Leaving From/For Home

After our homegroup weekend, it was crunch time for packing. I had done quite a bit, but as we came home, I realized there was so much to do. Arg. And I was so organized and wrote lists and started packing a long time ago and systematically worked through my plan!

On Monday I did laundry and packing and for dinner we went to Kevin and Rhonda's. It was so nice to be at their house one last Monday and not have to worry about cooking during such a busy time. We all enjoyed our time with them but we needed to get back to do more packing. That night after the kids were in bed, Carl and I were up until 2:30 a.m. packing and sorting.

The next morning came too quickly, but I had to do a number of things before Carl picked up our U-haul trailer at noon. Of course a few quick errands turned into most of the morning, so that was frustrating. But thankfully my friend Kelly offered to take the girls for the afternoon and Joel spent most of the day playing with Bryan so we felt like we made up lost time.

By 4:30 we had packed up most of the trailer and YEAH we had more room than we expected (though Carl didn't think I would have time to quickly go to Target to go shopping). Danny and Beth came by with the kids to say goodbye, as well as Sarah and Michelle. Then Budi and Lili came home and we spent a bit of time with them. It was harder to say goodbye to them because we aren't sure when our paths will cross again. When will we end up in Asia?

Finally we left to have dinner with Ray and Kelly at 6:00. We had a nice casual meal with them, and the kids played a bit together. Emma and Kezia had one last good fight before we exchanged gifts and gave each other parting words and thoughts. We gave them a photograph book of Manitoba sites (so that they would be tempted to come and visit!), a picture for Emma of her and Kezia, and a Franklin book. This year went by too quickly and we didn't do all the things we wanted to do with them; but we did make some pretty good memories. Ray and Kelly are people that we know we will see again and so it wasn't as hard to let go.

And off to Kevin and Rhonda's for the night. It was so nice we could stay there; I didn't have to worry about packing up last minute on Wednesday and trying to get three kids on the road. We hung out there for a while until the kids fell asleep and then Carl and I headed back to the apartment to finish up. It was midnight before we got back and Rhonda was still up. We visited a bit and even in our last moments together, was imparting Mom wisdom for me. She is really an amazing person and I'm going to miss her insight. Well, there's always email, phone and webcam. I told her that I probably would call her on a regular basis and ask her for advice.

The next morning we all were up by 7:15 to say goodbye to the kids before they went to school. After everyone was gone, we hung out with Rhonda for a bit. She was kind enough to make little packages for the kids to take on the road, plus she made a few packages for Carl and I. I was touched by her thoughtfulness. I cried when it was time to say goodbye to Rhonda. She has been such an encouragement and blessing to me. Her family has been so good to our family.

We headed back to the seminary to do the final walk through of our apartment. We said goodbye to a few faculty members, plus Megan and Tucker, our neighbours. Carl loaded up the kids and I went to return the keys. As I walked down the parking lot I glanced at our apartment and part of me was glad that our time there was finished.

Our last stop was Simonian Farms to pick up a few Fresno things, like raisins, almonds, cherries etc. to take back to Canada with us. And on the road we went.

Goodbye freeways

Goodbye Palm trees

Goodbye dust and smog

Goodbye delicious fruit...

The drive that day was pretty uneventful. All three kids had been ill with colds and slept most of the afternoon. Just north of Sacramento I saw my last palm tree and Kezia announced that we weren't in California. It's a big state sweetheart, but yes, it didn't feel like we were in California. We stopped for dinner in Redding and took our subs to the park. It was 27 degrees and beautiful. Then we hopped in the van and drove to 2 more hours to Yreka for the night. When we got out of the van it was 12 degrees. Sigh.

The kids were tired and so were we. It had been a long few nights and so I was only too happy to fall into bed when the kids went down. There was so much going on, that I hadn't had time to process this whole move. Well, maybe tomorrow.