"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here..."
We have finally arrived in Augusta, GA!
I am SO beyond excited to be calling Georgia home for the next three years, or possibly forever!
This is the duty station we wanted, crossed our fingers for, and was number one on our list. But getting here and setting up life took major planning with a six person family. It was no easy feat.
When we received orders to Fort Gordon, GA, my husband was still serving on a overseas rotation. His report date was set for November 10th, with ZERO option for early report, unlike every single previous PCS experience before.
But the good news was that the army wouldn't force him to wait until November 8th to fly home from across the pond. It ended up being that his unit sent him home 90 days prior to his report date. Around his birthday, in August, we scooped my husband up from the local Manhattan, KS airport and got to planning this PCS!
PLANNING THIS PCS:
Ugggg.
If you are an active duty service person or spouse reading this, you understand that timing is everything in a PCS move.
Honestly, my husband and I attempted to start planning early while he was still overseas, but it just led to arguments. Dealing with time zone differences -where one person is just waking up and the other is ready for bed- can be a nightmare in terms of clear communication.
Most things are thankfully handled online these days, compared to our prior army moves. My soldier simply logged into DPS, and was able to get our military move going. BUT dates are crucial to scheduling everything. They needed to be hashed out before we could officially schedule anything.
Whether we liked it or not, we HAD to come up with a solid date while he was still away. We set October 12th as our 'departing Kansas' date, therefore were able to schedule everything else around it.
Dates for everything else:
-Turn in keys for rental: Oct 12th
-Shut off utilities: Oct 12th
-Turn in cable equipment: Oct 11th
-Local hotel stay (so we could clean/load cars before final walk-through): Oct 11th-12th
-My soldier's losing duty station sign-out: Oct 8th
-My children's last day of school: October 8th
-Mover packing and pick up: (packing) Sept 30th, Oct 1st and (pickup) Oct 4th.
-30 notice to landlord: September 1st (required to submit on first of the month prior to month we planned to move. We could not simply give 30 notice on Sept 12th for Oct 12th move out. Check your lease, and understand SCRA rules).
Really the hardest part was scheduling movers. We knew we'd be keeping critical things to survive in an empty house after the movers would take the bulk of it, but no one wants to live too long in an empty place.
PLUS Covid-19 really messed up the military moving world. We were told that moving companies were struggling to keep up with the "summer surge". Service people, during summer 2021, were struggling to get a moving company lined up if they did not plan far enough in advance. Many families had to have a spouse stay behind because soldiers would miss report dates due to movers rescheduling. We know people this happened to.
Thankfully, the Fort Riley transportation department called me sometime in July and explained that if I didn't come in within the next few days for a self-counseling moving packet, there was NO WAY we would be able to schedule movers for October. IT WAS THAT CRAZY!
*NOTE: I hold every power of attorney there is. I would not have been able to do the moving brief without my soldier (he was still overseas and unable to do it there) if I didn't have a specific POA. This is typical across army duty stations. Been there before...
The next order of business was figuring out where we'd live.
Another Uggggg.
If you are reading this and 2021 is over, hopefully you are not in an insane housing market!
When interest rates began to drop, houses for sale skyrocketed. And so did rentals.
You see, we have been renting since 2003. Almost twenty years. I wasn't necessarily looking to buy in Georgia, but with rental rates being several hundred over BAH in the area, we -for the first time ever- decided to buy, using his VA benefit. *All of that info will come soon in a different post!
But I knew we still needed somewhere to live while house shopping.
I was able to find a cute AirBnB within a reasonable budget, but it would not be available until two days after our arrival. So I booked a hotel for the first two nights, and went ahead booking the AirBnB.
Hotel stay: Oct 14th-16th
AirBnB: Oct 16th-December 15th
You may notice there's a gap between our departure from KS and arrival in GA; we decided to stop halfway in Clarksville, TN!
Hotel in Clarksville: Oct 12-14th.
We were stationed at Fort Campbell between 2011-2014. My kids were excited to see our old stomping ground, as well as do a drive-by of our old rentals. It was definitely worth the extra time. I forgot how much I loved the area.
PREPPING TO MOVE TIPS:
-Find a room, a closet, a space to set aside ALL things you plan to take with your journey. Start doing this two weeks before movers appear so that you don't miss anything you shoulda/woulda/coulda brought along.
Things we keep along for the stay/ride:
- ANY AND ALL important documents (Birth certs, passports, school records, medical/dental records, warranties, etc.)
- Laptops and any small electrical devices you may need. My Nikon goes everywhere.
- Medicines, perfumes, my OPI collection, hair stuff, etc,.
- Some pots/pans/cookie sheets (if we are staying in our empty rental for longer than two days. We did.)
- Stackable, non-breakable plates, cups, bowls. I LOVE those cheap ones from Walmart that cost .50 cents.
- School supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes.
- Enough clothing to last a week without needing to do laundry, per person.
- Old blankets, towels, pillows, kitchen towels, etc. We throw them out when done on losing side and buy new on gaining side.
- Cleaning supplies. Needed for final move-out cleaning, then we donate to a friend.
- Spare tire for each vehicle.
- Cooking spices. These get expensive, and although y'all might throw 'em out, I have collected too many (that I actually use frequently) to start over.
- Air mattresses for each person
- Houseplants. Yes! They came with me.
- Valuables that can fit in a pocket, like jewelry, coins, collector D&D cards, etc,.
-Mark cabinets, doors, anything you don't want the movers to pack. I use bright neon sticky notes!
-Do not assume everything you plan to bring in your car(s) will fit when you go to load your car(s). Be realistic! We weren't...Long story short, we got rid of every piece of luggage the night before departure because we needed space, as well as pillows and some other bulky stuff. Pro tip: Those space saver bags came in VERY handy, but don't be like us buying them last minute -the night before- at a Walmart at 10:30pm.
-Schedule routine maintenance for your vehicles! Check on that spare tire...when was the last time you said "hello"?
PACKING DAY TIPS:
-Tuck your phone chargers away or movers will pack them.
-Have any original boxes near the item (we always store TV boxes when we buy one).
-Make sure remotes, screws or any necessary small parts that belong to another either go into BOX #1 (usually labeled as your spare parts box) OR they stay secured on/with the item (I always tape table/bed bolts to an underside).
-Clear spaces to give movers room to work. If a room is stuffed full of junk, it makes it harder for them to group like items. And trust me, they will.
-Assume they will leave for lunch. We always provide cold water bottle, canned sodas, and pizza (or some type of lunch) for our moving/packing teams. Boosts morale AND allows them to work quicker without having to leave the site to eat.
-Check on your movers periodically. We never hover over them while they work, but I do occasionally walk around making sure they are doing what they are there to do.
-Double check that every sticker on a box or item matches the description on the mover's check list.
-If you have to wait over a weekend to have your loaders show up (we did), kindly request to leave out mattresses, TV and a couch, if you care to do so. They have always said "no problem" when we have asked.
DRIVING TO YOUR NEW DUTY STATION TIPS:
- Never assume it will go without a hitch.
We found ourselves with a flat tire this time around, somewhere in the middle of Missouri. Glad I had a full spare! This has never happened to us before on a move, and it set us back two hours. BUT my car didn't come with a full spare when we purchased it new. It has a temporary donut. This would not have gotten us far, nor is it speed rated for highway driving. I purchased a spare rim on Amazon a few years back and had a tire placed on it. This saved the day!
- Attempt to pre-book a motel/hotel
- Unexpected delays
- Sticker shock
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