Aaaand..... aaaaand.... wait a sec.... aaaand WE'RE OFF!

After much hullabaloo and excessive hand-wringing, we have escaped the powerful grip of Winston-Salem, NC and are currently in Knoxville, TN at a SWEET little place called Sunspot. True to their tag line, "Where Tie Dies and Neck Ties Unite", it is filled with hippies and lawyers.

Fun Fact: there was an event held in Knoxville in 1913 called the National Conservation Exposition, which drew over a million visitors and highlighted a new cause called "environmentalism".

There's a paprika steak and manchego sandwich on the menu, but we ordered an entirely vegetarian meal because our smarty pants friend Jessica started reading some nutrition books and burdened us with the truth about how the digestive system handles a red meat/starch combination. I would be bitter but I'm sure we'll get over it, and besides, look at this veggie burger:

This comes as no surprise to those who helped us pack, calm down, and stay optimistic over the past week, but we are extremely relieved to have finally embarked on this adventure. Here is a recap of our move out:

Friday, Nov 6th: This is the day we originally planned to leave. Eric has generously offered to exploit his arguably shady mechanic and used car lot contacts to help sell Nick's car, but Lauren's work schedule got crazy this week and Nick still has to take exams, so we weren't too optimistic about this ETD. Instead, we decide to hit Recreation Billiards for one last happy hour, have dinner with Jason and Jessica, and meet up with Trey and Dorothy for some downtown Winston Salem carousing. The wheels promptly fall off.

Saturday, Nov 7th: There was a Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival in Nashville today (make note of their slogan at the top of the page) that we had planned to attend. You know, cause that's a reasonable place to start a 4000+ mile road trip. It is probably for the best that we are elbow deep in clothes and assorted electronics at this time and therefore unable to leave. Also, the weather is gorgeous but unseasonably hot and we decide that we're happy to not be moving boxes in this heat*. Thanks very much to Jessica for her help in creating one of the world's largest Goodwill donations out of Lauren's closet. A nice dinner with Dale, Karen, Karon, and the Grices results in further procrastination and a loss of wheels. Importanly, we end the night by saying goodbye to our old friend The Garage where Pierce Edens rocked the place. Speaking of, big big thanks to Kim, Richard, Sarah, Doug, Sam, Elizabeth, Dallis, Brian, Erin, and John for many wonderful nights of live music, movies, and comedy. Happy 10th birthday to The Garage!

*This would have been a good time to reference Nikki Knows Weather.

Sunday, Nov 8th: We don't even try to convince ourselves that leaving today was a possibility. The reality of all that we have to get done is setting in and we are optimistically thinking Tuesday will be the day. We've sold all but one of our chairs and all of the cooking utensils, and have been reduced to eating sushi on the kitchen floor.



Sunday night it starts to rain.

Monday, Nov 9th: We awake to a light drizzle. Nick is scheduled to take an exam, but the library has misplaced it. Lauren is still fielding occasional calls from work while trying to sell the remaining furniture on Craigslist. There is MUCH packing to do. The apartment smells faintly of despair.

Tuesday, Nov 10th: Eric calls with fantastic news! The car has been sold! This is a most welcome turn of events, as nothing else seems to be going especially smoothly. Lauren is learning how difficult packing up a home office, along with all of her papers and books from grad school, can be. We are amazed by the number of hiding places for stuff we managed to find in this modest apartment. Unwilling to throw away perfectly useful things, we continue our policy of requiring all visitors to leave with something. Nick's exam is still MIA. Apparently the U of North Dakota refuses to acknowledge post 1970s technology and will only snail mail their distance education exams. Murphy looks concerned and the rain is intermittent, heavy at times. As we near the end of our respective ropes, Inigo comes through in a big way with sushi, donuts, and beer to distract us from ourselves. Karon arrives later with much appreciated supplies of beer and good company.



Wednesday, Nov 11th: OK, now we're REALLY not supposed to be here. We've started screening phone calls because we're embarrassed to say we're not already in Memphis or Jackson. Between downpours, we run out to the car and actually begin to pack for the drive. More boxes than we could ever have imagined now litter the apartment, each with its top open like the gaping maw of an insatiable junk monster. "I don't even know what this is for," says Lauren as she chucks something in. "Yum," says the junk monster. We are completely looped. We pack and sort until the wee hours, the Tracy Chapman song "Mountains of Things" playing constantly in our heads, and reach an acceptable stopping point before collapsing.

Thursday, Nov 12th: We wake up early and Jason graciously lends us his truck again so we can make our final Goodwill runs and cart our not-so-little boxes to the post office. However, the nagging questions of "How do we ship our things to Eugene if we don't yet have a residence?" and "Are we sure the post office will even take these boxes?" (not to mention "What is all this stuff anyway??") have not been addressed. As we mull this over Karon swoops in with bagels, coffee and hugs. Jason and Jessica offer to store our stuff in their basement and ship it with pre-paid shipping labels when we get to Oregon. The morning errands go well, but technical difficulties with shipping labels and torrential rain keep us from leaving town until 8:30 pm. We reach Gatlinburg, TN at about 1:45 am and are more than happy to crash at a decidedly seedy Motel 6.

Good advice....


... if the security latch was intact.