Life just can stay still for us, can it?

We have just found out that our new apartment has mold! Whoo hoo!

The things we get to change again:

1. Address
2. Cox Cable Services
3. All Our Junk Moving
4. ...

Not that bad, when you list it out. But a lot can rest on an address, such as DL, Bills, Contact Information... the list goes on and on. We'll keep you updated as we know more, but for now we are getting out.

The past few days in review:

Monday

Went to Memphis, TN on Day 1 of our journey to return the Bandago Van. Rained cats & dogs, though it never did get heavy enough to make us stop and pull over.

Tuesday

Continued to Nashville, TN on Day 2 of our journey to return the Bandago Van. The rain did clear up, however Mom wasn't too happy driving a Ford Explorer around in circles while we worked on finding the Bandago office in the middle of parking lot heaven. Afterwards, we returned to Memphis and checked out what the Graceland complex looked like on the outside (pictures to come soon), and then turned in for the night.

Wednesday

Reached home at about 4.50p. Checked on the chinchillas ("ah man... the annoying humans are back again!" "but at least we're in a clean cage!..." or so they seemed to think). Notified the bank of our late new address (yet another thing screwed up) and ate at a restaurant called House of Hunan, which served up great Chinese food at a value and speed that can't be beat. Then we ran to Bible class where our membership was made known to the congregation at Seminole Pointe.

Thursday

We made our late apartment more friendly. Installed Cox Services (Cable TV, Internet, Phone), had people in to inspect the cracked tub (the least of our worries now, but) and went shopping for things that we needed (microwave, wifi router, groceries, shower curtains, etc.). We also received our Toyota Highlander from the shippers that day.

Friday

Spent a good three hours on the phone with Netgear to make their router work. It never did, so we returned it and said good riddance. Meanwhile, Mom and Sis worked on cleaning, opening, and unpacking (bad move, we know now). Then in the afternoon, we picked up a replacement wifi router, got Mom, Dad, and the car registered in Oklahoma, then discovered from our upstairs neighbor that there is mold in the walls from a flood back in the beginning of the year. Yay! (heavy sarcasm)

That's about it for now. I'll try to keep you updated on an biweekly basis, but no promises.

Until the next post,

Brother

Arrival and Adapting, Stage 1

Well, we certainly have arrived safe and sound, so that is something to be thankful for. Sorry about the lack of information for days 3 & 4, we had little internet access and time. I will update those when I get a chance.

When we arrived in OKC, we unloaded our Sprinter van and moved into our apartment... at 9p. The leasing agent forgot about us moving in for the day, so when corporate office told her to close at 3.30p today, she ran down to do an errand in Norman, OK. Ooops. Anyway,  after we arrived we drove to the corporate apartment, let ourselves in and chilled for twenty minutes. Then we went back to our to-be-leased apartment and had dinner at a restaurant not 3 minutes walk away called Louie's, which wasn't bad but a little pricey.

Today, we kids are chilling in the corporate apartment while Mom & Dad go shopping for some things that we need to survive both immediately and for the next six months (think air beds...). Thanks for all your support, guidance and prayers on our behalf. We really appreciate them and miss all of you back in sunny SoCal. Keep us in mind as we live to adapt in OKC right here on Leu Project: OKC @ projectokc.blogspot.com.

Oh, one more thing: track Santa today!

Visit noradsanta.com to check him out as he delivers presents around the world. Happy holidays to everyone! Have a very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and a great holiday break.

Brother, on behalf of:

Day 4

Our final day of driving will be logged and recorded soon. Please be patient!

Depart from: Midland, TX
Depart when: 9a CST
Routing: I-20 E to US 277 N to I-44 E to OK 74 N


Arrive at: Edmond, OK
Arrival Status: Arrived
Arrival Time: 5.20p CST


Highlights:
Go to Our Location page for highlights of our trip. (alt. @LeuNews)


Best Pictures for Today:
Will be updated at the end of the day


Day in Review:
Will be updated at the end of the day

Day 3

With departure imminent, let's take a look at our routing. Please note that updates will be limited due to limited network access in the great hulking state-nation of Texas.

Depart from: Las Cruces, NM
Depart when: 8.30a MST (act. 8.37a MST)
Routing: I-10 E to I-20 E


Arrive at: Midland, TX
Arrival Status: Arrived
Arrival Time: 4.30p CST


Highlights:
Go to Our Location page for highlights of our trip. (alt. @LeuNews)


Best Pictures for Today:
Will be updated at the end of the day


Day in Review:
A nice day for a drive. Some of us (namely Mom and Sis) were sick and tired of driving, but today was a mite bit shorter than our other segments. Passing through El Paso, we looked to our right and saw the lovely picture of Ciduad Juarez (which wasn't very pretty), but we were gone soon enough. Our friends in SoCal warned us that the US Customs & Border Protection checkpoint might give us some trouble because of the size of our Sprinter passenger van, but we got through with only a rudimentary "How many people in the vehicle?" and "Ya'll US citizens?" thank goodness.

We had a smooth ride to Midland after that, stopping in Van Horn for a quick bite from Wendy's. Had a bit of trouble finding the hotel since 10000 Airport Road doesn't exist, but got to it eventually. Then we had dinner with our friend's relatives who lived in Midland. It was an enjoyable experience, mingling with them and learning about living in the Midwest. Us kids then had a sleepover with their son, Tristen. We played videogames and watched a movie before catching some zzzzzzs.

Mom and Dad had lots of fun with out us, of course. They had a nice night of sleep without us... More on them later as I gotta go.

Day 2

Ready for another day of tracking us across the nation? Here are some details to get you started:

Depart from: Mesa, AZ
Depart when: 9a MST (act. 9.35a)
Routing: US-60 W to I-10 E; alt. US-60 E to US-70 E to I-10 E


Arrive at: Las Cruces, NM
Arrival Status: Arrived!
Arrival Time: 5.20p MST


Highlights:
Go to Our Location page for highlights of our trip. (alt. @LeuNews)

Best Photos Today:

 

Click here to check out our cumulative photo album on Google+ Photos. No sign-in required.

Review of Day:
Today was less eventful, but more tiring. A lot of nothing on the road can make that go by really fast! A few highlights were the Thing (click the link above to see the photos) and Andele's Restaurante, a really good Mexican restaurant. Other than that, it was just driving, driving, driving. Little Sis isn't feeling too hot right now, so keep her in your prayers that she isn't getting a cold (or worse). Tomorrow we are going for a ride in TEXAS! Whoo hoo! Another time change (the final one, thank goodness) to look forward to. Remember to keep an eye on us right here on Leu Project: OKC at projectokc.blogspot.com. If you are a little bird who loves to tweet, check us out @LeuNews.

Day 1

Ok, we are off to a very late start, only leaving San Juan Capistrano @ 11a today... oops! At any rate, we are now traveling on the 55 freeway heading for the CA-AZ border. Keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we would really like to make tonight's destination before 8p! This post will be updated as more information and pictures are taken.

Depart from: San Juan Capistrano
Depart when: 9a 10a 11a
Routing: I-5 N to I-405 N to CA-55 N to CA-91 E to CA-60 E to I-10 E to US-60 E


Arrive at: Mesa, AZ
Arrival Status: Arrived!
Arrival Time: 7.50p

Cumulative Pictures:
Click here to go to Google+ Photos. No login required.

Review of Day:
     Alright,so we survived... mostly. We had a great time with our friends in San Juan Capistrano, getting one last good night sleep in cloudy SoCal. When we got up in the morning, we had a great breakfast, talked a bit more and rearranged stuff in the Sprinter so that the load was more balanced (when we loaded the van yesterday, it was very unbalanced towards the rear, causing it to bottom out when going up inclines at any speed faster than 5mph). Said our good byes, then started up the van and left the house at around 10.10a. Filled up the van with diesel (we think that it holds only 15-20 gallons of gasoline), then stopped at a pharmacy to grab some assorted items.
     Unfortunately, I discovered that my Kindle was missing while they were in the store. Intensive searches, frantic calls and general discontent followed for the next thirty minutes, with no results. We had to give up, so we finally started rolling at 11a (reflected above).
     The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van rides very comfortably and smoothly, with a nice open cabin and enough room for everyone and everything. Even the chinchillas seemed to enjoy it once we were in motion for a while. There was little to no traffic, enabling us to make good time through the inland empire.
     Around 1p, we stopped in Indio, CA for our last In-N-Out meal for quite a while. Since it was as busy as usual, Sister & I went down to a Gamestop caddy-corner to the restaurant only to discover that most used XBOX 360 game will run us about $15-20 per disc. Ouch. We then went back to the restaurant to eat while Mom & Dad went down CVS to pick up some lotion and other necessary travel supplies that accidentally got buried in the back of the van. (I'll post pictures of those tomorrow.) Then we pressed on.
     Another stop in Blythe, CA for a restroom break, and then non stop to Mesa, AZ. We managed to arrive in the greater Phoenix area by 7p and to our hotel by 7.50p. We then dropped the chinchillas off in the room, where they seemed much happier in their larger cage. Then off to Souplantation (here called Sweet Tomatoes) for our final meal of the day (and probably the last time for a while, seeing that they don't seem to be interested in the Sooner state quite yet).
     Typing this review now in the hotel room, we have a few things that we'd like to admit:

• Yes, the chinchillas are alive and happy.
• Mom accidentally took our friend's water purifier jug and is very sorry. What would you like her to do with it, friend?

Our first day is over. Our next few days will get us closer to OKC, so definitely keep an eye on this blog for updates, wins, and fails. Launch time for tomorrow is set for 9a MST/8a PST, so bookmark our location page and keep an eye on that Twitter feed! (You can also choose to follow us @leunews.)

Thanks for all your support (and for reading that paragraph above, that was a chunk!)

-Brother

Our Journey Has Begun!

Hello All:

Leu Project: OKC has now officially launched! At 8p PST, we left our longtime residence of sixteen years in Surf City, USA and embarked on our journey to Edmond, OK with our first stop in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Sad, we know, but what do you expect from us when we are sick and tired of packing and barely able to leave the house?

Keep following us as we move along the path to OK, with location and status updates on the :00 and the :30 from departure to arrival each day.

-Brother

Surviving on the Edge

Not a lot to say now... this blog will really light up in a few days though!

Living on the edge is very annoying. All our stuff is in boxes, we are eating off of paper plates and plastic cutlery, and still have a lot to do before Monday. Speaking of which, I can't type long here... got work to do. So enjoy these pictures and I'll blog again on Monday!

-Brother

Current Statuses:

• 1 School Day left until Winter Break
• 4 Days until the Car Swap
• 5 Days until "the Launch"

Once again, enjoy the scenery of our first stop courtesy of YoWindow.

Updates on the blog will happen more frequently as we get to the end of our 16 year stay in Southern California. Suscribe via RSS, email, or just bookmark us by dragging this link: projectokc.blogspot.com.

All Our Furniture is GONE!

In this Post: A look at the van we are going to be going in...

Thanks for Commerating with Us!

In this Post: a Memory Quilt with lots of Memories

11 Days and Counting

In this post: A look at the church we will be attending, plus routing questions...

A Little Music to Check Out

In this post: A music video of an excellent high school orchestra in Edmond Public Schools

13 Days and Counting

In this post: A look at the weather

15 Days and Counting

In this post: Organizing, Prepping, Busy, Busy, Busy!

17 Days and Counting

In this post: Welcome to the Blog! An Introduction

A view of the OKC cityline, specifically Bricktown

Time flies very, very, very fast. Only 10 more days of school, 11 more days until the movers come to pack up all of our stuff, 16 more days until the car gets picked up, and 17 more days until launch day. Yikes.

Currently, Mom and Dad are rearranging boxes and their location, Sister is entertaining herself on the PC, and Brother (that's me!) blogging a bit before I return to more homework. Quite a lot of other things going on now too, with finances, Dad's final tasks at work, school, concerts, and concentrating on doing things (such as constructing our house) on the other side.

Updates on the blog will happen more frequently as we get to the end of our 16 year stay in Southern California. Suscribe via RSS, email, or just bookmark us by dragging this link: projectokc.blogspot.com.

-Brother