What a trip!

Our first call adventures have started already, and we haven't even technically moved to the great big giant and deserted state of Montana! Here's the story:
PART 1
On the 17th of June we loaded another u-haul. We reserved a 17th foot one...which was waaaayy smaller in person than we thought it would be. "We can leave *fill in the blank* if it won't fit," is something I said a lot that day. I literally was sorting things in my head that could be left behind...the desk that isn't even all put together, the old dresser from cousin Donna in Montana who said she never wanted to see it again, the plastic drawers (which did end up getting left cuz I didn't want them)...but it all fit. That thing was crammed full. And towards the end of filling it I disappeared to clean the bathroom because I was convinced it wouldn't all fit...I even offended our friend and his wife with my doubt, he was in the back trying to organize things and both him and his wife were certain it would fit, and it did. Next time we're ordering the 24 footer so I don't have to stress! Our last night in the cities was filled with Punch pizza (oh how I miss you punch), grand ole' creamery, a campfire on campus and a slumber party at our friends' Sarah and Paige. I cried as we left campus the next morning, and the cities, and Minnesota and I cried a lot the night before as we turned the keys to our apartment in...I wasn't ready to leave the seminary bubble. We were sad. What an incredible 4 year seminary journey we had!

PART 2
Saturday morning we were off! With the goal to make it to our friend Trichelle's ordination at 2 pm in Medina, ND right along the interstate...and we made it! Following the service we loaded up on church coffee (MUCH NEEDED by the afternoon) and cake and were off to Glendive, MT for the night, or so we thought. In Bismarck we hit a mega storm...I mean huge, we raced it though and beat the really bad clouds! We had to drive through some horrid rain and there were tornadoes 40 miles south of us heading North, but we beat it (our last huurah with mid-west storms before hitting the west)! We were so tired by the time we got to Glendive only to find out there were no hotel rooms...poor trip planning meant we didn't pre-reserve a room...ugh! There isn't much out there in some parts of MT! And so, we called the AK relatives, our personal travel agency, and asked them to google hotels in Miles City, an hour away...they found and reserved us probably the only room left in South Eastern Mt and we trekked there...this journey took a lot of coffee and dance party music to keep us awake!

The next day we left the hotel an hour late, not realizing how many hours we had left, and we started down the interstate (the wrong way we later found out after talking to the Big Sandy-ers) and I noticed a u-haul tire looking funny, and then I noticed a piece of tire flying at me in the car, and then I got scared and walkie-talkied Joel to tell him to take the next exit. Ha! We found one, with no services of course, pulled off the interstate...and yep, flat, ruined, popped. U-haul has roadside assistance...but after much time on the phone and waiting they found a repair guy in Billings, 3 hours from us. What? We were thinking, there is a town 12 miles back. But it was Sunday. Maybe it was the only place open or the only u-haul place. So, we found ourselves surrounded by miles and miles of nothing...chilling, waiting, waiting, waiting! We did leave a note saying who the u-haul belonged to (after again calling the AK relatives who always seem to be by a computer to google the non-emergency Montana State Patrol # to notify them of our abandoned u-haul so we could head into town), as we went in search of bathroom, food and most importantly, coffee!

We were back on the road by 3 that day and had a hotel room reserved (again thanks for the AK relatives google searching) in Malta, MT. At this point in our journey we begin to realize that there is no direct way from the East to get to North Central MT. We drove across some crazy roads! But we made it to Malta that night and were pleasantly surprised at the hotel...nice it was!

Part 3
Monday the 20th of June we finally arrived with u-haul in Big Sandy! There was a crew of about 8 people to help us unload and the Interim Pastor, still residing in the parsonage, made us soup. It was so nice to have a meal and people to help us unload! We left everything in the storage room in the basement, which has recently been flooded. I watched as our couch, dresser, desk, etc. we set down on paint cans, just in case the flooding happened again. It was still spring in MT. It was not hot. It wasn't cold, but it was cloudy and not hot yet.

Then some big sandy-ers took the u-haul back to Havre for us so we could get on the road headed west. Moving done (for now), vacation awaits! We made it to Great Falls before seeking out a local coffee shop! We gotta find thought to make this move work, hehe! Ok, we can have our own espresso making kitchen, by near-by good coffee shops really are a must:)!

Enough about this journey...more to come...I broke it into parts to make it not so long, or so you can skip parts for less reading! Enjoy:)