DC to NC: Day 1

Here is a play-by-play of day 1 of the move.

6:00AM Wake Up and finish packing the UHaul with brother's help (AKA I pack boxes and he carries them to the truck)

8:30AM Everything is out! We begin the journey South.

9:15AM Arrive to Alexandria, VA to meet up with one of Scott's friends from high school for breakfast

10:30AM Return to UHaul and find that the driver's side mirror has been knocked off (assuming hit and run, not vandalism). Begin the process of reporting the incident to UHaul and the police.

11:30AM Contacted by UHaul who is sending a mechanic to fix the mirror.

12:30PM After talking to mechanic, decide to drive to the Springfield, VA tow shop so he can fix it. I let my brother drive and insist that he keep the hazard lights on and "honk 5 times" when he decides to change lanes to the left. Luckily we had 2 right merges and only 1 left merge to get to the shop.

1:15PM Meet with mechanic and he determines that it is not fixable and that we need a new mirror. He is able to find one in Hyattsville, MD and sends a driver to pick up the mirror.

1:30PM Mechanic leaves for a tow job and leaves Scott and I chillin in the UHaul.

1:45PM After organizing my tote bag, I discover that I have 6 packets of oatmeal, blank greeting cards, and a "Tale of Despreaux" coloring & activity book. I decide that we can survive for at least 3 days in the UHaul.

2:30PM Mechanic returns and lets us sit in the "lounge" area of the tow company's center. I do all the word mazes in my activity book while Scott listens to his Ipod. Then I read a chapter of Breaking Dawn. 

3:30PM Mechanic has to leave again so Scott and I return to the UHaul to chill- literally. I decide it would be fun to quote Disney movies and let Scott guess what the quote was from. He gets them all right. Then he quotes something from "Zombieland" and I don't want to play anymore.

4:30PM I begin to sing songs from "Sound of Music" as well as songs about being hungry and cold.

5:45PM Driver arrives with the long-awaited mirror.

6:00PM Mechanic arrives to replace mirror. Scott and I return to the lounge.

6:15PM Mechanic opens box and discovers that the Hyattsville UHaul sent a passenger side mirror. not a driver's side mirror. I laugh. Mechanic says he's going to try to reconfigure the mirror to work on the driver's side.

7:45PM Mechanic and accomplice succeessfully complete the rebuild and installation of the mirror.

8:00PM I pay $570 for 6 hours of labor (4 hours of driving to get the part and 2 hours of reconfiguration/installation). We drive away.

8:15PM Scott and I stop at Wendy's for our first meal since breakfast. We scarf down way too hot food.

8:30PM We stop to get gas before we get on I-95. It starts to snow. We get on the interstate.

9:15PM It's snowing. Alot. Like I can't see out the windshield. We get off at the Quantico Exit to find a hotel. The exit ramp has already collected a significant amount of snow.

9:30PM We check-in at Ramada and are assigned to a room in a building behind the main building. The guest service attendant tells us to park back there.

9:40PM I decide I do not want to park the truck in the snow behind the building, nor do I want to be in a building separated from the majority of the hotel. We return to the desk and I explain this to the attendant while holding back tears.

10:00PM We finally arrive to our room for the night and I'm able to find my toothbrush, clean pajamas, and my furry boots all in the back of the moving truck (next time I move, I'm packing a carry-on bag with all my necessary items and a change of clothes).

11:15PM After showering and putting on clean dry clothes, I begin recording the day's events.

Things I'm thankful for right now:

Hot shower

Dry place to sleep

Wireless at the hotel

Things I wish I had:

Hairbrush

Snack

Lysine (I'm getting a cold sore, probably from the stress)

I'll leave you with a photo of the current conditions.