We're really doing it! (Part 1)
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2008
1
35
Trip End
Ongoing
Halifax,
Nova Scotia,
Canada
Monday, August 18, 2008
It is hard to believe that we finally got on the road. Only those who were with us the last week have any idea how difficult it was for us to get our life into a 6 X 10 Utility Trailer...and as it turned out, we still had to ship 21 boxes - Imagine Rachael's face when they arrive at her one bedroom apartment door.
We could never thank enough the people who were there in the 11th hour for us...Kelly (Get-it-Gone) and Steve Palmer, Janet (Colleen's Mom) Atton, Jane and John (Master Loading Expert) Thornley, Pat (Give-Me-Something-to-Do) Fitzpatrick and last but not least Bill (I Can Take That) and Lucille Killorn. Without each and every one of them we would never have made it on the road.
If you have never down-sized, you may not know what a challenge it is...we kept wondering if by some chance there was a stuff creator that was making the piles grow instead of going away. The STUFF seemed to have no end and it felt like no matter how much you discarded or packed, the same amount or more was still sitting there. But after a full week of working steadily the house and three car garages were empty. Giving away things that I know I will have to replace on the other end, we had no other choice...we had no more room in the trailer and we still had to make sure the two cats had a safe place to travel...we were able to close the door and move on to our new life. I could hardly believe it. The house closed at 3:00 on August 15th.
We thought we were home free then we went to attach the trailer to the truck and knew at that instant that we still had to much STUFF...we were going to have to empty the trailer...Yikes!
On Sunday , we called in the troops once again and the guys emptied the trailer into Colleen's mothers driveway and garage (thank God for a day of sunshine). Weighing each and every piece and reloading the trailer so the load was level and not too heavy we managed to make the trailer safe for travel (and still bring along the 4' X 5' Painting that Colleen's sister Maureen wanted - we will deliver that to her in Windsor, Ont). Now we had the 21 boxes left over and we decided to ship them to we would not have to think about Stuff left in Nova Scotia while we were in Vancouver. It worked out in the end and on Monday, August 18th at 2:00 (or there about) we were on the road,,,two cats and a trailer in tow.
We will miss all of our family and friends on the east coast.
