Okay. Here goes. I'll try not to be too boring for some of you.
Being part of the "Peggy trip" was actually a lot of fun. Blaine and Landon were a huge help in packing. I had the bedroom, bathrooms, pantry, and a big share of the living room/kitchen/computer area ... hmm. Actually all the house except the Back Room which was totally John's. (That was some serious sorting; a few of you are familiar with that room.
)
I had to sort out what needed to go this trip and what could wait for the next one (supposedly the big one with RoseBus). I was looking with Minimalists eyes (my fav).
We took a few days and used a bunch of totes that we had gotten over the years. Many of those were carryovers when moving from Friendship Forest. Others we picked up when on sale. The totes were better than boxes for most things because we could see what was in them. We had them designated for easy unpacking.
We cleared out the "Kids Room" and that became our packing materials area (with a table). It also served for completed boxes staging so we could keep open as much space as possible in the Big Room.
We needed to sort by weight, too, trying to keep totes and boxes somewhat balanced. Hence some ended up with odd stuff on top or just a few extra items got stuffed there to "close out" a tote. That made for some fun surprises on the other end.
Having the U-haul was great. We stuffed soft or delicate items into furniture pieces, surrounded by clothes. That was something we learned when doing PSC moves with the Marine Corps.
John did set me up with a nice bunk area in the back of Q. I was afraid I was going to be too cold but he had plenty of blankets close by. Turns out, I got really hot once the sun came up and I peeled off the blankets. I tried to keep my little area neat despite a lot of stuff packed around me. I was in charge of the water bottles and the power charger. Over some rough roads, some of the bigger things near the back of the van shifted, which was a little scary. Plenty of rattling going on in the back most of the trip ... besides my wheelchair, not sure what the other things might have been.
Glad to say, nothing got broken or spilled on the trip. It was a long ride but it was nice to follow along using the cell phone. Checked in with Blaine ... Landon was mostly sleeping. I was able to be a back-van driver, doing the directions only ... I couldn't see the roadway front or back.
On the Chattanooga TN traffic, I do not think I would've liked that one bit.
Maybe our timing was off -- probably rush hour craziness.
So, this part was getting ready and the actual driving trip for the second leg, with Blaine and Landon and a moderate amount of stuff. It was real fun once we got here. I'll let John do his first take on that chapter.
