Sunday, June 27, 2010

Moving Part II

Jack and I followed that red hot sun all the way east

to Jeanine's apartment

that is in a wooded setting in Alexandria. This used to be U.S. government housing built during the World War II buildup of military housing close to the Pentagon. I have always loved this area of Alexandria that is right on the border with Arlington County. It reminds me of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where I went to college because all the buildings are Georgian style red brick and in 65 years the trees have grown really big and beautiful. But alas the insides of these former army housing units are falling apart if they haven't been recently renovated. Jeanine's unit is one of those units that has never been updated except for paint on the walls.
We admired the pretty flower garden of Jeanine's downstairs neighbor
as we hurried to the backside of the building (away from the street) where all the neighbors in the four "upstairs" apartment units in the building have created a lovely outdoor living area
under the big old trees. (The building in the background is where Jeanine had to haul each load of laundry to be washed and dried. She is really going to love that second floor laundry room right off the master bedroom in her brand new condo.)
***
From 6:00 A.M. to 5:15 P.M. we helped Jeanine pack and clean and clean and pack until we were sweating like pigs on this 100 degree day with high humidity. And we felt very sorry for the four man moving team that had to cart all those boxes to the moving truck. All day I enjoyed talking to the moving foreman who used to be a major in the Isreali Army before moving to the United States to live and work.
At 5:30 P.M. we got into our car and followed all the cars heading south on #95 in the evening rush hour traffic passing by Crystal City and various parts of Fairfax County and Prince William County to Jeanine's new home.
It was slow going and we felt like taking a break at this rest stop exit but we refrained. After all we had only been on the road for over one hour in rush hour traffic to go less than fifteen miles.
Finally we could see part of the sign for Potomac Mills----the largest shopping center in the state of Virginia and it is only two miles from Jeanine's new condo. (More tourists go here than to George Washington's Mount Vernon so that is why it is the number 1 tourist attraction in the whole state of Virginia. A place where you can shop till you drop!)
Jeanine's condo was looking really good and the various rooms were just waiting for all that stuff that Jeanine was having brought thru the both the front and back doors. Jack and I left at 8:45 P.M. after a mad meal of Wegman's pizza amidst the moving boxes and headed via the Prince William Parkway and #66 to our home across the county in Haymarket, VA.
Look at the photo above and see the time----8:59 P.M.! That boiling hot sun was finally getting ready to set on one of the longest days of the year. Wow! What a hot and humid day for a move!
Yes, by the time we arrived home the sun had set and we were ready for a good long night's sleep.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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jeanine said...

Thanks for posting all these pictures. I was so busy that day I forgot to take any.