Color-Coded Boxes and a Fresh Start: How We Unpacked Our Life in Southern Idaho

Once our stuff finally arrived by semi-trailer — eleven days late, for the record, and I'd strongly recommend against using any freight company that routes through Old Dominion — the real work began.

Unpacking a family of eight into a new home in a new state is an operation that requires either a plan or a miracle. We tried the plan.

The Duct Tape System

My wife, brilliant as always, color-coded every single box before we loaded them. Not with markers or labels — with patterned duct tape.

Bacon and eggs tape: kitchen. Polka dots: master bedroom. Zigzag: the big girls' room.

The idea was that anyone helping unload could just look at the box, match the tape, and know where it went without asking. In a perfect world, we would have made a legend poster for the front door.

In our world, the semi arrived a week and a half late and the tape system was half the plan. But it still helped.

The Bigger Point

Here's the thing about moving your whole family across multiple states to start over on a homestead in Jerome County, Idaho: the logistics are hard. The unpacking is hard. The first few weeks are genuinely exhausting.

And it is absolutely, completely worth every bit of it.

The view out the window on morning one makes you forget every frustrating moment of the move. That's the truth.

Thinking About Making Your Move?

I've helped families relocate to southern Idaho who went through every version of this story — the long drives, the late trucks, the chaotic first weeks. On the other side of all of it is a life most people only dream about.

I'm Dr. Ron Jones, your Magic Valley real estate guide. Let's get you here.

Dr. Ron Jones | Rim & River Real Estate | rimandriver.com | 208-712-8386