Since we have had months to plan this move, we’re being as organized and prepared as we can to make sure things go smoothly. I’m sure there will be surprises popping up and unfortunately a lot of the tasks are last minute by nature, but we’re trying to plan ahead!  Here’s a little photo mosaic I made of some of our current signs of moving:

1. A folder with important documents – directions & hotel reservations for the trip, lease agreement for the new place, PODS paperwork, etc.
2. A spankin new United States road atlas Peter bought. I know we’ll get a lot of use out of this beyond the trip cross country.
3. Some of the paperwork from the folder. I picked up a USPS moving guide. A lot of it is ads. It has the change of address paperwork, although you can do that online now. The most valuable thing in this packet to me is the 10% off any purchase coupon to Lowe’s. That’s useful whether you’re moving or not.
4. Peter highlighted the entire journey in the map and made notes of where our hotel stops are.
5. Giant tower of scotch tape for boxes!
6. Boxes in three sizes from the Moving Kits we bought at Costco. We had priced boxes from a packaging catalog but after jotting down everything we needed it was going to be $400 PLUS another $100 to ship the boxes to us. That’s insane. So we scrapped that idea.We bought a couple dozen plastic tubs from Target to move weather-sensitive/breakables. Once we unpack we’ll resell those tubs and get back at least some of what we paid. We did purchase some moving kits from Costco at around $40 apiece which include plenty of boxes and packaging material for the non-breakables.And Peter got a hook-up at our grocery store with the chips vendor who said we can use his boxes if we need them. They are various sizes but sometimes beat-up so this is a good option to have but not one we want to rely on solely since it is also unpredictable.
7. Tabs Peter stuck in the atlas for keeping track of where we are easily. The numbers correspond with what day we’ll be where (i.e. Day 4 we’ll be in Oregon).
8. Guest room has now been designated for storing yard sale items.
9. Using our DYMO Label maker, we came up with a template for labeling boxes. On the opposite side is a sticker that says “If found, please contact…”
10. Linens, blankets, and some clothes can go in garbage bags. They will work well for filling in gaps while packing the POD. I stuck huge labels to the handles so they aren’t mistaken for garbage.

I’ve started calling utility companies to change the name on the account back to our landlord’s. I tried to call our cable/internet/phone provider to schedule the disconnection in advance but apparently their calendars don’t go that far.  The list of stuff I can only deal with a couple of weeks before we move is growing.

I’m off to Greece with a girlfriend for ten days come Friday. An ill-timed trip in retrospect, but it was planned long before the moving timeline was established. I’m looking forward to it, but I know when I get back things will kick into high gear! The POD will get here before I return and knowing Peter he’ll waste no time packing stuff into it.

It’s crazy to think we have less than six weeks left! Then Janet and I get to spend 4 days traveling over 2,000 miles. We spent a good amount of time picking when and where we wanted to stop for each days worth of driving. Our thought’s were that our first and second day we would be the most excited about our trip, the third day we would pretty much be sick of driving, but that last day would be better because it’s the last one. Knowing that, we decided to get most of the trip out of our way on the first two days.

This works out nicely because those first two days are nothing but flat terrain. Since I will be hauling Janet’s vehicle (and our two scooters in the bed) with my truck, we won’t have to worry about those long hours being to much of a strain on my truck. The last two days we intentionally left short. For one, we will pretty much be sick of driving, and the other, the terrain becomes more mountainous. Shorter drive times will be much better for my engine :)

One of the main factors we had to consider for this trip is that we needed to be able to spend the night at a place that was dog friendly. So our thoughts were to try to stick to the bigger cities to increase our chances to find such places. Good news is that since we are insane planners, we have already found places to stay and booked our reservations for each night online. I then personally called each one to verify they had our reservation, confirm the acceptance of our dog and determine where the best place to park would be for our convoy.

Now it’s close to 5AM CST (I am up really late) and I just spent the past hour mapping out our entire travel in a Rand McNally Road Atlas. Tomorrow I will input the same info into my GPS device… you know, just in case. If anyone has any tips on how not to go crazy for this long of a drive, or perhaps cool things to look out for along the way, let us know ;)

Here is a quick overview of our travel plans…

A » B = 673 mi (~ 10 hrs)   B » C = 657 mi (~ 9 hrs)   C » D = 367 mi (~ 5 hrs)   D » E = 673 mi (~ 6 hrs)

50 Days til Portland! The POD gets delivered in a couple of weeks.

Portland Bridge © jlocken

One of our biggest anxieties about moving was where we were going to stay while we house hunt and today we nailed that down! And earlier than I thought we would. I have been looking at Craigslist Portland sublets for places. While we’re not too picky for this transition period we knew we didn’t want to be in a roommate situation.. our schedules are too weird and would likely disrupt a roommate. Also the place has to be dog-friendly.

On Monday I found a listing for a duplex that met all our needs and we signed and mailed off the papers today! It is nerve-wracking to commit to a place sight unseen (aside from photos), but the great news is that it is right near all the SE neighborhoods we plan to do our house hunting in. And it’s only a mile or so from our UPS Box.

It’s near the Irvington/Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhoods, right by Lloyd Center. It’s got a great walkscore and a place to park our scooters so we can ride those around.

We committed to a three-month lease with month-to-month option after. I hope we can find a place in three months but from what I am learning it can take awhile. Plus we’ll want to do any painting/repairs before we move in, so we’ll see. It’s nice to have the flexibility.

Countdown’s at under 2 months…

Irvington Lizard © DancingSloth

Tree-lined Portland Street © misternaxal

I found this link today: Guide to Food Carts in Portland

This may seem silly but I am really excited about food carts in Portland. There, I said it.  It’s just that nowhere I’ve lived had food carts. Saint Louis for example only has ten food vendor permits for the city. PERIOD. Like, that’s all. And they don’t work near each other and there’s not really a selection. From the few I’ve happened to spot they were just hot dogs.

When we visited Portland last October we were in SE (I forget which neighborhood) and happened upon a parking lot with 4 or 5 trucks selling tacos, gyros, and I think one even had Chinese food. Aside from a cheap and fast meal, I think there’s something so wonderful about the EXPERIENCE of it all. I’ve been to other large cities with abundance of street vendors – New York, Paris.. it creates activity and urban camaraderie.

And if I am over-romanticizing the experience of buying food from a small room on wheels, whatever. The whole point of this entry comes down to poutine.

Poutine.

Pronounced poo-teen, it’s a popular junk food in some parts of Canada. It’s french fries covered with cheese curds covered with spiced gravy. I have never had real Canadian poutine, but ever since I learned of it I have been in awe of such a concept of culinary perfection. I have tried to make it myself, but I’m sure it’s not right. For one, cheese curds are difficult to impossible to come by where I live. Chese curds aren’t like curdled cheese (gross), they are just bite-size pieces of cheese that look and taste kind of like mozzarella. They make squeaky sounds in your mouth when you chew on them.

Apparently cheese curds have a very short shelf-life so unless you live somewhere with a demand for them, good luck finding them because it’s not worth it to the vendors to stock them. Luckily I have a connection in Wisconsin, cheese capital of the US, who comes to Saint Louis occasionally bearing curds.

But the other ingredient, spiced gravy, is the part I can’t nail. From my thorough research (haha) I have learned that there is a certain Canadian brand of gravy that makes the poutine. Any ol’ gravy won’t do.

So anyway, you can only imagine my reaction when I learned a couple of months ago that… brace yourself… Portland has a Poutine Truck. A food vendor selling Poutine. Holy Hell.

I don’t know if it will be “real” poutine but I feel so validated just knowing it exists for purchase there. And within arm’s reach until I can make a pilgrimage to Canada.

Potato Champion
Located at the NE corner of SE 12th and Hawthorne Blvd
wed – sat > 8pm – 3am – LATE NIGHT POUTINE YOU GUYS
sun/mon/tues > closed

Official web site featuring picture of awesome trophy exploding with fries.

Poutine Goodness © zorbs

Poutinegasm © LexnGer