This post is part of a new series – my journal as we start our adventure to build Humblebee Farms in the heart of the Lost Pine forest in Paige, Texas.

We arrived at Austin-Bergstrom airport eager to get on the road to our new place. After 5 years of searching, we finally found the home for Humblebee Farms. I was practically bouncing on the airplane from excitement (and my normal agitation level when flying).

After a little over 4 hours in the air, we landed and quickly made our way to baggage claim. After paying the $5 fee to rent a cart, we staked a claim on our location of choice and waited. A few minutes later, we spotted our two large suitcases. After loading them on the cart we watched for our remaining two boxes. Normally light travelers, we had loaded up with spare linens, towels, toiletries, etc. for the trip. Since I have “status” with Alaska Airlines I was able to cart the extra gear at no extra charge and did my best to take full advantage of this benefit. After about 15 minutes with no additional bags coming down the chute we started to look around. Ahem, where’s our stuff?

The only reassurance is that we weren’t the only ones still waiting from our flight. After another 10 minutes people started fidgeting. Finally, a rep from Alaska Airlines wandered out into the sparse crowd. She stopped near us and explained to one of our neighbors that there was an issue. The “issue” turned out to be a moose head.

Yes, you read that right. A moose head, we learned, had tumbled out of the cooler that was housing it – along with a good amount of blood, into the cargo hold of our plane. The mess was blocking workers from accessing any stuff that was behind the spill – including our last two boxes.

I took a moment to thank our lucky stars that we opted to virtually sign closing papers on our new place the day before. I knew that airplanes aren’t the most reliable birds in the sky and we were flying in on a Friday afternoon, leaving no room for delays. However, we still needed to get to the title company before they closed at 5PM so we could pick up the keys – and it was now 3PM. The title company was about 45 minutes out. The clock was ticking.

My husband suggested I get the rental car and come back to pick him up. Maybe by then our stuff would be ready. Off I went. But by the time I grabbed the car and pulled up to arrivals, our boxes were still missing. Tick tock, tick tock. My husband asked one Alaska’s reps if we could come back later for our remaining luggage. Her answer back? Any unaccompanied luggage would be deemed a potential threat and would be subject to a dunk in some anti-explosive medium (water?). Not exactly the answer we were looking for!

As the clock ticked closer to 4PM anxiety started to set in. It didn’t help that I was also really hungry. Never a fan of plane food, our original agenda was to grab a Banh Mi from one of our favorite places – Elizabeth Street Cafe – and eat it on the drive out. Instead I was rummaging my bag for whatever snacks were left over from the last time I travelled.

Just after my husband suggested I go ahead and drive to the title company, the luggage started pouring out of the chute again. Finally! We snagged our two boxes and drove off for the title company. We arrived at 4:45 – just in time! After meeting with our Real Estate Agent (the wonderful Bill Boyd from Reality Austin) and collecting our keys and gate remotes we headed back to the car.

But now we had a new problem. My desire to drive right out to our new place was equally matched by my stomach’s desire to have food in it. And we knew that there wasn’t any organic/ sustainable food to be found in the direction our new place was (at least not in terms of a restaurant). We did the “smart” thing and headed back toward Austin. Soup Peddler to the rescue for some nourishing provisions!

Once we had a chance to fill our bellies we decided the next logical step was to hit the hardware store. We needed cleaning supplies and tools. The cabin hadn’t been occupied in 6 months and when we last saw the place spiders had already moved into every crevice (which are numerous with a log cabin). After two hours we emerged from the hardware store. At this point it was dark and we were both exhausted.

Not having a bed at the new place quite yet, we had decided to book an Airbnb for our first night. Once again I was conflicted – drive out the 45 minutes each way to revel in our new place for a bit or head to the Airbnb to get some much needed rest. We opted for the later, rationalizing that a goods night sleep would leave us ready to go in the morning.

We arrived at the the tiny home rental I booked. It was adorable! Two friendly kitties with extra long tails greeted us. Meow! We spent a few minutes sitting on the porch, hanging with the kitties and soaking in the evening warmth. After a bit, we headed in to clean up and prepare for bed.

It was my husband who first discovered our next problem – the bed. The first issue was that it was small. I thought I had read it was queen, but instead it was a full. It doesn’t help that I am spoiled and used a king! All well, we can snuggle! But an even greater issue was the fact that this mattress was not really a mattress. It was a stone slab, charading as a mattress. This from my husband – a man who prefers a very firm mattress. I, on the other hand, prefer medium and this bed was far from “medium” feel. All well, it’s just one night. I took solace in the fact that I was exhausted and would most likely be lights-out the minute my head hit the pillow.

Boy, was I wrong. I had underestimated the hardness of the bed. And I found myself remembering the time I overnighted in a teepee in Yakima as part of an environmental sciences course at the University of Washington. I had figured the teepee would be on a dirt floor, and so brought the only mat I owned at the time – my yoga mat. I was very disappointed to discover the teepee sat atop a concrete pad. I spent that night – and this night in the cute little Airbnb – rotating every 30 minutes or so as whatever part of my hips or bum got sore. I felt and likely looked like a rotisserie chicken and is systematically rotated all night. It was not a restful nights sleep for either of us. But with day 1 under our belt, I was eager to get to day 2.

Moose Photo Credit: Photo by Richard Lee on Unsplash