From Texas to California~

Has it really been 17 days since I left TX? It sure felt shorter then that..... After 2 weeks of unpacking, we're finally in a livable state in our new home. I've even found some time to start stitching again, which is really nice~~

As I was sitting in front of the computer trying to share our journey with you, I found myself not knowing where to start..... Every one of the photos we took are just full of stories, but I wouldn't want to drown you guys with the thousand something photos we took.... So I picked some that I think most represent what I'm trying to say, and hopefully they can give you a glimpse of what our trip was like.

We had done this before once when Dr. Sam helped me moving from Chicago to TX four years ago, so we were quite confident when we planned this move. But we really encountered several unexpected challenges when we were on the road.....

It was a cold and rainy Monday morning when we started our journey. Because U-Haul gave us a bigger trailer then we requested, it was a bit challenging for my little SUV to handle....

I think our average speed for the whole trip was like 45 mi/hr, and there were times when we can only go 20 mi/hr when we were climbing the tall mountains - yes, those mountains are totally unexpected, and it was totally different to drive with a trailer on the flat plains then on rolling mountain roads...... There was a time when we were traveling through the no-man land of west Texas that we nearly ran out of gas, we were so nervous because it was getting dark and there were no cell phone signals and no gas station in sight.... Luckily we made it to the next town, and from that point forward, we would fill our tank up whenever it was half empty.... That was the other thing we did not expect - how consuming it was to drag a trailer behind us and how few gas stations there were in western Texas.... There was also a time when we got on to a dead end road and had to make a U-turn on a narrow 2 lane road with steep ditches on both sides.... As we were turning, the trailer was squeaking like crazy and I was sooo afraid that we were going to be stuck there!!! Thank God we made it through!!

 

Although we encountered so many obstacles along the way, you can't say it was somewhat rewarding as well. If it weren't for the slow speed, we would have missed the cute little Roadrunner running across the highway right in front of our eyes, or overlooked the shinning stars and bright moonlight in the desert nights. Because we had to go slow, it forced us to take in the on going changes of scenery along the road, the white clouds against the blue sky, and beautiful sunset in the mountains. We did not see any UFOs while we were driving across New Mexico, but we did see a fighter jet flew over our head, and it was flying so low that when I heard the noise, I thought our trailer fell off!!!

Driving along this southern border of the United States, we went from farmlands to piney hills, grasslands to deserts, flat plains to mountains. You would think that the hard lands of the west would be lifeless and boring, but to our surprises, it was spectacular and full of life. It made us respect nature even more, and admire the adaptation of all kinds of life that lives in this environment - including human.

We did make a little detour to visit the White Sand National Monument in NM, and I have to say it was totally worth it!!!!! Dr. Sam was a bit skeptical when I told him I wanted to visit there, but after he step foot on that white sand, he said I was so right so insist coming here~ It was like a dream, with dunes after dunes of pure white sand, and so quite.... These photos cannot show the magnificence of this place, and if anyone have a chance, I would strongly recommend people to visit there. Too bad we couldn't stay for longer, cause I heard the sunset there is just amazing!!!

After driving for 4 days, crossing 3 States,  passing 5 border patrol stations,  climbing 1418 feet high mountains and driving 1600 miles, we finally arrive at San Diego.....  The small parking spaces, speedy cars and expensive rent all reminded me that I'm not at Texas anymore. I know I will learn to love this place eventually, but I'll always miss the country scenery and HUGE steaks of Texas!!