Well, we made it to our new home with nary a scratch.

The cats weren’t too thrilled about being stuck in their carriers for the better part of the day, but could you imagine having two frantic felines loose in the cab of a U-Haul? According to my husband (he drove the moving truck with the cats and hamster in the cab. I drove the minivan with the kids, dogs and fish), they were quiet after the initial indignity of being confined, howled some when they realized an hour into the trip that, hey! It’s been a freakin’ hour, man! Where are you taking us??? They settled down again until we entered a long tunnel. Perhaps they sensed the megatons of rock around them, I don’t know. They were quite relieved to finally get into the new house.

The dogs were simply happy we were taking them for a car ride. I think they got a bit nervous as we started packing and moved stuff out. We left the animals in the house for two nights while we stayed in a hotel, having packed our bedrooms first so we could clean the carpets. The dogs probably thought we were leaving them, so once my husband opened the door of the minivan for them on the day we left, they jumped in and were determined not to get out again. Well, until it was time to pee, anyway.

The hamster, usually in his cage or, on more adventurous day, inside a plastic ball he trundles through the house in, was interested in going on a road trip for a little while. Then I guess sitting in a cage in the U-Haul got boring. The vibration and light made it a bit difficult for him to snooze, but he managed.

The fish fared well too, though some fishy water sloshed onto the passenger side of the minivan. That’ll be fun to smell on warm days.

Oh, wait, I’m in a northern temperate rain forest! Warm days are few and far between.

Actually, that’s not fair. Our first days here were sunny and warm, despite the warning my husband gave about the normal torrents in the area. We’ve gotten rain since then, and some bouts have been amazingly hard, but they stop and the sun breaks through a little. This is summer here. Come fall it will be more rain and wind to drive it sideways. Come winter it will be rain and snow with wind to drive it sideways.

We’re in a smaller town than the one we left and are liking it so far. We attended the July 4th celebration, complete with sack races, three-legged races, jellybean on a spoon races, and egg tossing competitions. After the games, pretty much the entire town met at the lake for a BBQ and boat races.

We’ve got most of the unpacking done too. sure, there will be a few things left in boxes, but what else is new?

And I’m getting back into the groove of writing and critiquing for my partners. Yay!

More about the new digs later. Maybe even some pictures if I remember to recharge the camera’s battery.