It's official - we've moved to Asheville! A few months ago we started playing around with the idea of moving back to the Southeast and implanting ourselves in the mountains yet again. We weighed our options and finally decided to go for it.
Now that we're here and in the process of getting settled, we wanted to do a quick recap of how the move went. Overall, we definitely had a couple of hiccups along the way, but it all worked out and in some cases it was a total blessing in disguise.
We went back and forth on using a moving service or driving everything down ourselves. We don't have much in terms of "stuff" but we couldn't fit it in our car like last time we moved (we massively downsized before the trail). Sooo we researched options and found that I get a hefty work discount on ABT Relocubes. They're basically like Pods, but a different company. It was cheaper than renting a truck and we don't have to drive a truck through the mountains? Sold!
The idea is pretty simple - you have 3 days to load a Relocube at your starting destination, then the company takes 3-4 days to drive the cube to your new home on a semi. The cube is dropped off in your driveway and you have 3 days to unload the cube. Then the empty cube is picked up. Chicago is weird and won't allow cubes to be delivered in the city so we had to load it at the terminal, but if you lived in a different city you could do door-to-door service. Awesome, right?
So last Wednesday, 95% of the stuff that we own was loaded into one cube and shipped off to NC. Then on Saturday, we packed up the rest of our stuff, crammed into into the car, and started the drive down to NC.
Now that we're here and in the process of getting settled, we wanted to do a quick recap of how the move went. Overall, we definitely had a couple of hiccups along the way, but it all worked out and in some cases it was a total blessing in disguise.
We went back and forth on using a moving service or driving everything down ourselves. We don't have much in terms of "stuff" but we couldn't fit it in our car like last time we moved (we massively downsized before the trail). Sooo we researched options and found that I get a hefty work discount on ABT Relocubes. They're basically like Pods, but a different company. It was cheaper than renting a truck and we don't have to drive a truck through the mountains? Sold!
The idea is pretty simple - you have 3 days to load a Relocube at your starting destination, then the company takes 3-4 days to drive the cube to your new home on a semi. The cube is dropped off in your driveway and you have 3 days to unload the cube. Then the empty cube is picked up. Chicago is weird and won't allow cubes to be delivered in the city so we had to load it at the terminal, but if you lived in a different city you could do door-to-door service. Awesome, right?
So last Wednesday, 95% of the stuff that we own was loaded into one cube and shipped off to NC. Then on Saturday, we packed up the rest of our stuff, crammed into into the car, and started the drive down to NC.
Rooney was less than thrilled with his accommodations. Big dog, small space.
| 
Sporting the Wings flag, leading up to Game 7. I'm sorry, Chicago, Serial wins on this one.
|
We stopped a few times along the way, for snacks and to explore state parks. We always do this on road trips, which turns a 10 hour drive into a 13 hour drive, but it's roughly 200% more fun that way. One of the parks we checked out was Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. Go ahead, take a second to fully appreciate the name.
It was a cool area and definitely had locals there enjoying the day and fishing. I bet it's packed in the summertime. We just wandered and let Rooney burn off some energy, nothing too time consuming or difficult, but it gave us an energy boost to keep driving.
It was a cool area and definitely had locals there enjoying the day and fishing. I bet it's packed in the summertime. We just wandered and let Rooney burn off some energy, nothing too time consuming or difficult, but it gave us an energy boost to keep driving.
Get in where ya fit in, Roon.
| 
Checking out the mountains as they first start coming into view.
Mountains!
|
The drive was actually really nice and we arrived in Asheville sometime around 11 or 11:30pm. We grabbed dinner and excitedly made our way to our new home. Serial had never seen it (Jill was the one who viewed it and signed the lease, while on a work trip) so we were excited to check it out together. Remember those hiccups I mentioned? Right, so this is where the first one popped up.
The keys weren't in the mailbox as planned. Our landlord forgot and she wasn't answering her phone (it was about midnight now). We went to her house (she's our neighbor) and she didn't answer the door. Blerg. There was no room to sleep in the car and we didn't have a tent (not to mention our energy levels were low and our annoyance levels were high) so we made our way to a motel for the night. Remember the blessings in disguise? We got to sleep in a bed and our landlord reimbursed us - it was actually a lot better than crashing on the floor of our new house.
The next day we slept in a little then met our landlord at the house. Serial loved the house (yay!) and we were excited to start moving our stuff in. But wait, another hiccup. The house hasn't been cleaned and the prior tenants dust/garbage/general grossness was still lingering. Our water wasn't turned on. The lawn was overgrown and there was a good amount of dog poop in the backyard. Sigh - this house was not ready for us.
In defense of our landlord, who we really like, she quickly remedied the situation by arranging for her nephew to come mow the lawn and by reimbursing us for the cleaning that we had to do ourselves. Hiccups gone!
OK, so we got the water turned on and decided to just go for a quick drive & hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway to clear our heads before we started cleaning and unpacking. GREAT IDEA. We love the BRP and it's right in our backyard - we're once again feeling fantastic about our decision to move here.
The keys weren't in the mailbox as planned. Our landlord forgot and she wasn't answering her phone (it was about midnight now). We went to her house (she's our neighbor) and she didn't answer the door. Blerg. There was no room to sleep in the car and we didn't have a tent (not to mention our energy levels were low and our annoyance levels were high) so we made our way to a motel for the night. Remember the blessings in disguise? We got to sleep in a bed and our landlord reimbursed us - it was actually a lot better than crashing on the floor of our new house.
The next day we slept in a little then met our landlord at the house. Serial loved the house (yay!) and we were excited to start moving our stuff in. But wait, another hiccup. The house hasn't been cleaned and the prior tenants dust/garbage/general grossness was still lingering. Our water wasn't turned on. The lawn was overgrown and there was a good amount of dog poop in the backyard. Sigh - this house was not ready for us.
In defense of our landlord, who we really like, she quickly remedied the situation by arranging for her nephew to come mow the lawn and by reimbursing us for the cleaning that we had to do ourselves. Hiccups gone!
OK, so we got the water turned on and decided to just go for a quick drive & hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway to clear our heads before we started cleaning and unpacking. GREAT IDEA. We love the BRP and it's right in our backyard - we're once again feeling fantastic about our decision to move here.
View from the BRP
| 
Forest road on the BRP
|
Monday morning we got our internet up and running so Jill could get back to work. Serial kept cleaning and basically did all of the grimy work. Rooney played in his new backyard and met his new doggy neighbors. We were waiting for the cube to be delivered and ready to start getting our furniture set up.
Hiccup. The cube never arrived and we called to find out where it was. Turns out it was sitting at the terminal and they had the wrong phone number for us. *sigh* We work out the details, but they aren't able to deliver our cube until Wednesday now. No biggie, it gives us more time to clean and prep for the big stuff.
So that's where we're at now - exploring our new city and living in a relatively empty house. Life is good and we're excited to start making this home our own. We'll be back this week with pics of the house so stay tuned!
Hiccup. The cube never arrived and we called to find out where it was. Turns out it was sitting at the terminal and they had the wrong phone number for us. *sigh* We work out the details, but they aren't able to deliver our cube until Wednesday now. No biggie, it gives us more time to clean and prep for the big stuff.
So that's where we're at now - exploring our new city and living in a relatively empty house. Life is good and we're excited to start making this home our own. We'll be back this week with pics of the house so stay tuned!
Rooney is wondering where all of the comfy furniture went.
