July 6, 2020

A PCS Story --2020-- Part 1

Oy. 

I feel like this is going to be a multiple installment type thing because holy cow. I have no idea how many parts it will be. 

And forget "summer weekends". The last two weekends have been allthepacking and alltheunpacking, respectively, with cross-country driving sandwiched between. 

So, as I pull photos from my phone, I'll just explain how the PCS went. 

I may have mentioned it before, but PCS just means Permanent Change of Station. It's what the military refers to as a "move". We generally do Full DITY moves (Do IT Yourself) because the military pays per pound and it's a good way to make money. Since it's always been just the two of us, it's been simpler; I help. We get it done. 

Then, we had a baby and it got more complicated. Then we had a toddler and it became semi-impossible for us to do this completely alone. 

Add in coronavirus and weird delays in moves and schedule changes and starting/stopping leases and multiple trips to get all of our stuff moved...this will be a month-long process from start to finish. 

But I'm here to document it, because that's what I do.


The dogs knew something was happening. 
Scout would not leave Scott's side as he shuffled boxes around in the garage...


...and Jett put himself square in the way as we tried to take the kitchen table apart. 


Keeping Wells busy was the hardest part of the last two weeks. 
And Scout just checking to make sure Scott didn't leave without him. 





Clearly this was going to happen ^^^


We hired three movers from a company in Pittsburgh to load our furniture for us and they were amazing. I highly recommend them if you're in the area and need moving help!


We had to take the crib apart to move it and we briefly explored the idea of toddler bed but nope. Not right now. 
Fun fact: the crib is always the last thing we pack so it's the first thing out. 


Lots of keeping-busy. 


And then Wells and I spent a full day living like this before we took off on our trip. (Scott was away with the dogs for the day.) 
The car couldn't come soon enough. This day was ex-haust-ing.

Another fun fact: I've had this yoga mat since 2007. My cousin got it for me for Christmas, it probably cost less than $20, and I've been using it almost daily for the last 5-6 years.  


Nope. I had no plans. To be honest, I was more worried about him throwing up, since that's been an issue over the last year. So, we flipped his carseat to forward-facing and then I bought this tablet holding bracket and downloaded some shows I knew he'd like on my iPad and he watched TV and napped the whole trip. WHATEVER. I listened to podcasts with one earbud or talked on the phone. It worked. 



Carefully eating in the car, where he can be contained. A restaurant, especially during times of coronavirus, cannot contain Wells.  His favorite food usually seems to be Mexican, so Qdoba was an easy choice for us to share. 


Checking into a hotel in Illinois. 

This kid...I will share more in his 2 year update post next week-ish, but let's just say if there was coronavirus in that hotel, we all have it now. He will not be contained. Forget about telling him not to touch. 
And forget about trying to get him to be quieter...I really am working on this, but he just has so much to say all of the time. 
He says "hi" and "bye" to every person and to every dog he sees, usually following the person or the dog to see where they are going and what they are up to. His favorite phrases are "ooooooooo" and "coooooool" to show his interest. 


Waiting out some heavy rain at a rest stop, drinking all of my water. 

And, yes, my orchids made the trip safely. I've never transported plants during a PCS, but I wasn't ready to give these guys up. 


Exploring at a truck stop/rest stop. I'm sorry, everyone. 


Reading at hotel #2 in Kansas. And, yeah, he did sleep at least part of each night in his pack-and-play. It wasn't the worst. 


And then we arrived at the new house and I was able to park in a garage for the first time since 2013...until Scott arrived the next day and we had to use the garage to unload all of the boxes. 

Notice how Wells is playing in the car. One would think he'd be ready to leave the car after 14+ hours of driving. 

Part 2 coming soon...



8 comments:

  1. So what city did you guys land in?? Last year we moved with toddler Zoe and it about drove me insane. And we only moved 25 minutes, I cant imagine moving across the country right now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad you did go with the mover this time around. I'm sure a toddler Wells makes EVERYTHING more 'interesting'
    LOL - Kids & COVID - they give no cares about germs. touch everything!!! LOL
    Glad he did good in the car. that car sick thing - gets ME every time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you all made it. Welcome back to the midwest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oy is right!! I find it so interesting how our lives always seem to sync up somehow. A move is on our horizon too!! Though thankfully this time it’ll be local. I can’t wait to hear more! Prayers for a smooth and happy transition, friend!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thought you must be moving! I never thought of the effects of PCS on dogs! Will you tell us final destination? I may have missed it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are a champ! Just over a year ago we moved to DC from Italy, via Idaho to get a car and then drive across the country. With a 3 year old and a 1 year old. PCSing is never easy and long drives make it even harder. In such a case, screen time doesn't matter. Oh, and putting Wells in an empty box with some crayons might help contain him for a few minutes during the unpacking. :) Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now THAT sounds like an adventure! Where are you based now?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I can't imagine traveling with a toddler. Caleb is 5.5 and we have yet to travel with him, let alone move! I do want to move, but only about 20 minutes away, and at least 4 years down the road. Where are you guys off to? Hope you like your new area!

    ReplyDelete

Comments make my day!