The road trip and arrival at Vance

It was slightly difficult for us to leave Baltimore. We said most of our goodbyes Thursday through Saturday, then Sunday morning as we loaded the truck, Pinny (4 year-old next door neighbor) bid us farewell with an emphatic "Bye Yoni! Bye Michelle!!!" through the window. Then just before we left Michoel downstairs knocked and waved goodbye. It felt nice to have a few cute farewells :)

On the way out we dropped off the keys to the new occupants then set out on the open road.


First state: Pennsylvania!









About four hours into the drive we met up with Madi at a nice grill restaurant in the great city of Pittsburgh!










Then about 11 miles of West Virginia and into Ohio!!


















We stayed the night in Ohio and met up with Tori and Robe at the famous Graeter's for icecream!! (Never thought we'd say this, but they give Ben and Jerry's a run for their money)









Then we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites just outside Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton for the night and we highly recommend it; it's a very nice, clean, and inexpensive hotel with a unique charm as far as interstate-side hotels go.


On Monday morning, we woke up early for a good run before we hit the road, and we discovered that Gus, our pickup truck, was covered in a thin sheet of snow. So what did we do? Load him up and drive on anyway! Since we were in Dayton, however, we had to make one important stop before we left. We took an hour out of our day and visited the Air Force Museum at Wright-Pat. We saw the most impressive display of American Air Power that we have ever experienced, and it is spread among three large hangars, each one detailed on the outside by roundels (the white star in the blue field, bars on the side, etc.) that adorned US military aircraft throughout the past century of military aviation. We journeyed from the early years with the Wright Brothers to WWII, the Cold War and the modern GWOT era, with static displays of the B-2 Spirit, F-22A Raptor, and a few UAVs. The most poignant aircraft was the B-29 "Bockscar," the bomber that dropped the second atomic bomb (on Nagasaki), thus spurring the Japanese to surrender. We had already seen the "Enola Gay" in
Udvar-Hazy, so this completed our viewing of this important and controversial chapter in military history.



















































We left the museum and headed back on the road. Ohio really impressed us though. Mostly because it's the only state that thanked us for visiting:










We went through quite a few states that day...






















Just after entering Missouri, we stopped at a cute little Ma and Pa shop to get some hotdogs and soup, then called it an early night. We got to our hotel, just past the St Louis Beltway on I-44 by 6:30, wound down a bit, then got a good long night's sleep.

The following day we drove the diagonal length of rural Missouri. The next city we would pass through wasn't until Tulsa, in Oklahoma. We saw a lot of very flat, albeit gorgeous, farmland.

In Tulsa, we stopped at the Chabad for some lunch and to meet the family there, then drove the final two hours to our new home: Enid, Oklahoma.

Like we didn't see enough real cows, Enid decided to put up a cute little display of fake cows as you enter the city....
Along with the sign introducing you to the city centered around their Air Force Base.

It has now been six days since our arrival in Enid.
The first day was very difficult. We'd moved into TLF (Temporary living facility) and had to fend for ourselves. With no guidance on check-in procedures or protocol, we went from office to office, hpoing to begin the process of adjustment. The first day presented a lot of dead ends. Yet at each of those dead ends were instructions on which way to go. So by the second day, our productivity really began and we started taking care of everything.

By this Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, we should be completely in-processed.

In the meantime, we're also making preliminary preparations for the move into our house. On December 3rd, we will move into a house on the Air Force Base: 1253 Hurst Dr., Enid, OK 73703.

Today we had the fun job of price comparisons around the town on washers, dryers, and a freezer. Tomorrow we get to see the house and take pictures, and then after that, we will mostly go back to Lowe's, purchase the appliances, and look at flooring options.

We also were able to go down to Dallas for Shabbat, which was very nice, as we don't have a home here yet. Thankfully we'll also be able to go down there for Thanksgiving - fried turkey here we come!