Storage unit in Tulsa no more!

I meant to update the blog weeks ago but this whole moving thing sort of got in the way! I am actually sitting in a hotel suite now in Los Angeles, California. It's crazy how quickly time has flown and that we have now officially moved out of Abu Dhabi. Happy and sad at the same time. It was definitely an experience living in the United Arab Emirates.

Well, back to the topic - We finally moved our things out of storage from Tulsa, Oklahoma! This all happened mid September or so.  It's crazy to think that all that "stuff" has been in a storage unit for the last 3+ years. We had been back once to pick up some things perhaps 6 months after we left for Abu Dhabi as I wanted to pick up my wedding dress and also some old photo albums of my Mom and Dad. Obviously precious memories of my mom. But perhaps others were "crap" like what Bobby had written on this box??!  Maybe it would have been better if everything was auctioned off last December when the storage units changed managements and we were late for our payment. Ha!

Anyhow, here goes! I am actually off to Tulsa on my own. No hubby and no kids!!! Actually, it has been quite a couple of hectic weeks as I have been very busy selling our (fancy IKEA) furniture.  So, I was actually quite excited to just get on the airplane and sleep.  Obviously being upgraded to First Class was a bonus! I literally had to stretch to reach the footstool :-P

I managed to catch this amazing landscape during the flight. No idea where this was but the colors and abstract shapes were TOO COOL!!!

And then, it's the approach into Dallas/Fortworth International Airport, Texas.  I always found these network of highways here intriguing!

I stay overnight with some friends and less than 24 hours later, I am on the road to Tulsa.  It almost feels weird not having any kids in the car despite driving a minivan. So I have lots of time to admire the henna that I had painted on at the Abu Dhabi airport. It is so intricate. Love it!

And time to admire the formation of clouds in the sky too.  Little things that you miss after being in the desert for so long, I guess:

About 5 hours later on the road, I reach our old neighborhood. Our ex-neighbors were kind enough to let me stay at their home. I could actually see our old home from across the street. Weirdly enough, there was no emotional connection.  Well,... off to "work" then!  Gosh, they put the POD so far away from the door!!!

YIKES!!! What the heck do we have in this storage unit??!?

I figured I would try and get a head start.  My priorities have actually changed - a rug rolled up in my travel golf case that I had brought in from Abu Dhabi. I know... seriously??!!!

Some progress after Day 1:

After Day 2:

Completely forgot about Bobby's grandma's rocking chair.  It is so big and heavy!  I did have to throw out a couple of my tour golf bags due to mold. Probably a good thing anyway. What would I do with 4 tour bags in a 1,100 sq ft apartment in LA??? 

All done by Day 3!

Feeling pretty awesome for loading everything up!  Okay, okay, I did get some help. Thankfully my ex-neighbor Clay was available to help me with some heavy lifting.  Can't thank him enough!

Clay is actually the anchorman for Fox 10.  During this trip, I got to see him at his work:

Selfie time with Clay's lovely wife - Grettel.  It was pretty neat watching him work live during a news telecast:

Grettel also took me to the Center of the Universe.  Who knew this place even existed!  I lived in Tulsa for 5 years before moving to Abu Dhabi and never did I ever come across this!  

You stand in the middle of this circle and when you say something, the sound echoes back several times louder like an amplified echo chamber. Too neat!  This is suppose to be a natural phenomenon somehow???

Okay, back to reality. Phew... I finally get to rest a little before having to drive back to Dallas to catch my flight.  Grettel suggests that we go to the little town of Pawhuska where Ree Drummond, a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman opened up her Mercantile.  Ree started out as a blogger, mostly writing about her ranch life but after she posted her first recipe on her blog, the rest is history!

Yummy breakfast - the potatoes were delish!!!

Busy store and happy customers :-)

Speaking of happy, I was thrilled when Clay took me on a ride on his Indian motorcycle. I even had a do-rag and gloves on. Had to at least look the part :-)

Ahhh... someday. Maybe I will just need to start with a little Vespa :-P

Okay, back to Dallas!  Thanks again to Clay and Grettel for having me for the week. It was nice being back and catching up with old friends. And I picked up some new ones along the way.  These Beanie Babies were too cute to pass up:

After another 5 hours on the road, I am almost back to Cedar Hill where my friends live and oops... wrong turn!  Perhaps it was meant to be for me to drive by these fancy new bridges:

Quick shout-out to Lynn and Heather as well for letting me stay at their home. By the way, they have the coolest pot of Pitcher plants!

I guess now I just need to continue pondering... where did all my stuff go??? No, seriously - we had issues getting the Pod out of Tulsa because of some paperwork. When is the Pod getting to Los Angeles???