The day I moved during a thunder snowstorm

I started working in DC a few weeks before I got my apartment and then worked another week before I returned to NYC to move all my possessions down to DC. I picked the specific weekend because I have a fabulous uncle and cousin who volunteered to help me move into my new apartment down in DC and being still October I figured the weather would be fine (or maybe I didn't even think about weather).

I had one week off and along with hosting two friends in NYC I managed to donate 7 bags of stuff to Goodwill, toss at least 10 bags of stuff, and pack up most of my apartment.  I didn't however pack anything in the kitchen, I had run out of boxes.

So last Friday I went in to work at 6:30 am so I could leave at 3 to catch a 3:30 Bolt Bus to NYC. The bus driver lady scolded me for not being their 15 minutes early, but let me on the bus.  I should of known what was up as she kept taking "short cuts" and got us lost and took a smoke break and got us in to NYC an hour and a half behind schedule.

When I finally got to my apartment at 10 pm I was tired, but determined to stay up till everything was packed. I knocked on my neighbor's door. She is like a good friend of the landlord and takes care of sorting the trash and keeping the hallways clean, etc. Anyway I asked her about my enormous amounts of trash I would be throwing out (including a lazy boy chair) and she offered to help me pack. I told her no like ten times but she insisted and I am so glad she did. Not only did she wrap and pack my whole kitchen, but she kept me going and not taking quick rests on the couch. We were done by 1am!

The next morning she knocked on my door with a cup of coffee, even though this was my first neighbor in four years in NYC that I said more than hello to I can no longer say that NYC neighbors ignore each other.

I decided to drive my stuff down to DC myself to save money (or as my Mom put it, because in our family you do things yourself). So the first leg of my trip involved me walking a mile and a half in freezing rain to the gas station that had the Uhaul truck.  I was soaking wet when I got there, but the rental went smooth and I was back to my apartment in no time.  I lived across the street from a fire station so the whole street is restricted parking, which made it easy for me to find an illegal spot to pull in to.  I never talked to the firemen, nothing more than a wave and a smile, but I wanted to make sure they weren't going to call a tow truck so I went over and asked if I could park there for a few hours. The fireman was everything you think of a NYC fireman.  Tall, dark, handsome, strong, and thick NYC accent. He was sad to see me move, but said of course I could park there.

Cold rain isn't the ideal moving condition, but the streets were still pretty safe at 10 when I got back to my apartment and the loaders were suppose to arrive, but by 11:40 when they did arrive the streets were covered by snow and it kept coming down.  They were friendly enough and had the truck loaded in a little over an hour.

I immediately hit the road and headed down through Brooklyn to the Verrazano bridge, which I went over for the first time ever, however I couldn't see anything because of the snow coming down.  Anything also includes the road signs, I made several great guesses on directions, but I did pull on to the cars only portion of the NJ Turnpike.

The great part of the blinding snow and slippery streets was there wasn't much traffic until I got to the first truck stop off the turnpike.  I was hungry and lucky for me the Uhaul only had a quarter tank when I picked it up. I guess everyone else was hungry and out of gas, because the rest stop was hopping.

Truck stops rule

After the rest stop I drove about 45 miles per an hour till I reached Delaware where the roads finally cleared up. The trip took about 2.5 extra hours, but at least it wasn't stop and go traffic.

The next day was beautiful and sunny and the Marine Corps Marathon (boy can I pick a good weekend). We mapped a route in and reached my apartment in no time. The unloading went smoothly save for my uncle and cousin having to carry my large bed up the stairs because it wouldn't fit in the elevator and having to drive to three Uhaul locations before being able to dump the truck.

With all of that it really was one of the least painful moves of my recent life.