When the alarm went off at 6, we did not get up right away. I got up first, to wash up and get dressed. I made my breakfast and ate it. I did a quick check of e-mail and powered down the laptop so I could pack it away. Chris took a shower and went to the hotel breakfast. When he got back, we packed the car, programmed the GPS app and headed out. It was a little after 7.
I had hoped to sleep on the road, but that did not happen. I watched scenery for awhile. Then I started reading another book. When we stopped for gas, I bought a bottle of smart water. I wanted coconut water but the little store did not sell any.
When we got near Alabama, I pulled oranges and eggs from the food box. I figured it was best to be nourished for the job ahead. We went to the hotel to get card keys to the new place. There was 20 minutes left on the continental breakfast so Chris toasted two slices of bread and added bacon strips and egg white omelets. I asked him to get one for me.
Chris drove over to the new (to us) place while I held the plate of food in my hands. It was like a motel with two floors. Each section held 8 rooms; 4 on each floor. We were in the middle section on the second floor.
The room was smaller than the hotel room, with only a dorm-size fridge. There were no drawers, and the cabinets were full of tableware and cookware. There was no dresser either, but a few shelves in the TV cabinet. We brought up the baggage from the car and went back to the hotel.
We packed everything we could into the empty suitcases; clothing, toiletries and cabinet food. Chris took the suitcases out as I packed them. I thought we would need to make two trips, but there was a little room left. So we packed some empty boxes with food from the fridge. And there were two packages of beef in the freezer. I looked around the room to see if we had left anything.
We emptied the car into the motel room. I put as much cold food in the fridge as would fit. I had to drink the last part of the chicken stock because it didn't fit. Then we went back to the hotel to check out. I wanted Chris to check the room again, but our card keys did not work anymore. He got his renewed and we did one more check. We did not find anything.
From there we drove to The Cliffs to scout out where Chris had to go on Tuesday. It was on post but out in the wilderness. We timed it on the way back. Then we stopped at the post office. Chris picked up some mail and said there were a slew of yellow slips waiting for pickup. When we got to the motel, Chris said it was a 22 minute drive to the cliffs, without traffic. So he calculated that with traffic, we should allow half an hour each way. That meant that if I drove him on Tuesday, it would cost me an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to pick him up. I'd rather give him the car.
We started unpacking. I put my clothes in the TV cabinet and Chris put his on the shelf in the closet. The worst part was the cabinet food. I moved some dishes to make room for my packages of nuts and seeds, and powders. I left my breakfast foods in a box on the counter. The silverware was in a flat silverware basket and I moved it to the counter top. There was no better place for it.
We put everything we wouldn't need it the next week into the two biggest suitcases. The 3 empty ones went into my car. As I moved stuff around, I realized that I had left something hanging behind the bathroom door in the hotel. So we ran to the car and drove over. Chris asked the lady if the room had been occupied yet and she said no. She gave us a card key, we rushed up there and retrieved the item. The room had been cleaned and all the stuff rearranged in the cupboards. Water had spilled, so I took a paper towel and wiped up any traces that we had been there. Then we returned the key to the desk. I mentioned the bad smell to the desk clerk and said I wanted to sprinkle baking soda on the carpet. She promised to send someone to vacuum it up tomorrow.
We went grocery shopping and I drove. Chris spelled out every move, and I wondered if he thought I could not drive without his help. We stopped at a Latino grocery store for cinnamon sticks, then went to Kroger. We got peppers, onions, garlic and spices.
When we got back, I sprinkled baking soda over all the exposed carpeting. I checked e-mail and listened to a couple of interviews. Chris was on his laptop, too. He ate the remaining beef from last week and cooked up the frozen beef for me, with the onions, peppers and garlic. I called William and he told me about an estate sale they went to. I had to stand close to the window to get good reception, so I watched a spider make a web outside during the call. Then I put away the leftover beef and washed the dishes in the sink.
I made up a batch of the spice mix that I normally use for my breakfast. Then we sat on the bed to watch an episode of SHIELD. I nearly fell asleep. The compulsion was so strong, that I decided it was worth being late on my blog to have a good slumber. But when the TV was off, Chris had other ideas. His ideas got interrupted several times by phone calls from a man who wouldn't say who he was trying to call. I heard Chris speak to him in Spanish and English. After 4 trys, the man gave up.
And then we went to sleep.
* This move was not exactly an improvement over where we were. *
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