On the road again...

On my 7th night in a hotel I thought I'd kill some time recapping our last few days in California before we arrived in Baltimore this past Saturday. All in all, for a cross country move I don't know if the move out process could've been any smoother. Here's hoping the move in process goes just as smooth!

Saying goodbye to some of the girlfriends that I so much enjoyed getting to know while in Sacramento

A candlelit wine tasting in the caves of the Schramsberg Winery- behind those candles is a wall of wine bottles with wine that ages right there at least 2 years- I asked and there are about 75 rows deep of bottles set up just like that behind that one you see here. The Schramsberg Winery is the 2nd oldest winery in Napa Valley and their Crement Sparkling Wine is the preferred dessert wine of the White House :)

Enjoying Schramsberg with The Ferraro's - a definite MUST if visiting the Napa area

Lizzy and I secretly planning a trip to Napa every year

Back to where we had lunch for the first time in Napa- Rutherford Grill, a favorite!!

Lauren and Mike quickly learned why we love it so much

We were a little nervous about random people packing up all of our stuff, but that worry quickly subsided when we saw how fast they packed. This living room and dining room was packed up in about 1.5 hours

The rest of the downstairs including the den, library and kitchen was packed up within the next 2 hours on Day 1. AND each box had a numbered sticker with every item inventoried as to what was in each box.

The entire upstairs including 3 bedrooms and Whit's office was packed up within 3 hours on day 2

The huge 18 wheeler truck arrived promptly at 8am on Day 3- ready to load!!

Supervising- but trying not to get in the way

We were super curious about how all of this was going to get organized in that truck since somehow they also had 3 other moves to put in there- all going to the East Coast

The driver was happy to show me how he does it...it's like a jigsaw puzzle - they literally do not leave any space open - there are about 10 other rows just like that behind this one

Whit in the midst of telling me how many shoes and clothes I need to get rid of after he saw how many wardrobe boxes there were....whoops!!

The truck is gone - About to enjoy one more sunset from the park across the street from our house

One last moment at our first home together - a very bittersweet time as we start a new chapter

Once the truck was off with our stuff we spent a few days at the Residence Inn with Henley in Sacramento. I indulged in a massage one day, I deserved it, right? Whit did some work from the hotel and we enjoyed several awesome meals at some of our favorite places that we had found over the past few years. But most importantly we spent some good time with those that we will miss. Especially The Ferraro's...let's just say it took Lauren and I two days to say good-bye. I'll have to say, not being 15 minutes away from her will be a hard adjustment for me. But we're looking forward to hopefully celebrating our 30th birthday together somewhere exciting! Plans in the making...

Things we'll miss in California- Napa Valley, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, weather, more restaurants than we could ever begin to try, fresh produce, our house, Lauren/Mike, palm trees, the cliffs over the Pacific Ocean (so different than the Gulf and Atlantic), the airport (we love the Sac airport!!), all the outdoor activities and festivals, and of course we never took advantage of being a hop, skip, and a jump away from Hawaii. 

Starting at 4:30 am on Saturday with this little guy trapped in his carrier ----- (who was a complete angel)

We made the haul across to the East Coast. With a layover in Phoenix and about 7 hours in the air, then another 1 hour in the car, we made it to Baltimore! Fun times to come.