After months of planning we finally made the move. We packed everything into a POD, sold Andrew’s car, and spent a week driving cross country from Los Angeles to Roanoke. Saying goodbye to all of our friends in LA has been difficult but after a week on the road we are happy to finally be settling in to our new home.
Packing
Despite weeks of packing and preparing everything inside the house we didn’t really begin to load the POD until Friday. Luckily, Joe was a hero and came over to help for twelve hours! We managed to fit everything we wanted to bring with the exception of one casualty (the kegerator’s coolant lines busted open during an emergency “mechanical defrosting process”). After Joe left we were able to throw the last few things in and close the door at 2AM in preparation for pick-up the next day.
After the POD was picked up on Saturday, we took the opportunity to see some friends and take one last walk on the strand. Taking an extra day between the POD leaving and the start of our road trip ended up being a great idea because it gave us a chance to relax and appreciate all of the great people and adventures we’ve had in LA one last time.

Road Trip

In total we spent about 50 hours in the car traveling just over 3,000 miles. It wasn’t the most direct route, but instead of spending time in boring places like Oklahoma we got to take breaks to go on walks in national parks or get some delicious local food!
Day 1: LA to Phoenix
On Sunday we transplanted our lime tree into a bag then loaded it (along with some suitcases, linens, and a cooler full of snacks) into Emily’s car for the trip! This one little lime tree has an insane yield of super juicy limes so we are doing our best to turn it into an indoor/outdoor plant in Virginia.

We’ve made the drive between LA and Phoenix before so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We decided against stopping by Joshua Tree on the way there because we have already been a few times and wanted the option to leave LA later in the day. We got some great burritos and beer in Phoenix that night thanks to a recommendation from Jason and Victoria!
Day 2: Phoenix to Deming
This drive was pretty boring but we got to break it up with a short hike in Saguaro National Park. Even though we had been passing these cactuses on I-10 the entire day the size and density of them within the park was wild!

We spent the night in Deming, which is just some random small town along the highway. Of course we made a point to find some stacked enchiladas to eat for dinner while we were in New Mexico.
Day 3: Deming to Ft. Stockton
We stumbled upon the most amazing french bakery for breakfast in Las Cruces. Their pear frangipane was super delicious and possibly the best thing we ate on the entire trip.
Our biggest diversion of the trip was heading north to White Sands National Park on our way into Texas. It was an incredibly windy day which made the experience even more surreal. It felt like we were in a white-out blizzard, except instead of getting wet we were getting pelted with tiny abrasive chunks of gypsum! It was very hard to even keep your eyes open unless you were facing downwind. When the wind caught people’s little plastic saucer sleds they would literally fly from the top of one dune to the next!

Afterwards we drove south through El Paso where we had some great Mexican food for dinner before continuing to Fort Stockton to stay the night.
Day 4: Ft. Stockton to Houston
One third of our entire trip took place in Texas and this day really emphasized that point. We were able to break up the drive by stopping at San Antonio in the afternoon. The Alamo was kind of neat and the riverwalk was made especially eye catching by the green dye they put in the canals for St. Patrick’s Day. However, the amazing brisket and beef ribs we had for lunch made the long drive through Texas entirely worthwhile!
Day 5: Houston to New Orleans
This day started off with delicious breakfast tacos thanks to a recommendation from Casey! Houston is a big city with a lot going on and we will definitely need to come back at some point.

Instead of checking out the Rocket Center we decided to drive to the Cattail Marsh wetlands. There were plenty of different birds to watch but we also came across a huge alligator swimming through one of the pools! This was a refreshing change from 4 days of desert.

We didn’t make it to New Orleans until late at night, and the only places still serving food at the time were all on Bourbon Street. We were shocked at how packed the area was on some random Thursday night during a pandemic. New Orleans definitely seems like a city we need to come back to in the future to fully experience.
Day 6: New Orleans to Birmingham
After a breakfast of beignets we headed just south of New Orleans to stroll along the boardwalks at Jean Lafitte National Park. The swamp was weird and spooky, which was punctuated by the alligators we found lounging around on the edge of boardwalk!


We broke up the long drive to Birmingham with a walk around a pond at a cool town park in Mississippi. We ended up spending the evening at a brewery in Birmingham that had a great outdoor space.
Day 7: Birmingham to Knoxville
The big event for the day was a stop at the Huntsville Space Center. They have a horizontal stage-separated Saturn V in their museum building along with a whole garden of rockets outside. Besides some incredibly outdated information about ULA’s 2017 delivery of crew to the international space station and 2019 launch of the Vulcan rocket it was a really well laid out and interesting museum about the Saturn V and Apollo program!

We made it to Knoxville after an easy drive through Tennessee then found a rib shack with a quiet patio to enjoy our last dinner on the road.
Day 8: Knoxville to Roanoke
We were anxious to get home on our last day and basically only stopped for gas and coffee as we crossed over the Appalachians. We were happy to see that the house was pretty much the way we left it in November. The only surprise was that an otter or beaver had apparently decided to move in to the boat house and use the dock as a toilet while we were away!
Settling In
The plants all seemed to make it through the journey unscathed, despite a cold night in Knoxville. Hopefully we can trick them into thinking that sunny spots by a window are basically California.

The very next day was our first day of part-time remote work for SpaceX. We had our work laptops with us and were able to make progress on our projects despite our POD not arriving yet.

We just finished our first week as Virginia residents and we are starting to find our groove. Our work desktops arrived on Wednesday which makes working remote a lot easier (although desks and chairs would help too!) To some extent we are still on “California time” although we have been waking up and getting started a little earlier each day.
Unfortunately our POD was delayed a week so we still haven’t been able to move in. We took a “quick” (40 minute) trip to Roanoke to “pick up a few things from town” which has helped make the house a little more functional. We have a huge list of projects to do and now that we are here the only thing limiting us is time.
The weather has been nice (60s – 70s) so kayak season has definitely begun! Getting the right equipment to be able to take advantage of the warm, sunny, dry days will definitely be the next priority for us.
Happy to have your both back East! Glad your trip went well.
Awesome trip! Glad to see that you’re finding the groove 🙂 all the best to you guys!!
What an awesome and fun adventure! Jason and I are so happy for you guys and wish you both the best of luck.