What an absolute whirlwind April has been for us thus far. Remember in my last post how I said our household goods (HHG) was scheduled for this week? Well, in true Army fashion, yet again, things changed. We had our HHG walkthrough on Tuesday last week, and they told us they were overbooked and our only options were to have our packout the first week of May or the 17th and 18th of April. So, with two days’ notice, we packed up our lives and started the real PCS process of packouts, house camping and our final weeks in the USA.
Packouts, House Camping & a Whole Lot of Chaos
I actually went back through my PCS posts from the last time we moved to Korea as we prepped for this round of madness, and I was surprised at how much more time we had last time. We had wiggle room – even with Covid – while this time seems like we’ve been up against it from the moment we shared our PCS announcement. We’re under three weeks until we fly to Korea, and the days just keep ticking by.
On Thursday morning of last week, bright and early because, yes, we’re inching closer to 24 hours of daylight again, Sourdough Transport showed up to pack up our lives. They spent one day packing, taping, disassembling, and shifting things around. Then, on Friday, they came again and started loading crates. We’re allowed just over 7,000 lbs of belongings in our HHG shipment, but we worked hard to purge and ended up with around 5,500 lbs, so it was a relatively quick and painless packout.
What’s Left to Do in Alaska
I have a consultation with the vet today for Steve’s health certificate appointment to prep for those final few days, then I have to add him to our flight reservation because we were given commercial tickets, rather than Patriot Express (thank goodness!) Ryan’s still working both this week and next, then he’ll head out at the end of next week to take Danny to New Hampshire to stay with my parents. We have swimming, a UAB shipment next week, a truck to sell, and a lot of little moving parts yet to come, but it’s happening.
We’re living on the two couches we got back in Washington and won’t take this time, using our neighbor’s camp kitchen, sitting on patio furniture indoors, and sleeping on air mattresses. There’s a beautiful finality to it all. It’s crazy, and it’s wild, and it’s absolutely madness to think that at this point in three weeks, we’ll be back on the peninsula. Home.
Cheers to the Adventure
I’d be lying if I said this part was smooth-sailing though. It’s exhausting, and there are a lot of emotions that come with this part. The kids are doing great overall, but they definitely feel the pull of being sort of in two states of being at once. They love their friends and their community, but they’re so ready to be back in Korea. It’s much the same for Ryan and I.
Nevertheless, the days keep ticking by, and we’re making the most of every second. Like it or not, these packouts, house camping, and everything in between means it’s happening. Soon.