Moving: POV

I decided that I should blog about moving since I do it so much. I thought perhaps it might give a little insight to those who; 1. Don't move, 2. Have never moved across an ocean, 3. Non military.
I am starting with the POV (Privately Owned Vehicle). There have already been other things in the works before this, but this is the most current. Shipment of one POV is allowed for our family. Now if we were active duty, we would be allowed two unless they have cut back all around. We owned two cars, so we had to decide what to do with them. Ship one, store the other; ship one, sell the other; trade them both in on one new vehicle and ship that one? Well, we chose the last option. My van was getting up there in miles and we are short on time to sell Dave's car so we traded them in on our first ever brand spankin' new car. We have had to work closely with the dealer and the bank to get the necessary paperwork for shipping on short notice. We bought a 2009 Chrysler Town and Country. It rocks! Monday we started the trek with the borrowed car and our shiny new baby to Dallas. When we left the house we still did not have all the paperwork needed from the bank. We drove to Killeen and dropped the kids off for the day with their Auntie and printed the paperwork out that we finally received from the bank. Paperwork in hand we set out again with the two car caravan heading North. At this time with no delays we would reach the shipping yard by 3:30 PM. Did I mention the office at the yard closes at 4PM everyday. We made pretty good time until we hit Dallas. A sign at the side of the road blinked, " Accident ahead, two lanes closed on I35EN." I attempted to route a detour with the new GPS gizmo in the new van and we ventured off the freeway. I don't really trust GPS devices and this routed us in a direction that seemed to be taking us back to a point on the freeway just to dump us back in the wait. Some how we got around all the traffic and back on the freeway. We arrived at the shipping yard at 3:51PM. As I pulled in I noticed people cleaning off their cars. One inspector was checking the car next to mine. I asked if the car had to be clean on the outside. The inspector assured me the vehicle must be clean inside and out and the engine compartment must be sprayed down and the wheel wells. My heart hit the ground and bounced back up as tension built in my chest. I asked if they have bucket or hoses there to use for this and he said no you have to go to a car wash before you come. I told him I just drove 6 hours to get there and how am I supposed to have a clean car after that. He directed me to the car wash down the road about a mile. By this time, Dave finally caught up to me. He had fallen behind in traffic and pulled into the parking lot at 3:56PM. As we walked into the building to begin processing I told him I didn't think they would accept the vehicle dirty. While we waited for our turn I removed everything from inside the van. Then, I went in and asked if Dave thought I should take the van to the car wash down the road. He said yes and I left immediately. I used the GPS. It took me down the road. I spied an Exxon with one of those automatic wash things so I went for it. There was no line, but someone was just ending their wash cycle. Dave called, they needed some information off the van. He said just clean the dust off. The green light came on and I pulled forward. The other car pulled out. I pulled up to the place where you are supposed to and then the alarm went off. It told me to back up. I did. All the way back in fact and nothing happened. Then, I pulled back in and drove all the way through and around to the entrance again. It was clear the stupid thing had malfunctioned. I paid my seven dollars and had no time to wait for an attendant to come reset the car wash. I left. When I got back to the shipping yard the only info they had needed was the mileage. I was preparing myself to have to come back in the morning with a clean car. When they inspected my van the guy said don't worry about it I can see there aren't any defects or damages. It's a new car! UGGHHHHHH! All that anxiety!!! I called to check on the kids. They were fine. We decided to spend the night in Dallas and have a date night. The kids stayed with Auntie and Dave and I found a hotel, had dinner out and sang Karaoke. It was just what we needed.
Now our brand new car is on it's way to Germany. We will be able to pick it up there next month sometime before the 25th. Now, the focus changes to the Advance baggage, HHG, and Non-temporary storage. More on that later.