Driving cross country from Lakewood, CO, to Mechanicsburg, PA
DAY 2 – Sunday, Sept. 23
Burlington, CO – to Effingham, IL
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| Sun in our eyes |
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| Blogging on the road |
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| Awesome moon shot |
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| Cleaning Ellie after her accident |
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 5: Driving Cross-Country (Episode 1)
Driving Cross-Country, Episode 1
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| ELLIE SMOIT |
Last night I cried for 2 ½ hours.
Yesterday was my first day on the road. I don’t like my cage. I detest it. Then they put me in that big gray box with wheels. I think they call it a truck. And it started moving.
I don’t feel good. I cried and I cried and I cried. They couldn’t see me panting so I cried louder. Whenever they weren’t paying attention to me, I screamed so they would keep paying attention to me.
I think I really upset my dad.
Then Noxy had diarrhea. Fortunately, it didn’t happen until we arrived at the hotel.
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| That’s me on top. Noxy is underneath. |
I didn’t have to stay in the same room as Noxy and Kaylee, because I would have taken my anger out on the kitten.
But I had my own room with Mommy and I cuddled her a lot and head-butted her in the middle of the night. She brought her own quilt and I slept on it.
I know Grandma, in the other room, had to clean out Noxy’s cage and give him a bath. I hate baths.
Now it’s morning and we’re back on the road again. Noxy is in the cage under me. He doesn’t smell too bad. Oops, now he does.
I’m still panting, but I can see the outside and it’s pretty. And flat. And there are a lot of cows. And wind turbines. And fields. And sky. And that’s about it.
So I’m crying less. But I’ll probably cry later.
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.
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Kaylee had the best view
 Noxy was on the bottom  I was the dominant cat on top |
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| Kaylee staked her claim to backpacks and suitcases |
Will It Fit?
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| BOB |
My biggest worries were whether our household goods would fit into our 10 x 20-foot storage facility, and whether everything we put aside to take to Mexico would actually fit in the truck.
The Storage Facility
For months I worried whether we could purge and pare down enough to be able to fit our household into a storage facility. Because obviously the larger the unit, the more it would cost. And if we don’t go back there for 10 years, that’s a lot of money. So I wanted to minimize the size of the storage facility space.
But we wouldn’t know the answer to that question until the movers came.
My mounting anxiety climbed higher than the boxes stacking up around the house.
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| Filling up the moving truck |
I had rented a 10×20 foot storage unit. The day before the movers came, I went to the storage facility and asked if they happened to have larger units available, and what the process would be for getting one at the last minute if needed. They told me they had larger units available, and the additional cost wouldn’t be exorbitant.
So when the movers came the next day, that was the first thing I discussed with them: Would what we have fit into a 10×20 foot storage space?
The expert, after looking at all of our stuff, said, “If it fits in our truck, it will fit into a 10×20. But it looks really close.”
As they loaded everything into the moving van, I kept looking at how much was left in the house and how much space was left in the truck.
We were getting close to the end and the truck was almost full. Our one saving grace, though, was that our space was 11 feet high, and their truck was only 8 feet high, so I knew we had some additional space.
Still, in the end, I made a determination that we had just a little too much to fit into that space. So I went to the storage facility and got us a bigger unit. This one was cavernous: 30 feet long with 14-foot ceilings. And as an added bonus, our new storage unit was directly across from the elevator.
So in the end, it may not have fit but we went with the flow and go the stuff into storage.
Next: Part 2: The Truck
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| My anxiety mounted with the boxes |
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| Everything we own in the world |
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 4: Empty House
Empty House
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| ELLIE SMOIT |
Mommy finally let us out of the bathroom. We’ve been in here all day snarling at each other. Well, once I was locked out on the catio.
But now we’re out.
Wait, what? Everything is gone. The mountains of boxes are gone. The big bed is gone. All the pillows are gone.
I wander to the laundry room, and the laundry baskets are still there for me to sleep in. Thank goodness! And a few cat toys here and there.
My mommy Lexie is still here. But her bed is gone.
And why do they keep feeding us in the cat carriers? It’s suspish. I don’t think I like this.
I think I’ll go nap in the clean laundry.
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.
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| Lexie is still here but her bed is gone |
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| I can still go on the windowsills |
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| All the pillows in the alcove are gone |
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| There are still bags to play in |
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| And cabinets to explore |
Pick the Right Partner
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| LISA |
If you’re going to turn retirement into an adventure, you better have picked the right partner. I know I did.
I met Bob Greenawalt through the New York Flyers Running Club in early 1993. I went to the meeting place for a speedwork class in an old convent a half block from Central Park in Manhattan, and he was the first person I saw. During our first conversation, we covered all the places we had skied, and he talked about how he was going to Alta the next week. I had just been skiing in Sestriere, Italy, the previous month.
We became fast friends, and over the next few months, we trained for a partner ten-miler in Central Park together, went for long bike rides across the George Washington Bridge and up the Palisades along the Hudson River on the New Jersey side. We took trains to Garrison, NY, and rode 38-mile loops across Bear Mountain.
Puerto Rico
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| Bob atop a 14er |
When I moved to Puerto Rico to become a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, he quit his job and came down for the adventure. Mind you, he had already lived in Germany for 4 ½ years.
Family travel
After we got married and started pursuing the adventure of marriage and parenthood, we took our two children traveling from the start. Canada. England. Germany. France. The Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico. Mexico.
After we got married and started pursuing the adventure of marriage and parenthood, we took our two children traveling from the start. Canada. England. Germany. France. The Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico. Mexico.
Adventurous spirit
Over the past 9+ years in Colorado, he has ridden a number of mountain passes, and has climbed 26 14ers (mountain2 14,000 feet or higher).
Over the past 9+ years in Colorado, he has ridden a number of mountain passes, and has climbed 26 14ers (mountain2 14,000 feet or higher).
So it’s not a surprise that this is a man who will embark on a true adventure of exploring the world with me now!
Pain
I had no idea it would be this painful.
We’re in the home stretch now. The packers are coming tomorrow. The movers are coming on Wednesday. And I am having an emotional breakdown. Help!
Church farewells
Yesterday Lexie and I went to Evergreen Lutheran Church for the last time. I was doing the readings and Pastor Vera and the congregation were giving us a blessing for safe travels.
As soon as we walked into the Narthex, people kept coming up to hug us, wish us luck, ask about our adventure, and say goodbye. By the time we got to our seat in the second row, I already had a huge lump in my throat. When it came time to read, I could barely speak for the swell of unexpected emotion constricting my voice. I went up onto the altar and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, this is very difficult,” I shared shakily from the pulpit. “This is our last time attending this church, and I’m suddenly feeling very emotional. This is a wonderful place and I really love all of you.” Then I took a deep breath, Pastor Vera smiled, and I began.
Her sermon was about answering God’s call and embarking on the journey even if you don’t know the outcome, trusting God and saying yes. From God’s lips to our ears!
More hugs and tears afterward, and the Piecemakers, a woman’s group that makes quilts for people in needs, gave us a quilt as a parting gift, which Lexie claimed for her own.
Aryk’s room
We got home and I attacked Aryk’s room. I took down the pictures on the walls, cleared out the closet, and transformed it from a cheerful bedroom that was my child’s home for four years to a sterile space of boxes and furniture.
That’s when the wave of grief really hit me. I suddenly felt horrible to be doing this to Aryk, and to Lexie – taking away their happy home, leaving them in a place of uncertainty.
Everything we have sorted and purged, every childhood pony drawing and too-small top and old Barbie video game that has landed in the trash or donation pile, has felt like a piece of my soul being stripped away. The cheerful painted masks from around the world have come off the dining room wall and been imprisoned in a box, and those memories feel boxed up with them. Same with the colorful montage of family photos in the hallway. The old Halloween costumes. The boxes of unwanted books. Traces of our family history, pulled away like a scab and carelessly discarded.
The pain in my stomach is real. The deep exhaustion I feel comes from so much more than hours upon hours of packing. It’s a psychic wringing out. I wish there was someone I could talk to about this, but I know no one on this planet who has made this kind of life-changing decision and told the story.
Bob
Except my husband, my partner in life, who confessed to me that he sometimes also stops and says, what the hell are we doing?
And that, somehow, makes me feel a little better.
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 3: The Collar
The new jingly thing around my neck
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| ELLIE SMOIT |
Jingle jingle. Scratch. Why won’t this thing come off?
I was sitting on some pillows glaring at Kaylee when Grandma came into the room and stuck a red thing on my neck. It has a bell. It won’t come off.
I sound like a damn dog! I can’t sneak up on Kaylee and jump her anymore. True tragedy. (Well, actually, I can still jump her. I just can’t be sneaky about it.)
I made my displeasure known, and the bell was removed — but it was replaced by an almost-as-jingly plate. That, however, is better, because it can fit in my mouth. Chomp. I’m leaving my mark on the thing with my sharp teeth.
(P.S. I think I saw my name on the plate before I started chomping. And maybe a phone number. And I see that Kaylee has a turquoise one and Noxie has a blue striped one. So perhaps they just don’t want to lose me.)
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.
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| I actually love Lexie despite the tag |
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| Showing off my teeth and tongue simultaneously |
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| See my name on the tag? |
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, Part 2: Kitty Anxiety
Anxiety
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| ELLIE SMOIT |
I am the only cat in the house with all of my teeth. Which is good, because I need my teeth for my two favorite activities: eating and murder.
When I get stressed, I like to use those teeth on Kaylee and Noxie when they come close to me. And I also yawn, which is really, really cute, apparently. And I can show all of my teeth.
This morning I chased Kaylee all around the living room and I think we knocked some stuff over but I really don’t care.
And then I jumped Noxie, and I jumped on him and wrapped my claws around him, and then I got shoved away by my mommy’s big foot.
But what am I supposed to do? All these boxes and paper and everything moving around and mess everywhere is making me really anxious.
And I like to relieve my anxiety with murder.
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| I lick |
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| Look at my shiny teeth |
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| My trophy from Kaylee |
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.
The Purge (Part 2)
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| BOB |
I’ve read about people jettisoning everything they own and moving to Mexico with just a couple of suitcases and a dream.
Other people pack all their things up and have professional movers transport them to their new, permanent home south of the border.
We belong to a third category, one we are inventing.
The Third Category
We love our house and its location in Colorado. We also realize that we won’t be able to travel forever, and its one-level, ranch-style living will be perfect for aging in place someday. Therefore, we plan to come back at some point. In addition, our kids aren’t out of college yet, and they will want their things when it comes time to move into their own places. So we are keeping the house and renting it out to friends. This decision means that we don’t have to get rid of everything. However, it does complicate things by forcing us to decide what we’re going to take with us and what we’re going to store for an extended period of time.
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| This is where our stuff will live |
Filling a Truck
Since we have a truck, we decided to purchase a topper for it so we can take more with us, particularly since we’re also traveling with three cats and Lexie for the first year. At this point, we’re hoping we can get everything we want to take into the truck. (More on how that goes when the time comes.)
Storing the Rest
In the meantime, we’re left with deciding what to put into storage. That’s been difficult for several reasons. First, both and Lisa and I “collect” things. Not necessarily formally collect things, although I do have some stamps and coins that I collected when I was a kid, but more along the lines of accumulating things and keeping them on the off chance we may want them later. We had accumulated so much stuff that when we built the garage at our current house, we had to make it extra big so we could store all of this stuff.
Purging
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| We fit all our stuff in 3 of these. We are trying to cut down to 2. |
Knowing that the more we store, the more a larger storage space will cost each month, which could produce a very large bill over many years, we realized we need to undertake a purge. Actually, it is more like a pare-down. It is my goal to pare down by one-third. I have a decent idea of what that looks like, since when we moved to Colorado in 2009 we moved everything in three 8’ x 8’ x 16’ PODS. Therefore, I’d like to reduce what we store by the equivalent of one POD, or 1,024 cubic feet.
Working backward from that number would require us to rent a 2,024 cubic foot storage unit. We’ve rented a 10’ x 20’ x 11’ (2,200 cubic feet) unit so the math works out. All that leaves is the pare-down. More on that later.
To be continued …
Ellie Smoit, The Adventure Cat, Part 1: Boxes
Boxes
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| ELLIE SMOIT |
I love boxes.
I can fit in them. I can fit in all sizes of boxes. It doesn’t matter if I can’t technically fit in the box.
I love boxes.
More boxes have been coming into the house. Some have crinkly brown stuff in them. It makes fun noises when I jump into it and play with it.
Sometimes Noxie and Kaylee want to come into my boxes. But no! They are MY boxes! I will kill them if they try.
I love boxes.
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| Inspecting |
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| Well, I also like bags |
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| Bubble wrap is fun, too |
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| I’m keen on books |
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| I really love books |
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| I don’t care how small they are |
Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, is chronicling her journey from her house in Colorado across the United States and to Mexico, with a little help from her owner, Lexie Greenawalt.
