We have not fallen off the face of the earth. We have just been incredibly busy setting up our new home. You knew that was why we had gone silent but had to patiently wait for an update. Like I said in the last post, waiting bites lol.
To do a quick recap: With the help of DeAngelo, his assistant, and John, we had the Uhaul loaded by 10:45 a.m. on Monday, September 10. I have to give credit to DeAngelo as that young man knows how to pack a truck. As furniture and boxes left, I vacuumed myself towards the door. After turning in our keys, a quick lunch at Subway, and topping off the gas tank, we were on the road at noon. Pulled in to the hotel in Bakersfield a little before 6 p.m. The only exciting thing we saw was as we came in to Bakersfield. There was a truck with a trailer loaded with firewood that was on fire in the slow lane after having a blow out (gators were on the road leading up to the fire). Thankfully, the guys were safely away from the burning vehicle. No fire trucks were yet on the scene just one CHP officer. Everyone slowed way down and got in the farthest lane to get past the inferno.
Tuesday was a longer day with an overnight stay in Kingman, AZ. We got to experience going through a Weigh Station in Arizona. We pulled up on the scales (still had a 1,000 plus pounds we could have been carrying) and declared that we had household goods and were waived through. Thankfully, the weigh station was not busy with truckers or it could have been more stressful. During the night in Kingman, we had quite the thunder storm pass over. I mentioned to John that I hoped the Uhaul didn't leak (they aren't responsible for damages if they do - imagine that). Guess we would have to wait to find out. One surprise of this journey was that the Uhaul got better fuel mileage than we had expected for the whole trip. It certainly didn't drive like our F-450 did nor did it ride like it either but it got us here safely so you won't hear any complaints from me.
We left Kingman close to 7:20 a.m. and pulled in to Orchard Ranch at 10 a.m. Funny thing was that the closer we got to Dewey, the faster the Uhaul went :) MPG's be damned. After a Welcome Home greeting, the office had us take a golf cart to go check out our home. We were very happy (understatement) with what we saw. As the construction crew had not put up the pickets and railings on the landing yet, Mike said that if we got to unloading the Uhaul right away, it would make unloading easier and that we had a temporary Occupancy Permit for our stuff. However, if the construction crew could get the pickets and handrails up, then not only could our stuff stay in the house but so could we. Whoa, that was a big surprise! So we hopped on the golf cart (giddy as all get out) and stopped at Rick and Y's to let them know we were there and the news about unloading the Uhaul. They said they would meet us at the house while we went back up to the office to swap out the golf cart for the Uhaul.
The construction crew broke for lunch and the four of us set about unloading the Uhaul. Thanks a bunch, Rick and Y, for all your help. We couldn't have done it without you. While unloading, we did discover that the Uhaul did have a leak but since most of our stuff were in plastic bins, the lids contained most of the water. My dresser surface did get one spot of water on it and a few items had a few scratches but all in all, not too bad. Shortly after noon everything was unloaded and in the nick of time as the crew was coming back to work. We took Rick and Y out for lunch and when we returned, the pickets and railings were going up. Rick and Y had dinner planned so we agreed to meet at their place around 6:30 and John and I set to work. Our first order of business was to put our bed together so that we would have a place to sleep should we be able to stay there. We were told before 4 p.m. that we had the Occupancy Permit and could stay in our place. For real?!!! We kept pinching ourselves because never in our wildest dreams had we thought we would be in our new home on the same day we arrived. Thank you so very much Mike and Crew!!!!! The house officially became ours on the 13th.
So unpacking and settling in started on the 12th and we finally got the last piece in place today (guest room now open for guests). Long days and a lot of fun. Plus a lot of trips to Home Depot and Lowe's (sometimes multiple trips in one day lol). Whew! Our home: a few items we had kept from our old home, some new items from our short lived adventure in an apartment, and some new items for the new house. It feels good . . . it feels like home.
There are still some unfinished projects but of course, will they ever be truly done? The word contentment comes to mind for so many reasons. My honey has gone 67 days being seizure free (thank you medication). John is counting the days (23) when he can get back on his bike (not on the road but here in the park for now). LIFE IS GOOD! We will try to get some pictures posted soon . . . promise.
