VIDALIA — Transitioning from life in greater Los Angeles to small-town Vidalia has been no big deal for the Van Hek family.

When The Dart landed on Stuart Drive it found Eric, his wife, Jamie, and their three children settling into small-town life in Vidalia.

The Van Hek family moved from Hemet, Calif., a town of more than 100,000, at the end of October when Eric took a job at Natchez Powersports. The children started classes in the Vidalia school system in November.

“They do mudding, more mudding here on quads,” Jaime Van Hek said. “It’s more about riding on sand dunes on dirt bikes in California.”

“I learned how to ride a quad before I learned how to ride a bicycle,” said Caitlin Van Hek, 14, after she finished unloading the groceries.

With the grocery store fresh on her mind, Jaime said she’d like to see more choices there and in the restaurants — Mexican food is completely different here — but overall, she’s enjoying the change of pace in the Miss-Lou.

“You don’t have to worry about traffic, but you do have to get used to one-way streets,” she said. “Another difference is in California, there are not a lot of yield signs — it’s almost always a stop sign.”

The expectations for her husband at work are also different. In California, the shop where he worked had expanded to be open seven days a week and he was constantly there.

“My husband wanted to slow down and see the kids grow up,” Jaime said. “We knew here he’d at least have Sunday and Monday off.”

Caitlin said one thing she likes about the area is that it rains.

“In California, there is no water,” she said. “The first time it rained, I went running in it like a crazy person.”

With all the water around, though, Jaime said they’d have to get used to mosquitoes.

“The water and electricity are a lot cheaper here,” she said. “Gas is cheaper in California, but you aren’t stuck in traffic as much (here).”

At school, being from California, Caitlin said the biggest question she gets is from people is if she’d seen any celebrities.

“The only thing is I got to meet Smash Mouth at a festival,” she said. “But I’m really more into metal. AC/DC is my favorite band.”

Jaime said most of the celebrities the family knows are in the motocross sports business because the shops her husband has worked at often sponsor them. But back when Eric Van Hek worked in audio, he did two Super Bowls and got to meet country music artist Garth Brooks.

“I don’t know if he still does, but back then Garth Brooks had bad stage fright,” Jaime said. “He came to my husband and asked him how many people were out there, and he gave him an honest answer that it was a lot. No one had told (Eric) you were not supposed to do that.”

Caitlin said the next question people ask is about earthquakes.

“There are little earthquakes all the time in California, but you don’t feel them,” she said.

In Vidalia, the weather is different, especially the storms, Jaime said.

“When the tornado came through a few months ago I was upstairs in the bathroom and the whole room started shaking,” Jaime said. “At first I thought, ‘Is this an earthquake?’”

Jaime said her children would like it if the schools had more programs, like a drama club. But even though there is less to do, she said she has seen an impact in her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, 12, who Jaime said has dyslexia.

In California, Jaime said she had held her daughter back in elementary once, and she couldn’t hold her back again until middle school, even though she was falling further and further behind. She and her husband kept trying to figure out what was happening and thought it might be dyslexia, but the school wouldn’t confirm it.

“They acknowledge dyslexia here,” Jaime said. “Now she is doing well. She is smart, but she says it’s like the words move around the page on her.”

Overall, Jaime said she and her family are happy to be a part of the community.

“Everyone is really nice here,” she said. “We look forward to participating in the events around town.”