Brian and Anita sold their house in Tennessee and moved to the western United States. Learn more about Brian and Anita here. Discover some great tips to help you sell your home here.
Getting Ready To Relocate
As the closing date for the sale of the house drew near, some doubts began creeping into our minds. Would the tentative buyers actually sign when it came time to close? You may have heard some disappointed seller stories yourself. We had no foundation for any fears – it is just that all the waiting can mess with one’s mind.
** Please understand that we were not happy to be leaving all our dear friends and family behind in Tennessee. Still, once a decision is made, and you let go of what has been so familiar for so long, it is easier to get on the move and not linger too long. **
The previous house we sold some years ago in Washington State gave us 5 – 6 days after closing to clear out. But rules had changed with the Tennessee closing. We had to vacate our stuff from the house before signing and turning the keys over to the buyer. We had to wait until the last couple of days as we had a week rental on moving truck, and we needed to sleep in the house until the last. So we were up quite late the night before closing scrubbing garage floors and walls and cleaning house for new owner move-in. But we made it! The place looked great and move-in ready. We signed and then headed down I75 feeling free
A Big Setback
We were finally on our way and feeling so free and blessed! But Brian had noticed earlier shortly after leaving the house that the air conditioning was not working correctly in the Penske rental truck. We decided that after signing the closing documents, we would head over to where we picked the moving truck up to have it checked. Brian was sweating profusely on the way over as this was September in Tennessee!
The Penske location sent us to a nearby Penske shop. After looking the truck over, they told us they had to go downtown to get parts and thought it would be three or so hours before they would have it ready. The closing was at 4 pm, so we did not get to the garage until about 6 pm. The joy of leaving melted away quickly. And we would have to get a hotel for the night before traveling very many miles because we could not return to the house – it now belonged to someone else. In spite of the disappointment, we were grateful we didn’t have to move our belongings to another truck. It could have been much worse!
Now the advantage of not having the car on a trailer or tow bar became a real blessing because we were able to go grocery shopping for the trip, and that killed some time.
The truck rental company generously gave us a couple of extra days of rental, for which we were grateful.
Finally Moving
That first night (Monday, September 9), we got as far as Monteagle, TN. On Tuesday, we were officially on our way with Brian driving the 26 foot Penske truck and Anita following in the red Honda CRV with our beloved two cats in a carrier on the back seat.
We left Mont Eagle the following morning about 8:30, an accomplishment after all of our late nights and early mornings getting ready for the move.
We cleared Kansas City and spent the 2nd night in Missouri.
On day three, we encountered a massive storm, with hailstones that sounded like bullets. We worried they might shatter the windshields. The radio was saying the hail would possibly be the size of golf balls! Those must have missed us! And fortunately, the big hail only lasted for 3-4 seconds. Still, the torrential downpour and high winds brought us down to 15 mph at one point and then no more than 40-45 mph for an hour and a half or so. We finally arrived in Ogalalla, Nebraska – night three.
We were initially planning to go through Kansas and then from Denver into Wyoming, but changed our minds and decided to head north and cross the midwest through Nebraska.
On September 12, we arrived in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Our daughter’s birthday is September 13. We had hoped we would arrive at our destination in time to celebrate with her.
On day 5 of the trip, we were so exhausted from our travels and the late couple nights that sleepiness started to overwhelm us. We stopped and slept at a rest area before continuing for the last leg of our trip west.
We arrived at our daughter’s home on September 13 in time to eat some cake and help celebrate her birthday!
In our next blog post, we will begin to tell you about our search for our new home. Be sure to sign up for our email list below!
