Sunday, June 6, 2021

Finished moving, at last!

Even though we officially moved into our new home on December 20...

...we had an awkward situation in that at least half our household goods were still in a couple of storage units in our old town. Items included shop equipment, farm tools, summer clothes (since we moved in winter), pictures for the walls, furniture, and of course the vast majority of our books, which have been packed away for almost two years.

As the season progressed and we found ourselves wanting to tackle more and more projects, we kept asking each other: "Do you know where such-and-such is?" – only to realize it was in one or the other storage unit. We couldn't really claim to be fully moved in until those units were empty and the contents transported here.

But moving the items from there to here was something of a logistical nightmare. We have the big 26-foot box truck (purchased so we could give the metaphorical middle finger to U-Haul after our nightmare experience with them), but we had to figure an all-day trip at minimum and an overnight trip at maximum. That would mean leaving the pets (dog and parrot) alone for way too long. We also needed to organize a work crew of strong young people interested in earning some money who could do the heavy lifting.


As it turns out, organizing this took weeks of pre-planning. We first attempted to gather the work crew in late May, and it simply didn't work out. Part of that reason, I believer, is we attempted to form the work party on a Sunday, since I have Saturday commitments. But that whole thing fell apart.

So we set our sights on this past weekend – Saturday, June 5 – with the understanding Don would be driving the box truck and handling the move solo, since I wouldn't be able to go. (On the bright side, at least I was home with the pets.)

We contacted everyone we knew who had teenagers and asked them to meet Don at the storage units. We also asked a neighbor who is a former professional truck driver to meet Don there so he could back the box truck in as close as he could to the units.

Meanwhile, we cleaned the box truck and got it ready.

Don brought every possible accouterments he might need: ladders, step ladders, flatbed carts, hand trucks, ropes, straps.

Then, at 6:30 am on Saturday, I kissed him goodbye, said a prayer for safe travels, and watched him drive away. To be honest, I was worried. That truck is a monster and he hates driving it.

My prayers were answered. Don called about 12:30 – not long after he got there – and said he was already about to head home again! As it turned out, we hit the jackpot with a work crew. Seventeen young people showed up. Seventeen!

Thanks to our neighbor's skill in backing big rigs into tight spaces, he was able to back the box truck right up to the door of the bigger storage unit. The kids all formed a chain gang and got the unit emptied in an hour. The smaller storage unit took about fifteen minutes. He didn't even need any of the ladders or flatbed carts.

After weeks and months of fretting how we were going to get all our household goods moved, it took less than an hour and a half to get the truck loaded!

Don was home by 4:30, tired but elated. And at last, we have everything here! (Ahem. Except one or two more things at our old house, such as our pickup's camper shell and a couple of wheelbarrows. We'll take another trip to get those things later. At least we can just drive the pickup for that trip.)

Now we need to unload and organize the contents of the box truck, including items we'll sell or donate now that we have an idea of what we don't need. But we can take that task slow and steady.

It feels good. We're finally finished moving – six months after moving.

14 comments:

  1. That must be quite a relief. Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My father and I used to get roped into moving relatives because we had a truck. I never enjoyed it. - lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Boy, do I ever understand the joy of this post! We had similar events when we moved here on the ridge from Florida! Scatterings from here, to there, and it is quite a haul from Florida to the ridge. I really can feel the elation ! We found that too, about the dreading, and then when we would get home, it would feel so good! Made us wonder why we had worried so dang much! Really glad for you and Don! Opening up some of those boxes, will feel like Christmas! Haha!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 13 years ago we moved about 60% of our house, including my shop, to a storage place up near our new home. That turned out to be a good move because when the realtor called the good news was the place was sold the bad news was we had to be out in a week! That was not a problem because we had only left enough furniture to dress the old home. It was an absolute joy when it was closed. That was the week before the 2008 crash!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's great that you have friends you can count on to help out in situations like yours. Make sure you say an extra prayer for them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's awesome! It took us 2 years to get everything moved. We are not in our forever place so I'm already thinking in regards to the next move.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As kids, we moved a lot growing up. As adults, we moved a few more times, each of us. My younger brother got tired of it, and one day told me he would never move again. He would toss a match and burn the house down, start over at a new place.

    Me thinks he.was.only.partly.joking.

    Me also thinks he may have been on to something

    ReplyDelete
  8. How about your new cook stove at your old place? Will it make the trip with your wheelbarrows and such? Moving is always such an ordeal. Unpacking your books will be so fun, you'll find those duplicates and tell yourself, oh good, now I have room for another one. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, we picked up the wood cookstove some time ago (see this post: http://www.rural-revolution.com/2021/02/freezer-tetris.html ). The stove is in the barn waiting to be installed. Can't wait to get it in place! Right now we do not have a non-electric heat source in the house, so having this stove will bring us great peace of mind when winter rolls around.

      - Patrice

      Delete
  9. SO glad you had a big crew!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nothing better than having everything in one place - and nothing more annoying than "Do you know where.... Oh wait, I know...".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A minimalist's greatest nightmare: Having to buy another of the item you KNOW you have, but can't find.
      Montana Guy

      Delete
    2. some people's favorite phrase.

      I have one here . . . somewhere.

      kathy in MS

      Delete
  11. Congrats on completing your move!

    (Insert Sigh of Relief, Here)

    ReplyDelete