Moving 14 hours for Disney...

Today, I'm sharing my mom and I's experience with moving. Enjoy!

To start off, my mom and I decided to move in 2022. My grandparents had both passed away, we were no longer caregivers. We felt there was nothing left for us in Arkansas anymore. So, we set our sights on Florida (and Disney World.)

First, we needed to sell our house. This was originally my grandparents' house, then we moved in when my nana was diagnosed. (Read caregiving for a more in-depth story.) With this, we then had two households' worth of things to move. (We needed to get BUSY!) Before cleaning out, we decided to call a real estate agent to get some more information. They were able to come out the next day to assess the house, answer some of our questions, and such. She made it clear as well, that the market was slow during this time. The following day, a photographer and our realtor came out. Our house was on the market! Little did we know what was to come next.

We had pictures taken and uploaded on Monday. Our first viewing was on Tuesday, the first people that walked in bought it, and it was sold on Wednesday. We had about a month to clean, sell, donate, and then move. Keep in mind, this house was a 1500 sq ft. 3-bedroom, 2 bath home, with two sheds in the backyard, and a garage packed to the gills. (Oh my, snap my fingers and all done.... No?)

Needless to say, this September/November was hectic. My mom was working full-time while I was cleaning out the house. Luckily, she worked remotely, so I was able to get her opinion on certain things. We had family heirlooms, piles of National Geographic magazines, a piano, couches, rugs, dressers, tools, a treadmill, beds, desks, recliners, food, cleaning supplies, a car we needed to sale. (Our heads were spinning!) But we pulled it off and ended up driving a packed moving van to the signing.

Second, came buying an RV. We knew absolutely nothing about rvs. We searched and searched, most of the ones we liked were located in Florida. (So helpful!) With only about 2 weeks until homelessness, we finally found a rv we thought would suit us. A 2001 31ft Concord Coachmen class C. So, we bought it! We had taken a few weeks to load up the RV with what we thought we'd need. We named her after my grandmother.

Alright, onto the third part in our story, our trip to Florida! Driving at about 35ft long, because my car was on a trailer hooked to the back of the RV, we headed on our new adventure. I kept a video diary and there were definitely some bumps in the road. We wanted the true RV experience staying in our first campground, (that seemed a little shady at first) then a Love's gas station, then a Cracker Barrel parking lot. We had two dogs and a cat traveling with us, who were doing exceptionally well with the circumstances. This was also during December, so the joy of Christmas was all around us!

Ok, I got off track. One of few bumps that sticks out to me, happened in the dead of night. We were following our GPS up paved road with a steep incline. We turned right (like the GPS informed us) and found ourselves at a dead-end road (we thought) in a neighborhood. With all 35ft of us, we began trying to back up to get on the main road. Our headlights were shining into a couple's home, who eventually stepped out and told us we could cut through and turn around because it was campground on the other side. We were so relieved and thankful to them and finally made to the Love's we were staying at that night.

But finally, we made it to Florida! We felt right at home, standing next to the "Welcome to Florida" sign at a rest stop. We perfectly fit into our tight knit community full of outstanding people. I'm so happy we made the leap. I encourage you to take a healthy risk. You may find it's worth it! Until Next Time. Bye!