Brigantine, New Jersey to Massanutten, Virginia 2/28/2014
FEBRUARY 28, 2014 (Friday)
Moving day! Always exciting and stressful on moving day. You’d think after almost a year of doing this we wouldn’t get stressed, but we do. We were up and getting ready to pack it up into the car around 8:30 AM. When we looked outside, the sun was out. The temperature said it was only 17, but it looked lovely. The high of the day was 37.
We were on the road by 10:00 AM. The trip to Massanutten is about 400 miles and took about six hours. We didn’t stop, except for gas ($3.35 a gallon) and some drinks. We ate leftovers from last night’s dinner for breakfast/lunch (plus Michael got us a cookie when he filled up with gas).
On the drive, it was weird because we had to go up to near Philadelphia and then down to almost Washington D.C. The traffic was horrible in some spots, which slowed us down a bit in the Baltimore and the D.C. areas. We got into the Shenandoah Valley and Skyline Drive, which was lovely. We were expecting much more snow, but were greatly surprised and relieved that it was a good road and a clear road.
The GPS took us the back way into Massanutten. Surprised at how crowded it was. We thought we were the only ones in the area. The lobby was extremely crowded. We got there around 4:00 PM and were able to check right in. The sweet girl behind the desk asked what floor we wanted. Nice to get the option. We were then directed to the “parking people,” and we signed up for a presentation tomorrow afternoon. For going we were given two activity cards.
When we drove to our new “home,” were were quite surprised in a good way. It’s beautiful, large, and has a washer and dryer in the hallway. There are steps so this place would not be good for handicapped people, but there is an elevator once you climb up the steps and into the lobby. The living room has clean and comfortable furniture, a large flat screen television for Michael, and a lovely gas fireplace. It’s an open concept so the dining room and kitchen are off to the side but it’s separated by tile as opposed to the carpet in the living room. Lexi’s room has two twin beds (she prefers a larger bed), but her bathroom has a HUGE bathtub in it, almost a swimming pool. It also has a large separate shower. Nice. Our bedroom has a lovely king sized bed, a desk, a chair, a nice bathroom, and a small closet. It’s very nice. The whole unit is lovely. We are going to be quite comfortable here this week, even if we get snowed in.
After we lugged in two loads of things from the car, and rested for a bit, we decided to go have dinner and do some grocery shopping. We were told the Food Lion was only four miles away. Nice we’re not isolated like I thought we would be. We decided to eat at Ciro’s Italian, a nice place near Food Lion. We got there around 5:00 PM, and was glad we got there early because by the time we left the place was packed. The food was excellent. Michael ordered soup, a salad, and some onion rings; Lexi ordered spaghetti; and I ordered a chicken, spinach and mushroom dish. Really great food and service. Highly recommend.
Next was grocery shopping, which we did rather quickly and were back in our room by 7:30 PM.
That was our day. Hope yours was great!
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