Gittin' Gone

The day finally came and Monday we found ourselves on the road relocating to our winter home in Superior, Arizona. I spent the week-end packing up last minute items I might not be able to live without the next five months in AZ. I cleaned out overstuffed baskets of papers that hadn't been sorted in ten years. I cleared off countertops and end tables so that my beach home appears almost barren. Taking a last walk-thru just before locking up and leaving, I marveled at the fact that my normally cluttered, over stuffed home was looking as though somebody else might have lived there. A very Neat Somebody!

Our aim was to depart at ten AM on Monday morning. But it was closer to ten thirty when we finally got going. Bill led the way in his FJ Trooper with the puppy Chuy clinging to his lap. Chuy has a bad habit of not liking to drive anywhere and usually throws up sometime in the beginning of the trip. I followed behind driving the Ford Explorer, stuffed with pet carriers. In the trunk, were two big carriers holding the macaws. In the back seat were two middle sized carriers with my two cats, Kickers and Spooky. And like the cherry on the top of the sundae, on the front seat, wedged in next to me to keep me company on the seventeen hour trip, was a small carrier with the African Grey parrot, Sam.

I put the blue and gold macaw, Cabo, in first. She purely hates to get in her carrier and erupts with hatred when she glimpses it. I'm sure she associates it with a trip to the vet. Zeus, the scarlet macaw, was easier She actually seems to like to travel and got in readily, yelling out jubilant whoops when I got them settled in the back of the car. Sam, the African gray, began talking, "Hello! Wow! Good bird!" as soon as I got behind the wheel. The Persian was no problem getting in her carrying cage. But the Siamese, Spooky, went berserk and squirted out of my arms, gouging my neck and making it bleed before I could corral her and jam her in the carrier. So amid the whoops of the parrots, I also had some painful bleating from the aggrieved Siamese, telling me how awful she thought the whole thing was.

By the time we'd been on the road for two hours, the animals settled down and there wasn't as much crying and carrying on. Sam, besides being the best talker, also has the nastiest habit of emitting a loud annoying bark when he's upset. He did a great deal of barking during the day, but I have to admit when I got in the traffic in the Bay Area and later driving through Phoenix, the bird was blessedly quiet.

Our first stop was in Fairfield, where Chuy, the puppy, threw up all over Bill and the front seat. We cleaned him up and walked him, then got back on the freeway. From then on, the puppy was fine, but far from happy from travelling all that way. When it got dark, we were just driving over the Tehaciapi Pass and I got separated from Bill by five or six cars and trucks fighting their way over the mountain. Bill was on the two way radio telling me to drive faster, but it was full on dark, I was having trouble getting my night vision corrected, and even going seventy, it took me half the mountain to re-connect with him. I was far from a Happy Camper at that moment and raged back at him when he told me go faster. Because Mom was yelling at Dad, the macaws decided to raise their voices in the cacophony and Sam added a few barks. I think the cats cried too, but I was too upset to quiet them down. I was pretty upset but glad when I slid in behind Bill again and he led us safely down the hill.

It was mostly pure boredom across Barstow to Needles and a late ten PM hamburger dinner there. Then, onward for the next five hours into Superior. It was four-thirty when we pulled into our driveway in Superior. I settled the cats in the guest bedroom, confining them from the rest of the house as a cat manual recommended. The birds settled into their new cages and went to sleep with very little fuss. Chuy was just exhausted and settled himself into bed between Bill and me and promptly fell asleep, although Bill said he'd slept most of the day away.

Bill and I slept only about three hours yesterday. I think we were too excited about our Retirement Life starting. Plus we knew we had piles of boxes to unload and find places for. We took a long walk to the post office and grocery store and had time for a trip to the Dairy Queen for ice cream. So it was a good day but I kept running out of energy and found myself napping a lot.

Today, I felt more like myself. The cats are beginning to creep out of the bedroom and look around the rest of the house. The puppy is starting to feel like this might actually be 'home'. And me? I'm very grateful to have this beautiful desert home to call my Retirement home and thankful that Bill has taken so much time to prepare the house so well. I probably don't 'deserve' anything so nice but I'm extremely thankful it's all come to pass.