900 feet.

• It didn't take us long to get through NM and we were finally into TX.  We got out of the car in Van Horn and were immediately greeted with a wonderful rush of moisture.  I had forgotten how dry the desert was and once we got lower into TX and through El Paso, those gorgeous TX clouds returned.

Van Horn, TX

Day 4 (Monday - last day!)

Starting Point: Van Horn, TX

Destination: San Antonio, TX

Distance: 431 miles

Time to Destination: 8 hours

Items of note:

• HOME HOME HOME!  We made it to our new home.
• Cats intact, no adhesive explosions, and not wine leaks.
• It was a long trip and we could have shortened it a day but we wanted to give the cats a break and spend time in Phoenix with our friends.  All in all, it was very doable but I wouldn't want to do it again any time soon.

One of the things I love about our new house is that I have my own craft room!!  I'm working on getting it organized and just finished unpacking the very last box today.  My hubby built me a custom made bookshelf to house my kits which will really help in keeping things tidy.  More to come as the room gets organized. 

Until now, we've been working in the garden and getting the rest of the house put together.  Now all that's left is the fun part - gettin inky.

I love Texas so far though I do miss my scrappin buds and fav stores.  I still need to get out and explore the ones here in Central Texas.  Happy crafting and thanks for stopping by and sharing our journey!