Our journey begins

After a chaotic six weeks of packing and cleaning and purging and more packing, we left Virginia on January 28. Mom cried as she said goodbye to the house. She'd been there for 12 years. Many pets had come and gone in that house. We were raised in that house for 9 years. If mom could have moved the house with us, she would have.

All our stuff was crammed into this trailer. It was packed up and picked up on January 23, almost a week before we left. Mom had an air mattress and coffee pot, stuff she could pack in the car. It was a fun week (not really). The trailer is 28' long, but we only used 17'.

Our house was about 1900 square feet, plus a mechanical room and a big shed and a huge yard. Our rental is 1000 sf with a 10'x10' fenced patio and a teeny patch of grass. We had to get to rid of so much stuff. Mom made big donations to Dress for Success and Eggleston Services (local non-profit) plus many trips to the dump. Some of the stuff we were sad to let to, but mom was thrilled to donate all her heavy sweaters and coats! 

So that Saturday, we left. Two pugs, one kitty and one human, off to a new adventure! 

We stayed outside of Savannah the first night and made it to Florida the next day. 

Required dorky picture with the sign. 

We stayed in a hotel Sunday night, so mom checked in and took Marmalade (our kitty) inside. Marmie does ok in the car, but she'd rather not be in the car. Then we took off to explore. 

This is the outside of our rental. It's a duplex (they call them villas here).  

There's a palmetto shrub (we think) on the corner. 

Mom then drove from our villa to her job, just to see where it was. Amazingly, her job is blocks from the Manatee River and the Riverwalk! So we decided to take a walk!

 This is the eastern end of the Riverwalk.

 The Manatee River and one of the bridges.

Look at all the palm trees! 

Lounge chairs and sun shades.

The city across the river is Palmetto. 

Look at this plant! Isn't that gorgeous? So vibrant in January!

Another picture of the plant. This was outside our hotel in Bradenton. As a plant nerd, mom is in heaven with all the new ones to identify. 

Next post, moving in !