We departed California in regular Silva style - 3-1/2 hours late! We had a few more things to get done at the Oakley house than we realized. Saying good-bye to Nana and Boppa was very hard. We stopped at the Sbranti's, very good friends, on the way out of Oakley and was surprised with a great Trader Joe's bag full of goodies. They always think of everything! We'll miss them a great deal too!

We made it to Reno, NV after driving through the Sierra's in a major downpour. It was slippery in some spots especially with the 6x12 U-Haul, but we made it through just fine. We stopped in at the Circus Circus Casino to visit the one armed bandit and watched a circus act which was really cool! Dad won a pair of sunglasses for each girl. They were thrilled!

We had a very nice {late} supper at the Gecco eatery in Circus Circus. After dinner we tried to drive a bit more. Me in the van with 9 dogs and the U-Haul and Kim in the Highlander with 1 dog and 6 cats. Kim only lasted about an hour so driving after dinner so we pulled into the Best Western Inn in Fernley, Nevada. The pups (10) and kitties (6) are all snoozing. Bella (cat #7) decided to stay in California with Nana as she did not want to be caught.

As I sit here and write at 1:30AM (Friday) it has just started to rain like cats and dogs. Hmmm... Wonder if Bella will show up! Kim, Alyssa, and Brynne are all fast asleep. I guess I shouldn’t have had those 2 cups of coffee at dinner!

We hope to be up at 5:00AM to take care of the critters and get an early start. I told Kim we have 4 hours to catch up tomorrow. My goal is Lincoln, Nebraska! We'll see ;o)

Best to everyone and thank you to those who sent well wishes!

Michael

Safe wishes to you and your clan, BE SAFE!!

Drive safe! I hope to see you at some of the NE shows soon.

Wising your family a safe and uneventful trip!

How a safe and fun trip!

Have a safe and adventurous trip! Take lots of pictures to document this "migration". Best of luck on the rest of your trip. I look forward to hearing more stories as you move west to east.

Sounds like you guys are off to a great start! Safe travels

Best wishes for a safe and uneventful migration east! My hope for Kim is that the cats are not serenading her the whole way!

Where are the chickens???????

Drive Safely! Weather in the midwest is beautiful, so you should be fine eventually!

Hey Mikie!! The weather here in NJ is suppose to be really nice on Sunday, so Scott and I are going over to your house today to open up the pool - and we've invited our 100 closest friends for a party Sunday afternoon, I knew you wouldn't mind It's gonna be quite the party, hope you guys can make it. Don't worry, we promise not to trash the new house!
Safe Drive, don't rush....

When my kids were babies me and my husband had this dream of moving out west and we packed everything up in our little Chevette and headed to Phoenix, Arizona (didn't have the dogs back then) was also quite a trek so I can relate. Unfortunetely (or fortunetely maybe) things did not work out for us out there so we ended up back in NY. Drive safe Michael!

Michael, just think of National Lampoon's Summer Vacation movie & compared to that, it's likely your trip will be a breeze! Safe travels!

Drive SAFE ! And take your time, Heidi is saving a pitcher of marguaritas for you ! Heidi , you are doing that right !!

Hoping and wishing you a safe trip Hope it stops raining so you can enjoy your trip. Wishing you all a wonderful life and adventure in your new home and that you enjoy your new friendships you make in your new home.

Hey Heidi I'll see you Sunday........PARTY!!! Woohoo!!

Safe trip Michael don't worry about the house.

Oh and what makes you think New Jersey is OZ!!! Boy are you in for a surprise!!!

Michael, Once you hit the real climbs I have a word of advice. If you experience loss of power(vapor lock) put $1 of diesel fuel in the tank and you'll be surprised the get up and go comes back! That was what happened to us in Wyoming(it was scorching hot) in our '56 GMC pickup. We moved from Las Vegas to NY in June. Traveling with 2 toddlers, 1,500lbs. in the truck and me tailing behind in the sedan. The rest the military moved. Anyway, the truck started to lose power badly and my hubby had to drive it in the median(on hills). That was not a good time. We limped our way to Laramie and a guy there in an auto shop told us he knew exactly what was wrong with the truck. It really did the trick. That baby was rolling, but 10 miles out of town it caught fire under the floorboards! My hubby had no idea of course(no cell phones in '87)and our 2 year old was in the front seat with him. Well, the story goes on and on about that trip, but I kept a diary and wrote in it every night. A trip to remember...we replaced so many parts in that truck along the way it was ridiculous(distributor, exhaust pipes, starter,etc.) We did it in 5 days and that truck is still under reconstruction in our garage! My vet wants to buy it, but hubby says, "No way". Good luck to you...at least we had no animals to deal with at the time...well, unless you put 2 toddlers in that category.

Have a safe trip out Michael. Can`t wait to have you on the East Coast. The shows will be alot more fun lol. See ya soon, Tammy

So where are you now so we can move our map pins?

Just think. You'll be singing, we're out of the woods, we're out of the woods. Yeah! We're home.

OK, so where are the chickens??? Heidi and I pictured you guys as the beverly hillbillies driving cross country with dogs, cats, kids, and chickens!! We even thought that by the time you reached NJ you would have marked each egg with it's new name, Nevada, Calli, Nebraska,etc...a whole new flock!!
Drive safe, and welcome to the east coast!

Good luck Silva Clan!
Sounds like Heidi is going to be a hoot of a new friend! Opening up the pool and house - 100 of her closest friends - lol!
Hugs - Valerie (Bibsmom)

Hey this party is really rockin' at Michaels!! Oops, what's that? It wasn't supposed to start until Sunday!?
Soory. My bad!! I'll save some rita's for you!!

Mr. Silva, you really should be writing books. Keep it coming-your words are a great read and good luck on your move.

And I'm wondering where the chickens are as well. Do tell.

Heidi,
the invitation said the party starts tomorrow and ENDS on Sunday.... see ya tomorrow!
LOL
Safe travels Silva family - see ya soon!