Moving Tim Across the Country (Again)

My middle child always does it big. “Go big or go home” seems to be his life motto. For the most part, this is a fabulous way to go through life. However, when he moves….he MOVES. He moved from Lincoln, NE to Fort Collins, CO….then to Morgantown, WV…..then to Palo Alto, CA….then 7 hours south to San Diego…..now he is moving to a job in Buies Creek, NC. Yes, from San Diego, CA to about an hour south of Raleigh, NC. That is a long drive! I flew into San Diego on a Monday night late and then helped Tim load up a 5×8 ft U-Haul trailer with a couch, desk, chair, TV, and TV stand, clothes and a TON of professional books…throw in a few kitchen items and we were ready to take off around 3 p.m. that afternoon. Here is Tim leaving the house in San Diego….he didn’t know a majority of his roommates, he had no control over the A/C, which was normally not on. He was happy to have this state in his rear-view mirror!

So we started driving and immediately hit traffic. It is California, after all. When we stopped that first night, we were in Arizona…..Driving the next day in Arizona, we managed to find a 90 minute traffic jam in the middle of the desert. Sigh. It was hot….and painful.

The next day we drove through New Mexico….

We went through New Mexico and into Texas, which gave me a small heart attack because we ended up going through a border patrol area (we had been hugging the Mexican border for awhile and I thought we took a wrong turn.) I didn’t have a passport with me, so I was a bit nervous….but we flew right through and made it to a Texas iconic locale….Buccees.

We stayed the night in mid Texas and then the next day went through Lousiana….

Made it to Mississippi and stayed the night in Jackson. Tim was actually born in Columbus, MS and hadn’t been back since he was about 6 months old.

The next day we were on to Alabama….(which also had a Buccees)

Georgia…..

South Carolina…..

And then to North Carolina. We had really been pushing it with long days, and the time changes were not in our favor. We lost 3 hours driving across the country and two of them were in the same day. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC for our final night on the road….only about an hour from where Tim would be moving in the next day.

On Saturday morning, June 28th, we made it to the Retreat in Fuquay-Varina, NC. I know, crazy name for a city, right? It used to be two towns and in 1963, they combined to become one bigger town with a hyphenated name. There are actually still two downtowns and the place is amazing. It couldn’t be any different than California! Here are some photos from around town and Tim’s new place. He is actually living on his own for the first time ever. (I think he was pretty stoked about that.) The club house has a pool and a game room, and a really awesome gym. The folks there were really nice and even left a gift for Tim in the apartment. They knew he would be working at Campbell University and left him a koozy along with a welcome letter and knife set. The apartments around him are filled by little old ladies, and we never heard a peep from any of his neighbors. He did have several frogs hopping around outside his door when we left for dinner late one night. He has a small pond next to his building.

We got all of Tim’s stuff moved in by noon. We took the U-Haul and went and picked up a bed frame and mattress, and then to get a dresser. The dresser was identical to the one he left in CA. We did a BIG Walmart (1/2 mile away) run for all sorts of things for his kitchen and bathroom. He got some barstools for his island and a couple of tall shelving units for his books and some cubes for his notebooks in his room. He decided to separate his work and sleep area and put his desk outside his bedroom, which I thought was a great choice. Tim mentioned he had always had issues with internet connectivity at UCSD and at home in San Diego. He was pleasantly surprised at the high-speed internet in this little town in NC! He is living halfway between his work and Raleigh. His work – head sports performance coach for the men’s basketball team at a D1 private university called Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC, is 25 minutes south of Fuquay-Varina, and Raleigh is 25 minutes north. Perfect spot! I fell in love with Fuquay-Varina. They have a lot of taverns with good food nearby and all the other shops he might want.

Here are some photos of the university….Campbell University Fighting Camels. Colors: orange and black. The campus itself isn’t very big but there are a lot of big brick buildings and magnolia trees around the campus. Tim was treated to two special suprises: 95% of all his training facilities are in the same building! That is HUGE! With UCSD and Stanford, and even UNL and UWV, he had to travel often between buildings, racing to get there before the athletes did. This was a very nice change of pace. Also, he gets a parking pass…for free! He was shelling out upwards to $1500 a year to park at work in California. (another great rearview mirror thing, in my humble opinion). We went to visit and get a tour of the athletic facilities from the Assistant Athletic Director. He was super nice and so happy to have Tim on board. Tim introduced himself to the director of basketball and as soon as he said his name, the head men’s basketball coach came bounding out of his office to meet Tim in person. The whole interview process lasted for almost 4 weeks, so it has been an arduous process for everyone involved. The entire coaching staff is new, with the head coach being a former assistant coach to the reigning NCAA champions out of Florida. I got all the good vibes. He ended up doing HR meetings and observing the players practicing and lifting for the first few days. Over the holiday weekend, he contacted all the players via facetime to introduce himself and learn more about them and their goals on and off the courts. He started in earnest this past Monday and is loving it so far. He called tonight to say the whole team and coaching staff went out bowling tonight. He said he hadn’t bowled in about 15 years and was proud he didn’t need bumpers to break 100. Sounds like he is settling in and I am happy for him. Go humps!