Random Thoughts

It’s official, we live in Minnesota. We arrived today in good shape, and in good time, just past 1 PM. We got the cars unpacked, started putting some stuff away and Katie & I went to Ikea to buy chairs. They’re the best. Seriously.

Then some great folks from church brought us dinner. After we ate, Denise and I went shopping for food and other stuff. It’s been a really long day, and the next few will be as well, so it may take a few days to get the final driving pics up here. But we got some good ones, so there will be pics.

Okay, going to bed now…

Well, our biggest day of driving is behind us. We made it to Rockford just about 5 PM local time, which means we were on the road for about 9 hours. I think our actual driving time was closer to 7 1/2 hours, as we stopped and visited Denise’s Grandparents in Delta, OH on the way. We also stopped off in Indiana for lunch. We got held up in Chicago a bit in traffic, which was expected, but it wasn’t terrible. According to the GPS, we lost about 45 minutes there. We also got tied up a the IN/IL state line, as IN has yet to embrace 20th century technology and get EZPass lanes going. Hey Indiana, we use computers now!

Anyway, we had a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel, and are now just chilling in the hotel room. It’s nice to be relaxing and not moving for a little bit. I’m used to driving a lot, but the drive was tough on Denise. Especially in Chicago where we got separated for bit and had to make sure we ended up in the right lane. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier (I know it will be shorter…). According to Google maps, we have a 5 hour and 22 minute ride. Hopefully it will be that or less.

Here are some of our sights from today’s drive.

Cleveland’s skyline from the famed “Deadman’s Curve.” The day started off really pretty and I had high hopes for a sunny drive. But then…

Oh yeah, first we drove past the Jake (aka, Jacob’s field, where the Indians have a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory…)

Yup, northwestern Ohio is just as boring as it you think it is. It’s flat, and barren and well, dull. And it goes on for what seems like forever, right, Cindy?

This was spied in Swanton, OH. Apparently, you can get yourself a bra at a great price while your muffler is being replaced. It’s two, two services in one!

After your new bra and muffler, stop by the Big Buffalo Pawn Shop to pick up whatever else you may need.

It was about Indiana that the skies started to change…The clouds rolled in and it got really gray. In fact, about 2 PM it looked like it was closer to 4:30 it was so dark. Good times.

It’s remarkable how much Northern Indiana looks like Northern Ohio. Flat and boring. Only with more snow. Thankfully, it’s a narrow state…

Welcome to Gary, Indiana, the armpit of Indiana. As Katie described it, “Gross!” Best to keep on driving. At least it was cold and therefore didn’t smell as bad as it does in the summer!

Ah, Chicago, just like I remember it. The traffic was like this for about 20 miles, or all of downtown Chicago. By the time we got to Shaumburg, it broke up a bit and we got moving again.

So that’s it. The next post will be from the new house! Peace out, yo!

Today is a day off for us. We’re hanging out at Denise’s mom’s and not really doing much. I took a long walk in a park nearby this morning, and Denise is going to do a little shopping. It’s nice to be able to chill out for a few hours.

I was thinking this morning during my walk that it’s kind of surreal this move. The last 2 times I’ve done an interstate move, I woke up in my old house and went to bed in my new house. This one, being as prolonged as it is doesn’t really seem like we’re moving. It feels like we’re visiting Marty for the holiday. Tomorrow as we drive further west it will probably sink in. Like I said though, it’s hard to believe that on Monday we’ll roll into Minneapolis and begin an whole new adventure.

But that’s all the news for now. The weather forecast is good from here on out, so I don’t expect we’ll have any trouble. Tomorrow I’ll be posting from Rockford…

Well, we hit the road today. The first leg of our journey is under our belt. It’s a bit strange, as we’ve made this trip literally dozens of times before (we’re at Denise’s Mom’s in NE Ohio). In some sense, it doesn’t seem like we’re really going anywhere other than a trip to Mom H’s. The only difference is we won’t be coming back this way for a while. And on Sunday, we’ll drive on to Chicago.

I’m sitting here in my mother-in-law’s front room snitching wireless from a neighbor across the street. The MacBook Pro is pulling in a full signal, and it’s darn fast. Thanks for leaving your net open, neighbor!

This leg went well today, all things considered. We experienced a wide variety of weather, as you’ll see from the photos. We had grey skies, snow and a great sunset. And we drove straight into the sun. That was interesting. Overall, we made good time, just about 4 hours of total time, and 3:40 of drive time. Katie was excited to see snow in Ohio. We stopped at the welcome center and there was a good 3 inches of snow on the ground. Most of it has blown inland by the time we went through, so we didn’t get much coming down other than a bit in Erie.

I didn’t expect this part of the trip to be a problem, and it wasn’t. I am, however, so incredibly grateful that we didn’t have to pull a trailer. With the load in the bed, my truck can hardly get out of it’s own way. I can’t imagine another 1,200 lbs. of trailer weight. That would have been tough. We also learned that our big trailer made it to Chicago on Wednesday, so I’m guessing that it will be delivered on Tuesday of next week, which is really good.

Anyway, on with the photos:

Some threatening skies over southwestern NY. This was taken just past the Dunkirk-Fredonia exit if I recall correctly. The shafts of light coming out the clouds looked really cool.

Still in NY, some really cool clouds. I loved the way the sunlight was trying to burst out.

Welcome to Pennsylvania! The only real snow we hit on the whole drive was around Erie. It wasn’t bad, and there was only a small bit of slush in the passing lane in the middle. No big.

Once we got into Ohio, the skies cleared up, and the sun was setting. It kept getting prettier and prettier as we went.

This was just breathtaking. Taken outside of Ashtabula, OH.

It’s all fun until someone gets an eye poked out. Or until you’re driving straight into the sun. This was pretty crazy. The road lined up perfectly with the setting sun, and all you could see was this big, huge ball of light. Wow! People were slamming on their brakes because they couldn’t see, and people behind them couldn’t see them doing such. Welcome to Ohio!

Despite the danger, it was pretty beautiful.

It took a few shots to get this right (which is tough when driving at 70 MPH and not looking through the viewfinder). The sky was really pretty, and I like the trees. This would have been great in about another 5 minutes, but stopping on the interstate wasn’t a good idea.

So that’s our trip, leg 1. We’re staying here tomorrow, and moving on to Rockford Sunday. Look for a post and some more pics Sunday night (possibly late). The hotel has free wi-fi. It’s the only way to travel!

Well, we have begun our week of nomadic living. We’ve spent the last 2 nights at my brother’s in Honeoye Falls (though the girls have slept at Grandma’s down the street). I spent yesterday on the phone trying to arrange stuff for our new home. I think I have everything set up. The good news is that we will have internet the first night we are there. That means Katie can watch Heroes. And we’ll be keeping up to date.

I tracked our moving truck and it made it as far as Chicago yesterday, so there’s a good chance that it will be there on Tuesday. We’ll be without TV until Saturday, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.

I ran out to Canandaigua yesterday to pick up some stuff at the house, but forgot our mail. I also forgot to go to the bank and the pharmacy. So I may have to run out again tomorrow. After lunch tomorrow, we’ll be heading west to Cleveland to stay a few nights with Denise’s mom. On Sunday we drive to Rockford, IL; then on Monday on to Minneapolis.

Thanks again to all those who helped the loading of the truck go so smoothly. It was a really good time. More later…

The packing is complete! I have to say, I am absolutely amazed at how well it went. On Sunday night, I was praying about the packing, and my greatest hope was that by dark we would have most everything on the truck and we would just be going through the last few things that would have to get left behind. I really didn’t expect everything to fit.

Monday morning, the truck arrived early, the weather was great, and we had a fantastic crew show up. Top honors has to go to our friend, Gary who is the master packer. Seriously! We had a 26′ truck, and as I said, I didn’t expect it to fit. In fact, we had reserved a U-haul trailer to pull our mattresses and some other stuff in. Well, turns out I was being really pessimistic.

The entire house was emptied out by about 11:30. AM! We set a tarp on the lawn and just had people load stuff out. Gary spent the entire time in the truck, calling for stuff as he needed it. As the furniture went on, I looked and was surprised to see only about 8′ full. All we had left were boxes! By about 12:30, all but the last few things were in, and we were at about 15′. Once we put the bikes, lawnmower and a few more odds and ends in, we ended up at about 16′. And that was everything! Everyone ate and went home. We were done by 1:30. Very, very cool.

The best news is that because we pay by the foot, and because we didn’t have to the trailer, I figure we saved about $1,000 with the super-tight pack. Thank you Gary! What a blessing.  I do have to thank the rest of the people who came out to help, too. My friend Mark drove down from Rochester, and went back home to get moving blankets (which saved us another $150!). We had a bunch of people from church, and I would name them all but I’m afraid I would forget one.  If you were there, you know who you are–Thank You!

Mike Krossber commented that that was the first move he actually had fun at. It really did go smoothly and quickly. We had a bunch more stuff to pack up today, and now the truck and CRV are pretty full, but it all fit. Tonight the girls are at The Box one last time, then we’ll be heading to my brother’s for a few days. Things are wrapping up here, and going really well.

We’ll miss our good friends here and are so thankful for your support. At the same time, we’re excited about the adventure that awaits. And the new MacPro that I’ve just learned is sitting in my new office ‘;-). Here are some pics of the move…

Jon exercising great care in holding up our mattress. All by himself! Moments earlier, it was saved from near disaster by the swift-footed Chad as it came out the window a little quicker than we anticipated.

This is the staging area we set up to hold the stuff as it came out of the house. This is about 1/2 way through the truck pack.

Here is the Master Packer himself (in hat) Gary, and his apprentice, Greig. Big shout out to Gary!

Chaz Michaels Michaels hard at work. Actually, Chad and his brother Todd with some assistance from Greig emptied the entire basement in like, 15 minutes. I think Chad is on the phone with his agent negotiating a better deal…

Josiah, seen here holding the mattress (with assistance from Jon…) was the young guy on the crew. As such, we made him carry the most and go up and down the stairs the most often.

Mike (with blue tube like device) did a ton of work during the move, and beforehand. He helped me pre-pack a ton of stuff. Jamie (with fan) stopped over during lunch, put a few boxes on the truck and hit the food line. We love you anyway, James!

The final pack by Gary. Note the 16′ mark on the upper right. At this point, we’re closer to 14′, but I added the 3 twin mattresses we were going to throw in the U-haul, as well as some other stuff (that as it turns out, would not have fit in our cars).

An amazing job by all! Thanks again. More to come as we traverse the country on the way to our new home west of the Mississippi. Okay, so we’re actually only about 15 miles west of Ole’ Miss, but still…

Well this is our life…

Yup, our lives have been reduced to a whole bunch of boxes. What amazes me is how much stuff our small family of 4 has. It’s way too much. After a few hours of trying to figure out how to pack up the rest of the small stuff, we gave up and went to dinner.

Smartest thing we’ve done in a while. We really needed to get out of the house and spend some time together, away from boxes and craziness. The next few days are going to be pretty nutty, but we’ll get through it.

It was great to see people from church again today, so many had nice things to say. I’ll miss them dearly. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the next chapter. So here we go, I guess we’re committed now!

Well, here it is Saturday. T-minus 1 day until the truck arrives. Actually, it’s like 36 hours…sweet nibblets!

I finished up work at church yesterday, at LaBarge the day before. I don’t think I’ve eaten out so often in a long time. Monday Dave & Jason took me out to lunch, then surprised me with a crazy-rich chocolate cake when we got back. Monday night, I went out to dinner with Jon and Chad. Wednesday I had lunch with Terry. Thursday, Jamie took me to lunch. Friday I met for lunch with Greg and for dinner with Mark & Holly. If I knew it was that easy to get people to go out with me, I would have announced I was leaving a long time ago!  ‘;-).

Today my good friend Mike Krossber came over to help pack. We broke down the rest of my office furniture (which condensed really well…) and we got the garage in really good shape. I’m feeling like we’re almost ready. Mike is coming over tomorrow to help finish up a lot of little stuff. Another friend, Gary, is coming over to look over our stuff. He once worked for a moving company and will be in charge of packing the truck. People say he’s really good at it. It’s good to know people!

I think we have the last of everything we wanted sold sold. We raised enough money to buy furniture when we get there, plus a Hi-def TV. I’m pretty stoked about that.

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed spending time with friends over the last few weeks. Everyone has been so great, which reminds me just how much we’ve enjoyed our time here. It also reminds me how much I will miss folks. I knew that would be hard for the girls, as their lives are much more friend-centered than ours. Plus I’m looking forward to an exciting new job, which helps offset some of the leaving blues. But in the last few days, I’ve realized that I really miss a lot of people here. I’m so thankful for technology to enable us to stay in touch.

Tomorrow we’ll attend Crosswinds for the last time (for quite a while anyway), then come home and finish packing. Right now I need to start on my famous pulled pork and grape pies for Monday. Looks like my offer of free food worked, I have something like 12-14 people coming to help pack the truck. That should go fast. I’ll try to remember to take pictures of the move and post them up here…

While I am a member of the Facebook group, “Men Diametrically Opposed to Giggling,” I have to admit I giggled with joy today. The friendly FedEx man brought me a little present today, my new MacBook Pro from Upper Room. Don’t get me wrong, I like the MacBook, but adding the Pro to the end is a big deal. And it comes with Leopard, the new OS (which as of this writing is 4 minutes from being fully installed). Today is a good day. It’s November, 60 degrees and I have a new MacBook Pro. Sweeeeet!

In other news, I re-organized the basement yesterday. I condensed about 12 boxes into 5, and got things in order. I feel so much better about the move now, I think we’ll have no trouble getting things to fit.

Actually, yesterday was an interesting day. I spent the morning trying to establish internet service and satellite service to the new house. That took 3 hours. It was not fun. I’ll post about that when I can do so without swearing. So I was pretty frustrated when I went to work at 12:30. I made a sandwich because I was running so late. When I got there, Dave and Jason said, “You eat yet?” Not yet. “Good, cause we’re taking you to lunch!” That was cool. When we got back, they surprised me again with cake and ice cream. A few hours later, I went out to dinner with Chad and Jon from church. That too, was fun.  Then I organized the basement. I slept last night. It was good.

Now today, my new Mac arrives. And as I’m writing, the install process has finished up, and we’re off and running. Time to go play! More later…

We’re down to a week before that big, empty truck shows up in front of the house. People keep asking if we’re ready. I think it’s a trick question. On the one hand, I’m ready. I’m really excited to begin the next chapter of my life. Upper Room is a great community, and I’m looking forward to being part of it. On the other hand, leaving so many good friends will be hard. On the third hand, I’m so not ready for the process of moving. The packing, the loading, the driving. Ugh. I wish we could just teleport us and our stuff there. Someone work on that, okay?

In truth, things are coming together well. Our Craig’s list garage sale has been going well. Most of the stuff we wanted to get rid of is gone. And we have a nice nestegg to get started with in Minneapolis. Even some of the stuff that hasn’t sold has some interest for people at church, so I’m pretty sure it will all go. And if not, stop by the house next Tuesday; whatever doesn’t fit will be on the treelawn.

If it weren’t for the moving process, I would be really looking forward to the next week. I’m going to get to hang out with some friends, wrap up stuff at work and play with my new MacBook Pro. Yeah, it’s true; Upper Room loves me enough to get me a MacBook Pro. It should be here this week. You’ll know because I’ll post pictures when it arrives.

So are we ready? Yes! And no…