Goodbye San Francisco

Todays' the day we leave. The time has come. We load our 6 suitcases into a borrowed minivan and make our way down 101 for the last time in a while. We will be spending a few days in London, and that will give us a much needed break.
Goodbye San Francisco, we'll miss you...

Saying our Goodbyes

Our things are off, and we have a week to stay with friends and take the time to say our goodbyes. Most of all we need time to say our goodbyes to San Francisco, which has been our home for so many years. We have decided to stay 1 or 2 nights at a friends house, and then move to another. Although each of these visits was cherished, and made our daughter forget in the excitement of so many sleepovers that we no longer had a house or a life, they were sad as well. Every time we said goodbye, she asked "Are we ever going to see them again", and we had to say "Not for a long time". Now she hates saying goodbyes now and doesnt respond and casually turns away each time someone says goodbye.
The first few days were good and we had a great time, and even a lovely mother's day lunch all the while realizing that our time was slowly drawing closer.

Shipping Day!

Cant believe the day is here. The 'container' is going to show up and take all our stuff- contemporary, old, borrowed, knickknacks and memories out of our beloved San Mateo house and on its way across the seas. Wait, it looks kind of small - Hope everything fits - Hope we see our things again some day.
The movers started slow and then speed up, so much that we couldnt mark off items anymore, and let them go as 'Misc'. At the end of it there were still things in drawers that we missed and yes, our favorite beer steins still in the freezer.
There it goes, lock in place, something clanging ominously, swaying down the road to the Oakland terminal and then onto a ship. Pretty sad, all our years in the US locked in a 20 foot container. We each came with 2 suitcases, and we are leaving with 199 boxes (plus some misc.). Lets take a photo. Is the lens a little blurred... is it a tear.. naah, must be the San Francisco fog..