4 days across America - again!

This is our 2nd time driving across the U.S.  October 08 we did it for the first time when we took our 1 year sabbatical in France.  We only went to Chicago in 08, but this time we went all the way up to Michigan to see my family. We have either sold, given away or shipped everything we own.  We have 3 dogs, 2 suitcases and 3 dog crates with us in the rental car.  We are moving to France and couldn't be more excited.

trying to get out of los angeles

We had hoped to leave last Saturday around 10:00 am, but that didn't happen.  We went to sell our car and had major problems because the dealership (VW) had the vin number on the title and registration wrong.  1 digit off.  So, when someone looks up the vin it doesn't show anything, which means nobody will buy the car.  So we had to run around like crazy and it still isn't taken care of.  We left the car at VW and our good friend K is going to sell it for us when they correct the vin with the DMV.

So 10:00 became 3:30 pm.  We finally got on the 10 freeway heading east and thought we were on our way, but we hit major traffic and it took us about 1.5 hours to get out of the city.  We drove until 10:00 pm and ended up staying in Mesquite Nevada.

vegas drive-by

Sunday was a much better day.  We hit the road early and drove to Carbondale, Colorado where our friend Chris lives.  We spent Sunday and Monday with him.  He lives in a cabin behind this lovely house in the country.  Stunning scenery and peace and quiet.  The dogs loved it.  We went rock-climbing at Rifle on Monday and got worked!  It was great to spend time with Chris who we haven't seen since our last drive across the country.  Hopefully we'll get him to France this spring.

 Chris' backyard

 Stella hanging out at Rifle

Bruce doing a bit of climbing at Rifle

Tuesday we left Carbondale and thought it would be a breeze driving to Des Moines.  But when we arrived in Vail it was snowing so hard we could barely see.  We drove 30 mph until Denver.  So 1.5 hours turned into 3.5 hours.  Then major road work most of the way.  Argh!  We ended up staying in Lincoln, Nevada instead of Des Moines.

Nebraska was so boring and flat

Today was such a long day, 13 hours in the car.  Major road construction (going 40 for miles and miles) most of Iowa and Illinois and rush hour traffic around Chicago made the 10 hour day turn into a 13 hour day.  We finally arrived at my sisters house at 10:00 pm.

The dogs were amazing the whole trip.  We have a huge van and they have their bed in the back and we can also lay in the back.  So we'd take turns driving, 2 hours and then rest, 2 hours and then rest.  It makes it much easier.  We'll be here in Michigan visiting with my family until Saturday afternoon and then we'll head down to Chicago and fly out on Sunday for our new life in France.

More to come.

Our last camps at the studio

Drawing the big pepper tree 

Today we finished Camp #13 at Art-Works Studio, our business that we sold in May.  We are Independent Contractors right now, helping the new owner, training new teachers for classes, etc...  The studio had 13 camps over the summer, they are day camps and we do amazing projects with the kids.  I think we have done about 150 camps over the past 10 years.  They are a piece of cake, fun, easy and casual.  We worked a few in June and then 1 the end of July after we returned from our first teen camp in France with our new business Raison d'Art.  Then we took August off and came back for the last 2.  

It's strange to think we will never do another summer art camp at Art-Works Studio.  A bit bittersweet, but we had a good run and it's time to move on.  We had a great group of kids the last 2 weeks.  We had a girl named Emily in both camps.  Emily started at the studio when she was just 6 and today she turned 14!  We are very close with her and her family and it was great that our last 2 camps had her in them.

print by Emily

Abstract Tree

Miles

Next week we will be at the after-school classes, but we are slowly turning things over.  We only have 4 more weeks until we leave for France.  It will be good to see everyone coming back for Fall classes, kids we haven't seen since May.  We are putting out an email this weekend to all our customers letting them know that we'll be moving in October.  Many don't know that we are leaving, for good.

At first it was hard to let go of the studio, it was our baby for 10 years.  But now it's done, it's not ours anymore and we feel really good with the new owner and what she's doing.  She's psyched and excited for her new life as the owner and we are excited and psyched with our new life in France.  A win win for all of us.

Getting ready for the movers

5 Weeks.  35 Days until we leave Los Angeles.  Let the countdown begin.  We are starting to get ready for the movers, who come in 2 weeks.  We are using Rainier Overseas Movers.  We had California Relocation services come to the house to do a survey of the things we were taking.  They work with both of the companies we looked at, so they both had the same information.  We decided on Rainier because they were a bit (not much) cheaper and No Regrets for Me also used them when she moved to Brantome.

We are looking at what we have, how much it's worth and if we should pay for it to be shipped or could we buy a replacement in France.  Things like the old couch won't go, we'll get another at Ikea.  Things like my cookware and such will definitely be going.  It's not cheap to ship your stuff and since we are paying for it ourselves, we have to smart about what we'll be taking.  I'm not a hoarder and really have no sentimental ties to my "stuff",  so getting rid of things is no big deal to me.  There are a couple things, like these etchings my mom got in New Orleans about 50 years ago, an antique dresser and a few other things that I would never give away, but that's about it.  I don't like clutter and believe in less in more.

Once the movers pack us up, we won't see our stuff for 75-90 days.  Luckily the village house we are renting in St. Antonin will come furnished until our stuff comes.  The hardest thing is that we will be  without our bikes for 2-3 months.  We'll have to run, rock climb, do yoga and join the "club du musculation" the local gym in Villefranche so we can stay fit.

We'll leave Los Angeles and head east to Michigan to see my family for a few days and then we'll drive down to Chicago.  When we left on our sabbatical in 08 we drove to Chicago and left from there, because it's only 7.5 hours to Paris, 12 hours from Los Angeles.  We have the dogs and 12 hours is a long time.  7.5 isn't too bad.  They have done the trip before and they were fine.  We are flying United again, since they took such good care of them last time.  We have decided to fly to Brussels instead of Paris this time.  We are going to spend 2 days there looking for a used car.  The used cars in France are very expensive and they are not so in Belgium.  We are looking for a good reliable car, a bit newer than Claude (our 1985 Peugeot station wagon we had last time we lived there).  We are thinking of a Peugeot 305 estate (station wagon) or a Skoda estate.  We had great luck with Claude and all the french mechanics know how to work on Peugeots.  We want a wagon, so we can pack up the bikes or the dogs and still have a bit of room.  Once we find a car, we'll drive down to St. Antonin.  I have heard that the Brussels airport is so nice and easy, CDG in Paris is a nightmare!

Claude our 1985 305 estate

A new 307 estate

I'm also going to start throwing pottery again.  I haven't thrown in almost 2 years.  I couldn't find a place to throw when we were living in France last time and then when we came back to the states last October, we didn't move back into our house (my studio was in the garage) and I had no place for my kiln.  I sold my wheel and just sold my kiln and slab roller.  We'd like to find a small space to rent in the village where we can have our studios.  I'll throw and Bruce will paint.  We are also going to offer some art classes on Wednesday and Saturday for local kids during the school year.  We'll focus on our art in the winter/spring and hopefully get it into some galleries/shops.

some of my pottery

For late spring/summer we'll focus on Raison d'Art  our new business.  We'll have women's retreats in May & September and Summer art camps for tweens/teens June-August.  Our first trip this July was a huge success and we know that we can offer kids a very unique experience, something they will never forget.  We'll take kids from all over the world, but the focus next year will be on the US and England.

Right now I'm a bit nervous but super excited.  Our one year sabbatical was amazing and life-changing and we knew we wanted to go back for good, but when it's only 5 weeks away it's a bit scary.  No turning back.  The business has been sold, the movers are coming, the one-way tickets have been purchased...we are so ready for our new life!