The Trip to Our New Home Day 6

Finally the last day of driving!  We got up extra early to get ready, eat some breakfast, and hit the road.  We wanted to get started, so that we could get finished already! 

 

Entering California was an interesting experience.  All of the other state lines were a mini celebration: "yay we're in _____ " and a little cheer.  Then continue on with the driving.  Well, entering California was more like entering another country.  They have an inspection point a couple miles past the state line where all vehicles must stop.  I was a little nervous pulling up because I didn't know what they were going to be inspecting for, and both our vehicles were absolutely packed with boxes, suitcases, and stuff and if they wanted to look very thoroughly they were going to have a mess on their hands.  What actually happened went like this:

 

Guard: Where you coming from?

Me: Indiana.

Guard: Got any fruits or vegetables?
Me: Nope.

Guard: Have a nice day.

 

So...not too bad.  We entered the California Desert soon after and once again, towns began to be about 50 miles between.  We saw a sign that said 55 miles to the next 'facilities' so we decided to stop for a potty break.  At a blue gas station/convenience store in the middle of the desert.  It was quite interesting.  First of all, we noticed a sign on the door that said restrooms were for paying customers only.  So we used the restrooms and bought coffee and a magnet.  There were 3 employees standing by the register the whole time we were in there, complaining loudly about something or other and generally looking bored and passive.  One guy even had his feet kicked up on the counter.  They never even spoke to us.  Not even when we were checking out.  Not a word.  So their sign on the counter was especially comical:

 

It costs us a fortune to run a business in the middle of nowhere.  We have to be here because we've already invested a fortune in the business.  Please do not complain to our staff.  We are here to serve you.

I didn't exactly feel like they were there to serve me.  Anyway, back in the car and we drove straight through until lunch time.  After a quick stop at Wendy's for lunch, we got back in the car one final time and drove the 2 hours to our final hotel stop (a.k.a. home for the next 2ish weeks until we close on our house).  It was the fewest number of stops we had made on any driving day yet.  We were all just ready to be here already.

After getting unpacked and settled in to our hotel, the kids were excited to go see the new house (from the outside at least) and their new school.  We checked both of those out and then rewarded the kids for surviving the trip with a stop at Yogurtland.



 

We had dinner at the hotel that night, and I thought it was so cute that both kids went straight for the salad bar.  Maybe they were tired of all the restaurant meals on the road and really craving some veggies?

 

 

 

At the end of the night I sent a text to our Realtor, to let him know we were in the area and available for any paperwork that might be needed from us.  He responded to let us know that he was giving us a free ice skating lesson for both girls the next day, as a reward for doing a good job on the car ride over.  They were so ecstatic!  More to come on that...