I’m a Jersey Girl who has wanted to move to Florida for at least two decades. We took the plunge and did it. One year ago, we started the physical process of getting ready with things like clearing out our kids outgrown toys and other things we knew we would not be bringing with us. We painted, put in a new bathroom ceiling and exhaust and made everything new again. Then in spring, right before Covid hit, we listed. We listed very late winter to get a head of the spring listings and we had some fast action but with Covid, we pulled out to wait. Soon after relisting, we got a viable offer. We needed to make a decision on how to buy a home in Florida in the region we wanted.
Originally, we were supposed to fly down during spring break and buy something. Covid said nope. Then we thought about sending the husband down to do the purchase, decided against that. Finally, we decided the realtor we have been working with over the last year would go to our top pick houses and allow us to virtual tour the houses via FaceTime. Then we decided against that on the day we got an offer. I was overly excited and went onto Zillow and the first house that came up grabbed me. I was in love. Husband saw the house and was equally smitten by it. Kids then saw it and said yes. We made a move on it that night. Our realtor arranged to go see the house 48 hours later and FaceTimed us from there. There was no doubt, it was soon to be ours and we made an offer that was immediately accepted.
Meanwhile, everything in Montville was moving along nicely with the process so we began the task of organizing and packing since we had approximately 4 weeks to do so. The house in Florida appraised for higher than the purchase price and inspection was clean. Same for Montville. Smooth sailing to the finish line known as closing…or was it?
The week of closing bought along an epic storm. I was worried about losing power while finishing up packing and cleaning. The thought of losing a tree was nowhere to be found, until a tree came down, taking our fence along with it. Well, shit happens, right? The only thought I had in my head was to call our tree guys ASAP and get on the list fast to have it removed, then deal with the insurance. Tree guy came and assured it would be gone in the morning. Next morning, not only did he remove the tree but the yard was left looking like Mother Nature didn’t try to sucker punch us. The husband and I managed to repair the fence and all was good, especially since power was back. The loss of power did add a little chaos for our buyers but we still closed on time, thanks to our attorney and realtor. All that was let was the drive…
Waze lied to me. Seriously, that was some bullshit. It said 16 hours and 20 minutes from start to finish. We tinkered with it for days to determine when would be the best time to leave and the evening was it. August 8 would be our last day in New Jersey and everything about it was surreal. I would take my car with my oldest son and the pup, John would take his with the youngest son and two cats. Both cars were loaded up with not even a squar..e inch wasted. The cats were not cooperative and pulled a last minute hissing fit but my youngest soothed them into a carrier together…and off we went, me training behind my husband since neither of us really knew what lied ahead.
We stopped for gas after four hours and it added a half hour to our trip, we thought nothing of it. Several hours later, we stopped for fifteen minutes and suddenly it added three hours to our trip. How does that even happen? We all felt a little defeated when we saw that Off we went, back on the highway. Driving through the Carolinas was rough, it was pitch black and no matter where we went, everything was closed. We wanted coffee and real food, not the cold pizza in our coolers, although my oldest happily gobbled those up somehow.
We got to watch the sun come up and saw more hours added no matter what we did. We finally stopped again just before 5am at a McDonalds that graciously had food and bathrooms. We took turns with the bathrooms so that we could keep the cars running with the air conditioning for the pets. Lysol, hand sanitizer up to the elbows and spray alcohol we used on all of us, along with masks. I wasn’t taking any chances!!
After the breakfast stop, there were a lot of bathroom stops, which kept adding more time and I was losing my mind! Finally, John did the math and realized it was definitely a 20 plus hour trip. Math is important, people!
Once we finally crossed into Florida, my damned air conditioner noped out on me and it was hot as balls in my car. I opened the windows and sunroof, still hot. I called John and we stopped for gas and Frosty went to join their car. My brother in law said to shut it all down and see if it resets itself so we went on for another hour when I decided to try. The clouds parted and the angels of air conditioning showered me with love and cool air. We stopped and I took the pup back with us. At this point, we were in agreement that we would push through without stopping. Well, our bladders proved that was a lie! When we were fifteen minutes from home, I was desperate and we stopped for the last time.
Driving through our new development was surreal as we had only seen it in pictures. Pulling into our driveway had all of us crazy with excitement! Would it live up to our expectations? Once we opened the front door, we saw that it exceeded what we had dreamt of. We were home at last.
Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. It’s a feeling of peace, love and more importantly, family. Montville was my home for 18 years and it was hard to say goodbye. Waterlefe in Bradenton is now home and it was so easy to say hello…new adventures await!