Moving on up.

Now the plan to haul all my stuff to Idaho went something like this.....pack up stuff in Provo house, close on Idaho house, move stuff to Idaho house. The only glitch.....I have a LOT of stuff. I swear I did a HUGE purge before I moved, but when you have 8000 square feet the stuff expands to fill the space available.

I began packing in April with the help of Arianne. We got a lot done that weekend and then I would just work room by room, time permitting. I made my living room the staging area. Over the course of four months it began to fill with boxes. My original plan was to take a 16 foot truck up on August 5, 2011 the date I closed on my Idaho house, and then take a 24 foot truck up on August 12, 2011. I was going to drive the 16 foot truck, and Jeff agreed to drive the 24 foot truck with the kids and I following in our car.

Now I wanted to fill the 16 foot truck with my boxes and the 24 foot truck with my furniture. My thinking was that I could spend two days unpacking boxes before returning to Utah, and then it would be easier to move furniture in because I would not be tripping over boxes.

About a week before the box move my living room was completely filled floor to ceiling with boxes. I measured the room and quickly determined that I was going to exceed the capacity of the 16 foot truck. So I started making alternative plans about what I could purge or even leave in storage in Utah temporarily.

The night before I picked up the 16 foot truck I was thinking about my drive to Idaho. I was going alone, and would be driving this 16 foot truck, and my only experience being driving something big was Linda's Suburban. I was a bit intimidated. I was thinking about how I would need to drive slow and allow additional time for breaking due to the size and height of the truck.

The next day upon arrival at the truck rental place I looked at the 16 foot and knew it would be quickly filled with my stuff. I made an comment to the truck rental place about the size of the 16 foot and they offered to upgrade me to the 24 foot at no additional charge.

Now you have to understand the 24 foot truck was not just 8 additional feet, it was also more height. In a nut shell it held 3 times the capacity of the 16 foot truck. IT WAS A LARGE TRUCK, as in 26,000 gross vehicle weight.

In a moment of complete delusion I agreed to the upgrade. They gave me a 3 minute lecture on mechanics of the truck how to fill the gas tank, and handed me the keys and sent me off.

Here is the truck. I navigated from the rental place back to my house to get a feel for the truck while empty. I did all right but I am sure my blood pressure was off the chart.

Yep we filled it up with all my stuff. Even got caught in a rain storm. So fitting for the whole experience.

Katie supervised.

Lauren was in awe.

After it was filled I said goodbye to the kids, told them I would see them in two days, and drove off, trying NOT to think about the size of the vehicle I was driving. I knew the hardest part of the drive would be the first 2 hours as I navigated through SLC evening rush hour traffic. It was nerve wracking, and it was nice to hit Brigham City, where the traffic died down.

I planned my route so I would never have to back the thing up. I had to fill up with gas twice, and each time as I got out of the truck and stared in disbelief that I was driving this thing. It took 7 1/2 hours to get from Provo to Boise, because it would not go any faster than 58 miles per hour, and quite frankly I was fine with that. It gave me time to think, reflect and feel. One of the things I felt keenly was the presence of my father. I was not alone on this trip. He was there. He was sitting along side of me. He was doing in spirit what he would have done in life had he still be alive and physically able to function. He moved me more than once from Provo to Idaho during my college years, and he did not miss this move either. He let me know I could do this, and I did.

I was happy and relieved to drive it up to my new house, and thankful for the company.