Well, after an exciting couple of days, I have arrived.

We didn't do anything sophisticated for my Dad; he wasn't the sort who'd want that anyway. We scattered him with Mom on a hillside in the shadow of a mountain (in West Virginia, to be honest, it's just a bigger hill.) They overlook a pond that had some ducks and geese in it, but again, in West Virginia, if it's standing water, it's behind a man-made dam. Still, it was a spot they both loved, so I'm happy they found it.

Truck rental was a little complicated. We picked up the truck, loaded it (my brother's family helped), and went back to the rental place to put the car trailer on it. But just as I was rolling up the little ramps, the attendant waved me off: my car's front bumper was too low to fit on the two-wheeler. And of course, by then, all the flatbed four-wheelers were gone.

So I drove the truck and my friend drove my car. Luckily, we had reserved a hotel for Friday night, because it took us a lot longer than it usually takes me driving alone, partly because the truck was slower and partly because of all the stops for my eye drops and gas for two different vehicles (they didn't tell me it takes about $80 to fill the truck, roughly every 200 miles). We did arrive on Saturday just in time for me to sign the apartment lease paperwork and get my keys.

Sunday we got lucky because the storage place I reserved was open. So we unloaded a little bit at the apartment (just the essentials because I got it furnished) and the rest to storage. The idea is to gradually move stuff out of storage to where it's finally going, and then get out of the apartment. So there's a transition period coming, as I gradually adapt to my new soil. But I'll be a lot less nervous when I return the truck today: it will feel as if the moving is over, and the living can begin again.