On the Move

That describes our experiences this month. Unfortunately, it hasn't included any adventurous road trips (although we DO hope to take one of those soon).

An earlier post described our nearly week-long stay in our home state of New Jersey. We weren't there to visit, but to help load up a very large dumpster with unwanted or unneeded items from my late mother's home. 

Last week we returned to VA to pack up more "stuff" from our home, The Frog & PenguINN, to transport to our new apt residence in New Hampshire. 

After 4-1/2 days spent packing and loading up a small trailer in VA, we were ready to head to NH. It's a long trip (10 hours) so we made an overnight stop in PA to visit family. 

We're not sure why, but there seems to be a time warp whenever we travel through PA. What the GPS indicated would be a less 7 hour trip took over 9 hours (and that's after our overnight stop). 

We finally arrived in NH and after a night's rest, were not quite ready to begin the fun (it's really not) of unloading the trailer. This was our third trailer load of "stuff" and our last. Our bikes didn't fit in this trip, but Grenville has a car bike hitch for that eventual pickup this summer. Maybe, when the F&P finally has new owners? (we can only hope)

This U-Haul trailer (5x8) is the next smallest one available. It's the third one we've rented and all were this same size. 

The best part of these moving trips have been getting to see this view — an empty trailer.

Yes, there's no denying that despite all the loading and unloading that was a lot of work, this Do-It-Yourself project was so much less costly than if we had hired a moving company. We had considered that option. But based on where our VA house is located, it was hard to find one willing to do the job. WHY? A town of 500 people is far from a major metropolis and local moving companies were not accustomed to a 10+ hour move.

So, Grenville and I did it ourselves; we don't plan on relocating anytime soon again. Now, we're busy working on downsizing and trying to figure out where all this relocated stuff will fit in our much smaller apt. Donations are a very good thing. We had some help this last trip from our friend, Ramon.

Don't worry folks, he asked begged to help out. And, don't let that wheelchair fool you folks, Ramon is excellent at handling containers and even managed a 26-inch TV.

Thanks, Ramon, for all your help and ready smile, both were SO much appreciated. We're planning a pay-back dinner, after working through all these newly-deposited containers and boxes in our apt. Downsizing from a 2-story Victorian home to a single-floor (much) smaller apartment is challenging (a major understatement on my part).

This weekend, we're on the road again as we head to neighboring CT to attend a memorial service for Grenville's Aunt Anne. Soon, we hope to plan a FUN trip for a very welcome change from these recent road trips — which have been (too) MUCH work and NO fun.

And, that's why blog friends it's been hard to keep up with much posting and reading. But we wanted you all to share in our experiences, even though you missed all the fun (NOT) of packing, loading and unloading.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone — have some fun too!