We’re in! Actually, we’ve been in for two weeks, and our place still looks like a tornado came though here. But we’re working on that. Moving day, for the most part, went smoothly, but only after a rocky start. We got up early, around 7:30 a.m., to pack up the last of our stuff before the Budget rental facility opened at 9 a.m. It was about 8:45 a.m. when we headed out to the car to drive over to Budget and pick up our truck. At 8:46 a.m., Jason asked me if I had our AAA card—he’d accidentally left the overhead light on the night before, and the car wouldn’t start. Surprisingly, it only took about 30 minutes for a trusty AAA mechanic to show up and get the car running again. We managed to get the truck by about 10:30 a.m., not too far off schedule. Then it was off to Ikea.
That’s right, Ikea. We did, indeed, start buying new furniture before we packed up the old stuff. But with good reason, which is why I highly recommend—if you have the time and know exactly what you want—stopping at the Swedish superstore while in possession of a moving truck: We wanted to pick up a couple of my favorite book case in the whole wide world, the ever popular Expedit, but we didn’t think they’d fit into our short-on-space Jeep Wrangler. In hindsight, I actually wish we’d thought about all the furniture we were going to need, so we could have purchased it all at once and simply moved it in the rental truck. Hopefully whatever else end up buying will fit in the car. I hate getting things delivered if I don’t have to!
Back to moving day: After an episode with a beautiful lost dog in the Ikea parking lot (don’t worry, we ended up reuniting Sage, which turned out to be her name, with her owners), we were back on the road, book cases in tow, by about 1 p.m. The move itself went relatively quickly; we managed to load the truck, drive to San Francisco, and carry everything into our new apartment by 6 p.m. That said, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our friend Gert; if he hadn’t helped us with all the loading and unloading, we’d probably still be bringing things in off the truck.
Word to the wise: if you’re moving from one rental to another, clean up your place before you move out of it. We left for last, and man, was it a pain to have to do it at the end of the day. By the time we got dinner (burritos at La Taqueria, one of the best places in the city), drove back to Palo Alto, and returned the truck, it was 9:30 p.m. And let me tell you, cleaning an apartment you no longer live in is not a fun way to spend your first night in the new place. Unfortunately, you’ve gotta do it if you want the security deposit back. By the time we wrapped that up and drove back into the city, it was 1 a.m. on Sunday. Needless to say, we fell asleep almost immediately, amidst towers of unopened boxes.
Check back soon for our next installment, in which we not only unpack, but buy furniture.
