Coast Swap: Goodbye RI

Packing up our apartment was an adventure... the sort we wish we would never have to do again... but it felt good to purge a lot of un-needed belongings. Although Stephen's company is paying for our move, he did a lot of research to find the most cost-effective way to transport our stuff across the country. Several professional movers assessed our apartment, determined that we had 5,000 pounds of furniture and belongings (!!!!!) and offered a huge fee. So, U-Haul was much cheaper, though calculating gas was daunting... And driving a truck would be a downer for the road trip. Stephen found an alternative similar in price- U-Pack. Here's how it works: the company drops off a trailer at our house:

We get three full days to pack it with anything. 

(Much thanks to Tim and Jess for help with packing!) Stephen masterminds how to stack, cram, and balance as much as possible:

We took up 10 feet of the 26 foot trailor. We put up a locked wall to separate our belongings, so the company will take it to someone else's house to fill the rest. (Or it may be filled with freight.) They will drive it to Seattle, and we'll get three days to unload it again. 

Things We'll Miss about Rhode Island (and New England)

• Colonial and Victorian Architecture
• Sailing Community and Events
• Historic Mansions, Tours
• Living on an Island!
• Our house and neighbors
• Driving an hour in any direction and being in another state
• Lively pedestrian-friendly downtown and harbor 
• Proximity to big cities like Boston and New York
• Maple Syrup everywhere

Rhode Island Lingo & Oddities

• Wandering R's (missing from words like lobster (lobstah!) and appearing in words like idea (idear)
• Grinder = sub sandwich
• Handbook = purse
• Carriage = shopping cart
• Cap = hat
• Cities of Gloucester and Worcester pronounced "Glaustah" and "Woostah"
• Driving a car on streets designed/sized for horse and no grids for city streets (based on cow trails and Indian paths)

Bubbler = drinking fountain

Coffee milk (a coffee flavored syrup added to milk)

Hot dog buns split on top (rather than the side)

Dunkin' Donuts on every corner (we won't miss it, but that's what reminds us of RI.)

• Rhode Island mentality (especially on Aquidneck Island) - that traveling any further than 15 minutes away is a far, far journey. We often found ourselves saying, "When is the last time we left the island?" Now we are leaving a long distance!