Day 4 - In Oregon

We are just starting to settle in and get comfortable. Here is what has happened so far:

On Friday, the day began with the movers coming to pack up the truck. It was a huge truck that already had 2 households on-board. In looking at the truck it was quite ard to believe that all our things would actually fit...and we were right to think so, but I digress.

The crew consisted of three guys initially. Bruce - At first glance, the resemblance to Manson was kinda scary. Second glance too! Could have been on a work release...? Just kidding! Don't be scared it was all ok. Will - A middle aged guy, African American, from Georgia & North Carolina. Extreme on the politeness factor. He was a true engineer in finagling everything onto the truck. Josh - Local kid...okay not really a kid, but the first two were long time truckers and this guy was only 6 years into it. Josh looked like he was on a path to have a hard life - piercings, smoking, etc. All three smoked actually, kinda gross, but they kept it to a minimun and away from the house.

Over the course of the morning, the ice was broken and we all got along great. Not exactly the guys I would normally hang with, but each one had more positive points than you would guess.

As it turns out, neither Bruce nore Will really have a home and live basically on their truck with Bruce's dog Shana --- a very petite pitbull, who turned out sweet despite the breed.

As the day wore on...and on...and on..(it seemed like it would never end), it started to become clear that the estimator that had come out to figure out our needs waaaay underestimated what we had. It was especially crazy since we had purged more items, including our dryer! When the last items were aboard, the door barely closed and I had about 6 trash bags of stuff that we had worked to get rid of. In addition, several items were left behind for the new owners. I could have been very upset, but really I was just glad to see an end to that part of the process.

After the truck pulled out...to drive to Sacramento THAT NIGHT, we headed off to stay with my in-laws. Being tired --- yes it is tiring even when it is not you physically loading everything --- we took our unshowered (eek!) selves out to dinner and then came back to colapse.

Saturday, after tearful goodbyes, morning we headed out with the car packed to the ceiling and a load on my lap and by my feet. After the first short leg, we realized that the dog had room on her seat and we parked Papaguyo in his carrier next to the dog. Not in the plan, but actually worked well -- the dog got a pillow and Papa was very secure. The rest of Saturday's drive was uneventful...or not...I kinda slept through part of it ;-).

In the evening, we arrived at my parent's house and enjoyed stretching out and having dinner with family. We got to meet the newest member of our family and got lots of baby snuggles. K got to run around with her cousin and got to do a little woodworking with Grandpa.

Again we colapsed into sleep, only to wake before dawn for the 11 hour drive. Having figured out how to rearrange a few things, it got a little more comfortable and I didn't have to ride with anything on my lap, just the dog at my feet. The original plan was for the dog to use her seatbelt and have a seat to herself, but when the dog was used as a kid pillow and looked quite uncomfortable on the previous day, we decided that the floor may be a better alternative than an 11 hour puppy pile-up.

On the drive, we watched the landscape change from the open fields of the central valley to the mountains. We saw an amazing amount of snow on Mount Shasta and then continued to see snow in the Siskiyous. As we crossed into Oregon, the trees changed from Oaks to towering Douglas Fir.

Once we arrived, we unloaded the van, stretched, and then jumped back in. We had 2 things to accomplish. The first was to grant K's wish to drive from California, all the way through Oregon, and on to Washington in the same day. Fortunately it was just 10 more minutes to Washington. Then we had to empty out Mark's room that he had been renting.

I now have a true appreciation for what he had been living with for the last few months. First off, the house was old....really old. Yes, I knew it was about a hundred years old, but did not expect its actual state. Aside from the new basement that he was living in, the house had not been touched since the 50's or earlier. Cabinets in the kitchen had obviously not closed to a nice fit in decades. Really it could have been a cute house if it had been cared for/updated. The narrow hallways and stairwell really freaked me out to get around in, but not as much as the odor.... Oh My Gosh. It was a smell that went right to the pit of your stomach and did a tribal dance. I can't describe the actual smell, but it was supposed to be fermenting saurkraut. Having smelled it, I am not quite sure how anyone could actually eat it.

Monday was quiet. Mostly unpacking some boxes and trying to figure out how exactly everything was going to fit. In addition, we had appointments with the handyman, the cable company and a storage unit was being delivered. The handyman showed up slightly earlier than expected, the cable company was arrived at the end of the window of time and spent about 2 hours running new lines since squirrels had made them a snack. The PODS unit was hours late and caused me to make a call to ask where it was...while secretly fearing that I had given them the wrong address and knowing they will deliver without someone home. I peered out on my street, but didn't see a stray PODS on my neighbor's driveway.

Anyway - I drove twice on that day and both times would have been completely lost if it had not been for "Reggie" my GPS. Though he did have to recalculate when a 3 way branch exiting the freeway was not labeled by the street name he said it was. Imagine being told to take the MLK exit, seeing the freeway branch 3 ways -- all single lanes, in moderate traffic (compared to S.CA), near the very center of downtown, and having to make an instant decisision. It was a bit hair raising, but K never noticed that I had no clue what I was doing and that I was at all confused...probably because there was no room left in my brain to articulate a 4 letter word. All was fine and I made it nearly on time.

Tuesday was the big day when the truck arrived. Bruce and Will were joined by Lupe, a local guy that works for North American part time. With less stress from worrying about whether or not there was enough space, they were far more jovial. Through the course of they day, K became enamored with the crew. Kinda scarey since even Bruce admitted that most people would not want to meet him in an alley and he holds his own when in a dive bar. K became known for most of the day as "Short Stack" and became part of the surely crew. (Hope this is not the direction her dating tendancies will lead her!)When they had very light boxes, they would grufly order her to pick it up and get to work. She rebuked them with saucy remarks as she carried the box - they loved it. Several times they remarked that she was very smart, delightfully confident, could hold her own with them, but surprised them but not having an ounce of fear of them. While I held the truck as sacred ground and only ventured on board when asked, she boldly walked along side them and was welcomed into the hold.

The house surprisingly held what we needed and the rest was packed in the PODS, with some overflow into the large garage. At noon, I fed the guys lasagna and found out that Bruce and Will could not remember the last homecooked meal they had had. On the sunny porch they shared about their families and broken marriages. Will talked about how he didn't quite fit into the culture of the south anymore and longed to remedy his relationship with his ex-wife and live once again with her and his son in Germany. Bruce lamented being on the road and not having a homebase. He said that he was planning on returning to live near his sons and ex-wife in Arizona. Even though he was divorced, he still continues to pay her rent and bills both out of guilt and sense of honor. Who knew that such .... "scarey" people who had obviously lead very rough lives could be so sweet. Later, I plied them with warm cookies I baked and that threw them over the edge with gratitude. Upon leaving Lupe said he would make himself available to move to our permanent location and Bruce told us to call him personally to see if he was in the area when we next moved to avoid renting a u-haul. Though it could have gone in many other directions, all was well and the guys actually did a bit more than they were supoosed to. Success!

Wednesday.... today... I slept in. Glorious!!!!!