The Move. . .

We left town Friday at 10:00 a.m., giving ourselves an impossibly short amount of time to cross the mountains, fill the U-Haul, and return home.

But the drive was pretty!

I attempted to snap a few pictures through the (not-so-clean) windows as we zipped along the highway, and I kept telling Lissy to drive more smoothly because the camera was jumping all over the place! J In half the pictures I took, the background is so angled, it looks like it’s going to slide right out of the photo. A lot of the pictures are blurry. And, often, just as I snapped a shot, a tree or pole would jump into the frame, blocking the subject I was trying to shoot. But I got a few semi-worth passing on. (Click to enlarge, if you wish.)

Almost to the summit of the pass.

Mt. McLoughlin near Klamath Falls.

I climbed that mountain with friends a few years ago.

More mountains along the lake-side drive north of town.

You can barely see Mt. Shasta in the background.

Those dratted clouds are blocking a clear view.

The mountain looms on the horizon of the basin.

It's just beautiful.

Clearly, this was taken from the car.

That's Lissy's hand reflecting in the glass.

(She was driving.)

I was struck again by the loveliness of the Cascade mountains, the stark beauty of the high desert, and the pretty, scenic drive along Klamath Lake. The terrain is awe-inspiring. I wanted to stop the car to take photos, but I wasn’t driving, and, anyway, we needed to make good time.

When we finally hit town, we swung by a local U-Haul business to pick up our truck and then drove to the storage unit. When we reached our unit at 2:30, we were told we would be locked out at 5:30. Uh oh. But we suspected we might not finish loading in one afternoon, so we had come prepared to spend the night and finish in the morning.

We opened the door, and, “Ugh.” I secretly (sort of, but not really) wished the place would have burned down. There was a lot of junk in there but also some things I would be glad to have with me again. (And how does so much dust find its way into a storage unit that has been tightly locked for two years?!)

The four of us were prodigiously efficient truck loaders. We sorted everything to go to four different homes, and placed it all in the truck in the right order for delivery. We got everything packed in time, and couldn’t have fit another thing on the truck!

 Aaron and Melissa worried about that truck tipping over all the way home.

I heard Aaron tell a friend on his cell phone,

"The truck is listing heavily to the right."

We might be prodigious packers, as far as speed goes,

but we are not so prodigious regarding weight-balance.

My things are emptied into the garage,

and now the truck is off and moving to its next destination.

So, at 5:30 p.m., we were driving out of Klamath Falls, and you know what? I didn’t feel any sense of missing the place. The natural beauty of the area is striking, and we know many, many wonderful people in the area, but the town is not-so-appealing. I don’t even miss the old house. It was great while we had it, but we aren’t there now, and it really seems like a closed chapter in our lives.

This town, this house, this community of people I know, truly feels like home now. It’s where the Lord brought me. My extended family is either in town or within close driving range. I’ve met some extremely nice people here, I’m in a good Bible study, and I attend a church I like. There are many opportunities for service and involvement, and I’m near hiking trails, the mountains, the beach, great little natural foods stores, a terrific farmers’ market, and much more.

What more could a person want? This is a good place to be. And it’s mostly good because it’s where God has me.

So, yay, here I am!