Thursday, Dec 1
Our POD was picked up by a POD truck around 2 PM without a sound, one moment it was there and the next it was gone – heading West. We had spent over a month packing 7500 pounds of STUFF to ship to Arizona. It’s hard to realize the amount of STUFF especially in duplicate or triplicate that one has accumulated until you start searching for such to pack. Unfortunately, even with their removal the house still feels full of contents. We raided every liquor shop within 5 miles of our home for most of the boxes for packing. Our new neighbors in Arizona will be suspicious of our alcohol habits for the next month as we dispose of the 80+ liquor boxes that we have used.
The rest of the day was spent running off to the bank, packing and more packing ( I thought we shipped enough already…), cleaning the house (for the cleaning lady), grabbing files to take to AZ (which ones do I leave?), saying good bye to dear Friends, reassuring the Dog that we will come back (as if she understands..), packing refrigerated food, and finally trying to figure how to fit it all in the truck. We finally went to bed at 2:30 AM after Judy gave up the ghost and I pulled my final CD from the player and packaged in a sandwich bag, yes all 300 of them.
December 2
Up at 7:30AM….COFFEE! We finally pulled from the house at 11:30 AM and headed to Phillipsburg for the storage center to pick up the Airstream. We pulled away from NJ at 1 PM. Trip West and South via Int 78 to Harrisburg and then SW on Int 81 went well….until the TomTom Lady said that her battery was running low. The charger was not working. OH MY GOD, no GPS!! Judy pulled the GPS out of the dashboard charger and realized that the end of the charger had unscrewed and was sitting inside the charger. We pulled off for gas and were able to retrieve the end of the charger but it was missing the spring inside the unit that holds it in contact with the electrical source. Judy jury-rigged the charger by stealing the spring from a TD Bank ballpoint pen and loading it inside the charger. CONTACT!! Crisis #1 over.
50 miles down the road we had a flashing sensor come on in the truck: “Houston we have a problem”. Apparently this sensor works with the infamous new federal emissions system in the truck. We had experienced similar in September and was told it was a faulty catalytic converter (under warranty…whew!). It’s hard to believe that we have the same problem again. So we contacted GMC service in Atlanta and have an appointment for Tuesday AM. Hopefully they can detect and repair problem before our planned departure on Thursday after visiting with my Uncle Charles for several days.
After 325 miles, arrived at campground at 7PM in Staunton, VA and realized that this is where we were last year in 6 inches of snow with the only opened bathrooms across the park. Memories of trekking in snow an acre to the bathrooms stilled lingered. Finding the camping space in the dark was deja vue. Last year we had arrived in the dark and went around twice trying to find our spot. Tonight, it was Ground Hog Day and we were doing it again. Finally found it on the second go around. Electric on, furnace running and dinner cooking at 7:30 PM. Time for a night-cap and some sleep!
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