Move Complete

What a long process this move has been! It was March of 2010 that we made the decision to move to Maine. This June we started shopping around for movers. After weeding through all the options, we landed on Sullivan Moving and Storage [the United movers in San Diego]. And now the move is finally complete. 

Our moving coordinator, Chris, was fantastic. Immensely more knowledgeable than the other guys who came by to provide us with estimates, Chris was also incredibly responsive to all of my calls and emails peppering him with questions throughout the process. His offices were not as responsive or impressive - making complaints about the corporate offices  changing policies that caused delays or complications in my paperwork (I'm not a big fan of excuses). But in the end, everything came through ok, it just left me nervous in the waiting. 

We were moving belongings out of residences in three different cities [we've been a little slow to fully grow up and move all our stuff out of our parents' homes]. That meant three different crews to load up, and another crew to unload. [more on our loading process in San Diego] All of the guys we interacted with were great. They were professional, competent, and fun all at the same time. The day we unloaded in our new place, we took a lunch break while it rained outside. We enjoyed some pizza while the guys gave us advice about surviving the Maine winters. One guy spent half the time laughing at how crazy it was that a couple of California kids were about to face their first northeastern winter, but in a good natured way that actually helped to dispel some of the anxiety. 

Our stuff arrived in two shipments, one truck from California, one from Texas. The guys from Texas loaded that truck, drove it out, and unloaded it for me. It was a pair of brothers, Paul and Dwight. Having met my mom, who was managing the pick up there, it felt like I had family friends helping me set up my new home. They were even thoughtful enough to remember that my mom had mentioned I was allergic to dogs, so they dusted off some of the furniture to make sure no residual dog hair even entered my house. 

Despite the fact that we did all the packing ourselves ["our" should be read as including our extended family and friends - thanks everyone!], we consolidated belongings from six cities total into one home, and that the move included several very vulnerable pieces of antique furniture and dish-ware from my grandmother's collection I've been incredibly impressed that I can only find one nick about two inches long on one piece of furniture. Not too shabby United Van Lines! And not too bad, Reyes family! I'm kind of impressed with us for surviving all of this. Time to enjoy Down East Vacationland!