Step out of the dark and into the light..........

We finally made the big move up North. It was a crazy few weeks during the holidays with boxes stacked high - none of them Christmas presents - and wouldn't you know that it had to rain on the day the movers showed up to load our moving containers! Living in the San Diego sunshine generally has its benefits when you have to be outdoors - it hardly ever rains! But on December 29th, it poured buckets.

Muddy-footed movers and muddy-footed doggies running in and out of the house that we were leaving behind made for a rather stressful moving day. We ran out of room in our moving containers and had to rent a U-Haul to tow the rest of our belongings up to the North Bay of San Francisco. The first U-Haul we rented was too small and Brian had to take it back the next day which delayed our departure by one day. Time was ticking, all the furniture was packed away tightly in containers save for a futon on the floor and a couple of patio chairs for our last night in the house. Walter and Henry were not as freaked out as I thought they would be but rather treated the whole experience as an adventure - piling on top of Brian and me on the small futon on the floor. Luckily with the help from a kind neighbor, we were able to load it in time to leave by noon the following day.

We pulled out of our driveway on Cuvier Street on New Year’s Eve. The drive was relatively uneventful on the first day. Walter and Henry rode in the Jeep with Brian and trailer in tow and Mac and I followed behind in the Audi. The ride was slow-going because of the trailer but there was some comfort not having to think about passing or other slow drivers and I had my kitty by my side, my radio on and the rest of my boys in my line of sight the whole way.

We stopped after 6 hours in a little town called Visalia right off North 99 Highway and stayed in Motel 6 that allowed pets. We spent New Year’s Eve eating pizza and drinking a glass of champagne on our double beds and falling fast asleep by 9:00 pm, unable to ring in the California New Year. But it didn't matter - we were exhausted.

The next day we started off around 9:45 - much later than anticipated because we gloriously slept in - something I rarely get to do. The ride from Visalia to Tiburon was a little more eventful as it began to rain again. Brian and I have had so much water in our lives over the last several years, I am beginning to wonder what it all means. We had to stop twice because the Jeep’s windshield wiper broke off and the second time we stopped, we needed to find an open auto repair place on New Year’s Day. And in some little town, we did. Whew. We were once again on our way.

We had to cross over the Richardson Bay Bridge from Oakland to Marin County - and our new home - and neither Brian nor I had cash on us to pay the toll. Brian got a ticket; I was let through with no consequence. Being a girl can have its advantages.

When we pulled into the driveway of our new home in Tiburon, it was like entering Emerald City. "Step out of the dark and into the light!" I was so happy to be off the road and ready to unwind. But we still had to empty the U-Haul trailer! Luckily, our brand new next door neighbor lent a hand and it was all unpacked within an hour! The rest of our furniture was delivered on Friday, January 7th and again, our neighbor and his buddy helped unload. It was great.

Walter and Henry are busy exploring their new environment and are being very good boys by remaining close by. It’s been an adjustment for me so far having to personally take them outside to pee every morning instead of just opening the front door to let them out on their own but I think they like the company. We have a great little rocky beach on the bay right in our apartment complex and the view is outstanding with the beautiful San Francisco skyline in the distance and boats and ducks afloat on the bay. Wonderful!

I will take some good photos with my new camera and post them. Stay tuned for some new doggie adventures and hopefully, once I get settled, some new culinary creations.

Happy 2011!