Planes, Trains, and Automobile Rentals

Alison picked Derrick and I up from the train station last Sunday with Crosby in tow. She was so confused by being dropped off with Michael and Rebecca on Saturday, then picked up by Alison, then given to a train conductor.

Alison flew in from Cleveland on Sunday night and I arrived back in town by train. Monday morning we drove to pick up a rental car and drove 8 hours up to State Collge, PA to pack up her apartment and bring her back to North Carolina. It was a lot of travel in a short period of time.

We were an hour out from State College when we got a phone call from Budget rentals that they weren't going to have the truck that Alison reserved 3 weeks ago! The gentleman who called simply referred us to customer service saying there was nothing he could do. It was unbelievable and you can consider this a bad review for Budget truck rentals. After about an hour of trouble shooting and problem solving Penske came to the rescue and secured a moving truck for the next day.

I was so glad to get a glimpse at where Alison spent the last four years. It was absolutely gorgeous! Of course, we came at the exact perfect time of year. It was 80 degrees and sunny. It wasn't the frozen tundra that Alison lived in from October through March every year.

This is just a hod podge of photos from the trip. It was so fast and jam-packed that there isn't really a good way to explain it all so I'll just do it with photos.

I was in love with the houses that were on Alison's walking path to school. They were beautiful and had so much character!

Bagels and chai for breakfast! This was the big day...lots of packing and lots of steps!

The Nittany Lion! I finally got to sit on him!

We were buying packing tape at Target and Alison made off with this perfect packing box. It was hilarious and brilliant because we needed that box!

Crossing into Pennsylvania! This was the best shot I could get of the welcome sign. It's about 20 yards behind us at this point....

This was the time Alison put the lock on the truck backwards....and then had to press her face against the truck to try and see the numbers to get it unlocked. She was successful! I have no idea how though.

Efficient moving.

At the end of the day on Monday Alison set up a happy hour with her other grad school friends. It was so nice to meet them and they were all so thrilled to have her back in town. She met some amazing people in State College but I'm really happy to have her back in NC. We've actually been really fortunate to see a lot of each other recently. This was a super fun road trip and I'm thankful my work is so flexible that I could help out when she needed me. Alison's a true gem of a friend!