Moving Alyson to Virginia

Here we are leaving New York State and heading into Pennsylvania..... on our way to Alexandria, VA.... Helping Alyson and her boyfriend, Ben, make their "BIG MOVE" A very big move for Alyson, and also for her Dad (Bruce).... Although happy for his daughter, it wasn't easy for him knowing she'll be living so far away.... But also wanting to show his support, he offered his 20Ft trailer to help them haul their stuff down... We left Watertown, NY around 10 a.m. on the 20th with plans to return home the following day.... A quick trip for sure... but not one without a few disturbing moments in between... for us anyway!
Istn't this a beautiful skyline.... This was taken as we were traveling on our last leg of the journey down, somewhere in Virginia....
This photo didn't come out as good as I would have liked it to.... I was trying to capture the heavy traffic as well as the beauty of the traffic lights.... use your imagination and maybe you can still see it for yourselves.... Especailly if you've ever made any kind of road trip.....

The sun had already set by the time we finally located Alyson's and Ben's new apartment complex.... so wasn't able to get any outside pictures our first night there.... I took these next few pictures though of the entrance way into their buildilng.... which has two above ground floors, and one below ground floor....

This is your view as you stand outside Alyson's front door.....You can see the stair way leading up and the one leading down into the basement level.... As you stand at the front entrance to the building.... this is the hallway that leads towards their front door.... The door on the far right is their door.... The start of a new beginning for both of them....

This shot was taken looking into the living room from the short hallway by their bedroom area... Notice all the blue bins.... Packed full with all their belongings....

Here is a view from the living room looking into their dining area...

This shot taken from the other side of the living room.... behind the wall is their kitchen area, which divides the front hall way and dining room from one another....

On the other side of the living room is a short hallway with enclosed closets on either side of it... this one is on the right side and holds their washer and drier and although not seen here.... a few storage shelves.... The closet on the other side holds several shelves as well as plenty of room to hang other clothing.....

This shot is taken from the living room looking down the hallway towards the bathroom....
I was standing in the dining room looking into the kitchen for this shot....
And this one from the entrance hallway looking through the kitchen into the dining room....
Although it's kind of small... I think that once they get settled in.... it'll work out just perfectly for their needs....

Here they're bringing in the mattress, along with the other bedroom furniture....

Just before they left New York they had bought some new living room furniture... Very nice, but also.... very HEAVY!!! And after struggling to get it in through the doorways and into the apartment.... they unwrapped it to find that it comes in sections and would have made the job a whole lot easier had they just unwrapped it first.....
Trying to find just the right place to set the new couch......

This is the bottom of the couch... They still have to put the back on...... Alyson letting the guys figure that one out...... Although it was a long day for all, Alyson was also fighting a cold/flu bug that just didn't seem to want to go away.... Just one more piece to go and it'll be done.....
Pretty neat piece of furniture too.... both sides are very similar to a recliner.....

Here Bruce and Nala having a little visit.... (Nala didn't really enjoy her ride down, but I think she was warming up pretty quickly to her new digs) She did a lot of rolling around on the new soft carpet....
Here's the chaise that goes with the couch.... now this is some piece of furniture.... not only does it look comfortable.... IT IS!! The back goes all the way back and can very easily hold two....

We found a temporary space for the new sofa... and everyone taking a little break before doing anything further..... Basically everything in at this point and now all they have to do is put things away and settle in...... By this time we're looking at nearly nine o'clock and after a long day on the road and unloading the trailer.... everyone was ready to not only take it easy, but HUNGRY!!! We decided that Pizza would be just the thing.... Bruce and I still had to find a place to stay for the night, so we said we'd go and take care of that, and Ben's Mom (Chip) and her husband, (Todd) said they'd go after the pizza.....Having spotted a Papa John's just down the road from where we were at, we suggested they check them out..... and we headed out.... Chip and Todd to get the pizza and Bruce and I into a night we won't soon forget.....

We had spotted a few hotels/motels along the strip when we first arrived, so thought there would be no problem finding a place to stay for the night.... As we looked closer at what we had to choose from.... that became debatable..... One place looked like it had a pizza parlor right off the lobby and that was filled with some questionable clientele.... We then spotted another place that looked pretty good from the road so we pulled into the parking lot.... As we walked towards the office, we noticed a man setting on the sofa just inside.... he spotted us and we thought he was preparing to greet us... we reached to open the front door to discover it was locked.... he motioned us to go over to the window next to the entrance.... we moved towards it to see that there was this little peep hole through which we could speak to him.... we turned and looked at each other and without further ado... and without having to say a word, turned and headed back to the truck..... If it wasn't safe for him, just how safe would it be for a ocuple of out of towners?? We then remembered we had spotted a Hampton Inn just as we got off 495S...... so headed in that direction..... As we approached it, we also noted it had construction going on around it....(not a good thing for us)... we missed judged how to enter, and before we knew it.... we were on 495N....heading into the unknown....(into the unknown after dark isn't a good thing).... Panic ingulfed us and I saw a side to my dear sweet lovable hubby I had never seen before and hope never to see again.... Trying to remain calm... I called Alyson, who herself is still new to the area, and she wasn't able to give us any immediate help.... so I told Bruce to turn off at the next exit, which he most reluctantly did, and we found ourselves in even newer uncharted territory (for us anyway).... We stopped at one place to ask directions, but the young man had a very thick accent, and it was difficult to understand him.... But off we drove again....hoping against hope we'd somehow make sense of it and find our way back to Alyson's place.... didn't happen that way... we drove around aimlessly, still trying to find ourway.... calling Alyson a couple more times and tried to put together bits and pieces of what she told us with what we could see around us (in the dark I should remind you).... Bruce was calming down and I found relief in that.... but fear was still very much a part of our every breathing moment..... Where were we? How did we get here?? How would we get where we wanted to be.....??? .....And then suddenly.....there it was...... Standing before us....THE HOLIDAY INN!!! A wonderful sight for two weary and very troubled travelers!!! I was so relieved when Bruce pulled into their parking lot and I knew for this short period of time... we were in a safe place.... I quickly called Alyson and told her where we were and that we were not going any further.... We'd contact them in the morning and find our way there after a good night sleep beneath our belts.....Not too pleased that we'd be missing our slice of Papa John's pizza (always wanted to try it)...We went inside and got our room and then back out to the truck long enough to gather together our bags and made our way to our room....

This warm and inviting room with it's big beautiful bed was a sight to behold..... It offered a peaceful and safe place to spend our night.... Our safe haven..... And let me add....We were most thankful to God for providing for us in our certain time of need!!!

After we got inside our room, we wasted no time making ourselves comfortable and sighed a huge sigh of relief.... We were safe for the time being......

Bruce taking a little breather here, looking over our directions, trying to figure out where we got off track and hoping to find a way to get back on track when we headed out again in the morning.....which in spite of our warm room and comfortable bed.... our night was still restless... We were up early the next morning.... somewhat rested, and feeling more positive about making our way back to Alyson's place..... (if it hadn't been for the fact we had left Bruce's trailer at her complex.... we would have just kept on going... but that wasn't an option open to us.... unfortunately....) We had this neat little coffee maker in our room, and I first heated up some water for myself to make my International coffee (Suisse Mocha & French Vanilla Cafe mixed together) and then made a pot of regular coffee for Bruce.... Here we are putting on our brave faces for the camera.... Another day.... new hope that all would go well.......BUT WOULD IT?? Time would soon tell.....

Showered, a fresh new outlook, our bags packed, we were once again ready to face our day ahead....

Shot this picture when we took our bags out to the truck.... For ever thankful to the Holiday Inn for providing our safe place for the evening ..... And forever thankful to God for placing it in our path......
Back inside, we dropped our 'keys' off at the desk and then headed into the dining room for a good breakfast..... This is the Lobby of the hotel...
Our very nice waiter took this picture of us at our table.... We opted for a breakfast buffet... which was very tasty..... and filling.... Again.... we have on our brave happy faces.... full of good food and optimism and ready to head back out into the unknown.....
And unknown it was.... For once again we lost our way.... Let it be said though that we were very careful to ask the nice young man at the front desk for directions....and we followed them to a tee.... unfortunately... we gave him the wrong information.... and found ourselves once again in lost territory.... We called the kids, and realized what we had done wrong, so with a little back tracking, we finally found ourway back to their place.... Bruce was grateful to see his trailer was where he left it (nicely blocked in by the trash bin and Ben and Chip's cars)
This is the front of their buildilng.... Nice isn't it!!! Their apartment is to the right and they have this neat little patio just behind the bushes that leads off from their living room....
When we got inside.... everyone was busy trying to organize the bins and find a place for the furniture.....
Although we were anxious to get back on the road and head back to the safe and the true, good ole New York State.... Dad and Alyson found a little quiet time to say their good-byes... and Alyson to reassure Dad she would be alright.....

Took one last photo of Alyson and Ben..... and wished them good luck on their new start.... And then we hit the road... anxious to make our way home where we knew how to get from one place to the other safely.....

Took these couple of pictures of the new bridge being built along our route out of Virginia....

This tower is at Andrew's Air Force Base.....
Although this picture is a little blurry, wanted to post it anyway... There was this one area where we saw several areas like this and thought how beautiful it was....
Finally.... SIGNS of HOME......

And let it be known folks.... There is no place.... absolutely NO PLACE like HOME SWEET HOME....And no two people more happier to finally be there.....

Outside Adventure in the Winter Wonderland

Getting ready to go outside and play in the snow and build a "SNOWMAN"... One of the things Chandler and Chase wanted to make sure they got to do while in New York.... Here Mom and Dad starting to get them ready for their outside adventure....I think it was just an adventure watching Mom and Dad get them ready .....
This is definitely not a one man job... Both Mom & Dad work together to get their boys ready...(I'd like to add here that not only is Tasha a wonderful Mom.... but Matt is also a great Dad... They work together very well sharing the responsibilities between the two of them)
Even Charlie gets ready to go outside.... No one gets left out....
Chase is all ready to go.... "But, can you move, Chase??"
Gramma decided he had too much neck showing so before he went out, she lent him one of her scarves.....

Let the games begin.... Chase is checking out one of Gramma's and Grampa's 'mountains' in their front yard....What a challenge that was to climb...."Right Chase?!"

Gramma's scarf getting a good winter work out as well....Chase had a few tumbles... but true to nature... kept right on going...not much can hold this young one back....

Grampa Bruce brought home his trailer so the boys got to check out the inside... Chandler decided it was safe enough for us to enter and gave us the go ahead to do so.... He also thought it'd be a great place to have a party.....

Charlie agrees......

Chase discovers the neighbors "fake" goose... and tries to make friends with him...

Time to build the SNOWMAN!! Dad starts things off by trying to gather enough snow to make the base with.... This isn't as easy as you might think, seeing all the snow about us.... It wasn't all that packy or easy to grab hold of even.... but we were determined so we kept our eyes on the goal ahead....

Mom helps the boys gather some twigs for our snowman's arms....
Grampa Bruce and Charlie watching from the sidelines....
Even Gramma Lehman gets into the act....

We found an area with some small rocks to use for our snowman's face.... Chase goes in to pick them up....
It was easier getting in then out... Dad to the rescue!!
Adding a few final touches to our snowman.... He's almost done...
And here we have it.....
The Lehman 5 and their New York Snowman.... Great job guys!!.... Hey.... where's his hat??

Chandler shows Gramma Lehman how he can make a snow angel.... I wasn't sure how that was done... Thanks Chandler!....
After we finished with the snowman Tasha took Charlie inside to warm up and the boys and Gramma took a little walk around the neighborhood.... Here we are on the final trek of our journey home.....
Chandler found one last mountain to climb.... You go Chandler!!
Time to go in now.... and time for some homemade chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.... Right Chandler!!....

The end of another adventure with the Lehman 5.... What a wonderful day it was seeing everything as new again through the eyes of Chandler, Chase, & Charlie...Thanks for the great memories!!!