Okay, one more post and then I'll leave it to Sweet and Roache and whatever babbling/disinformation they care to share ...
Anyhoo ....
Sunday 10 November, 2024. An auspicious day, being the 249th birthday of the Marine Corps ... At this point, the U-Haul truck is packed and ready to roll with the Malibu packed and on the trailer. I forget what time Chris Sweet arrived -- he'll have to fill in that blank. But our next order of business was getting Charlie ready to go on Mike Roache's trailer when he arrived. Also, we had to get the tractor on the trailer behind the van. Last things on the agenda would be the most critical items that would get packed in around Peggy in the van. We did not forget the van's roof rack ... That got loaded, too, with the ladder collection smile.
As a funny side note, after we had gotten the van packed, and the last few items at oh dark thirty on Monday, I got Peggy in the van. As I turned from transferring her, I was looking down at her wheelchair sitting there next to the van .... The chair seemed to be saying "well, Sparky??? Got a place for *ME*?????" Oooooooppppps .... blush
Some quick repacking at the back of the van, and the chair was in!
Good thing the van has tinted windows .... The trailer was another story. The tractor (with FEL and box blade hanging off the back) only weighed about 4,000 lbs. The trailer was good for another 4,500lbs. Having learned my lesson about over loading the van on the first trip, I wasn't planning on maxing out the van. But we did have some space and some weight available. So we used it. And it must have looked a little like the Clampetts ... Along with the tractor, I had my bike strapped to one side, the pressure washer strapped to the other and the roto tiller on the front. In the tractor's bucket, we had stuffed a few other items. Rounding out the load was the van's spare tire and the garden hoses under the tractor.
Mikey then showed up and we put Charlie on his trailer. Rounding out Mike's load were a few items in the back of his truck that could ride low and not interfere with the gooseneck trailer. More Lego/Tetris playing with all the pieces.
The rest of Sunday wrapped up with moving everything left (that wasn't making this trip) to the sea container to clear the house for the incoming renter. Not sure when Chris and I wrapped that up, but we all crashed pretty hard. Besides, it was going to be an early reveille. Mike and family had finished their load out and returned home. We would meet up with them in Dahlgren, VA.
The next morning, Chris, Peggy and I got up about 0400, got the coffee going and prepared to move out.
We met up with Mikey at the Sheetz in Dahlgren and started what was going to be a very long day. Peggy and I in the van, Chris piloting the U-Haul truck and Mikey in his truck with Charlie. Turned out that our van had the shortest legs so Peggy and I called the fuel stops along the way. There were about four of them. We had some issues with the CBs but Mike can fill in on how he resolved that issue. We were well able to communicate and stay together through some very bad traffic in Knoxville and Chattanooga.
We hit sunset about at the Alabama state line and made the rest of the trip (about an hour from South Pittsburg, TN to Skyline) in the dark. I think Mike and Chris were surprised at the end. When I said we were going "mountain climbing" they thought I was joking ...
Well, I wasn't.
We made it up the mountain and onto the Skyline Ranch (AKA Stovebolt HQ about 2030 hrs or so (CT). We unloaded essential items from the van (including Peggy
) and then all 4 of us crashed.
We spent Tuesday unpacking and then Mike Chris and I took Charlie and the IH dump down into Scottsboro for a late lunch at Payne's, got back in time to do a little pistol shooting and then that was that. A few projects the next day and then they hit the road for home.
Again, a huge thanks to Chris, Mike, their families and the previously mentioned folks who helped us pull this off!
