JDay 2 began in Kingdom City, Missouri. The most exciting thing to report from our stay at the Motel 6 was the moth that was bigger than Erin's foot. The sun is bright, so we hooked Erin up with a new pair of shades before hitting the road. With roughly 150 miles to the Kansas border, the next stop is Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. This restaurant delivers its orders to the tables by model trains.
Blog followers, the plan to post updates all the way to Alaska was foiled by Sprint. They don't have broadband coverage west of Sioux City, Iowa. The updates we are doing are being made over my cell phone, similar to texting. Erin and I are taking pictures and posting them to my Facebook in the album entitled "Alaskan Road Trip". We'll get pictures into the blog later, probably after the trip.
Unfortunately, it looks like we might completely lose our ability to update the blog once we cross into Canada.
Andy (typed by Erin)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 1: Departure Day
My dad arrived back from Alaska at 10:00am edt this morning from helping the rest of my family get unpacked. After picking him up from the airport we went back to my friends house, where I had stayed for 3 days. My dad had left his truck at my friends house. Next, we went around and gave everybody their stuff back, ran a few errands, and had lunch with Sarah, a close family friend.
AND WE'RE OFF! We crossed the Indiana border at 2:51pm edt. Now we are cruising along in Indiana at 2:40pm (dejavu!) and we are both excited.
I'll write again soon, but for now that's all the news I have. This is Erin signing out. Bye!
AND WE'RE OFF! We crossed the Indiana border at 2:51pm edt. Now we are cruising along in Indiana at 2:40pm (dejavu!) and we are both excited.
I'll write again soon, but for now that's all the news I have. This is Erin signing out. Bye!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Back to Blogging the Move
Due to the scarcity of blog entries lately, it’s probably best to simply list some of the recent news, happenings and changes to our relocation from Kentucky to Alaska. So here goes!...
As I wrote several posts ago, our shipping container weight limit was 18,500lbs and anything over that amount was going to be very expensive (+/-$1,500 per 1,000lbs over the limit!). When we received our “actual weight” from the shipping company, we came in at 17,900lbs…just 600lbs below the limit!!
The container shipment to Alaska was expected to take 5 to 6 weeks. We learned from the shipping company that things were moving ahead of schedule and that it was only going to take 3½ weeks. This was a big deal for us as the plan was always to have my wife, Rebecca, and the rest of the family in the home on the day our things were unpacked. Since all the airline tickets were planned for 6/18 and the container was set to arrive on 6/7, we had a tough decision to make: put our belongings into storage for 2 weeks or move the Departure Date for Rebecca, Katie and Jillian up by two weeks. After much discussion, the decision was to move up the flight dates. This has brought on additional sadness while at the same time bringing additional excitement to finally get to a relocation we’ve been waiting for going-on 7 months!
The drive to Alaska, which is the original purpose of this blog, is now pushed back to begin on June 10.
As I tried to sell my cruiser-style motorcycle, it became obvious the tough economy was not going to make selling it very easy. Fact is, I never received a serious offer even when I dropped the price to nearly ½ of what I bought it for just two years ago! As a result, I’ve found it wiser to hang onto my motorcycle (which I really didn’t want to sell anyhow!) and tow it behind my pickup all the way to Alaska. Returning to Craig’s List once again, I found a good used motorcycle trailer.
I passed my Alaska driver’s test, my Alaska motorcycle rider’s test and am now considered a bona fide Alaskan resident!
After looking over the 4,500-mile drive and considering what my daughter, Erin, and I might want to do along the way, we’ve decided to let our 9lb Maltese (dog) take the flight with Rebecca and the girls. This will permit Erin and me to stay in any hotel (not just pet-friendly) and do any activities we want. Imagine getting to Yellowstone National Park and having to cut a hike short for the little dog waiting patiently back in my truck to go pee!
We’re down to just 2 items still listed on Craig’s List. We’ve been very blessed to have moved a LOT of stuff through this online yard sale.
Rebecca’s mini-van started its road-trip to Alaska on May 24. It should be there sometime near our original arrival date of 6/18. I suppose this spells r-e-n-t-a-l until that day…yuck!
Daughter Katie made the high school cheer team on the basis of a video tryout she prepared and sent over email to the team coach. Our eldest daughter has so much drive and determination…she’s got herself on a team long before her first day of school!
I underestimated a couple of things when I first started this journal. First, blogs take a lot of time. I don't seem to be able to post an entry without spending at least 4 hours. I like to add the pictures and spend lots of time making it fun and easy to read. I don’t regret any of it and the only reason I bring it up is to note how the time it takes contrasts the time I have to spend.
The second thing I underestimated was how busy life would become as Departure Day drew closer. I have been pulling more-than-a-few 19-hour days. A typical day includes getting up with the kids at 6:45am, driving them to school at 7:30am and heading home to get cleaned up for the day’s activities. By 9am, I’ve either engaged in a "goodbye coffee" with a friend at a local cafe, or headed off to deliver something I’ve sold on Craig’s list or made my way over to our Brownsboro office, the location of our family business. Lunch has been starting at 2pm and as late as 4pm, mostly on-the-fly, while driving. Hauling home the boxed remains of my company’s dwindling inventory for the morning pick-up has filled many of my afternoons leading up to dinner. With the close of the kid’s school year, there’s been an endless barrage of closing ceremonies, awards presentations and talent shows. It’s fun to see the fruit of my girl’s labor at school and after-school activities and I don’t mind the momentary break from the relocation craziness. Returning home at 10pm sets the scene for the bedtime scramble for the kids. I’ll usually plop in a chair in front of my laptop after the kids are down and size up the day against my punch list, throwing lines through the completed tasks and typing in new “hills to be taken” in the day ahead. My mind can rest with that download-and-reflection time and I think “now what’s on the DVR?” And this is where I lose sleep: I’ve been getting caught up in the season finales of all my favorite shows! How is ANYONE supposed to go to bed without knowing if (a.) Jack Bauer gets offed?!, (b.) Russell is voted the Ultimate Survivor??, or (c.) if Bowersocks or Dewyze will become the next American Idol??. OK, OK… I know… who really cares?! And I really don’t either. But this last activity is simply an excuse to wind down; the result is less sleep, less blog entries and less Andy the next day. Thank goodness for the weekends to get caught up!
As I wrote several posts ago, our shipping container weight limit was 18,500lbs and anything over that amount was going to be very expensive (+/-$1,500 per 1,000lbs over the limit!). When we received our “actual weight” from the shipping company, we came in at 17,900lbs…just 600lbs below the limit!!
The container shipment to Alaska was expected to take 5 to 6 weeks. We learned from the shipping company that things were moving ahead of schedule and that it was only going to take 3½ weeks. This was a big deal for us as the plan was always to have my wife, Rebecca, and the rest of the family in the home on the day our things were unpacked. Since all the airline tickets were planned for 6/18 and the container was set to arrive on 6/7, we had a tough decision to make: put our belongings into storage for 2 weeks or move the Departure Date for Rebecca, Katie and Jillian up by two weeks. After much discussion, the decision was to move up the flight dates. This has brought on additional sadness while at the same time bringing additional excitement to finally get to a relocation we’ve been waiting for going-on 7 months!
The drive to Alaska, which is the original purpose of this blog, is now pushed back to begin on June 10.
As I tried to sell my cruiser-style motorcycle, it became obvious the tough economy was not going to make selling it very easy. Fact is, I never received a serious offer even when I dropped the price to nearly ½ of what I bought it for just two years ago! As a result, I’ve found it wiser to hang onto my motorcycle (which I really didn’t want to sell anyhow!) and tow it behind my pickup all the way to Alaska. Returning to Craig’s List once again, I found a good used motorcycle trailer.
I passed my Alaska driver’s test, my Alaska motorcycle rider’s test and am now considered a bona fide Alaskan resident!
After looking over the 4,500-mile drive and considering what my daughter, Erin, and I might want to do along the way, we’ve decided to let our 9lb Maltese (dog) take the flight with Rebecca and the girls. This will permit Erin and me to stay in any hotel (not just pet-friendly) and do any activities we want. Imagine getting to Yellowstone National Park and having to cut a hike short for the little dog waiting patiently back in my truck to go pee!
We’re down to just 2 items still listed on Craig’s List. We’ve been very blessed to have moved a LOT of stuff through this online yard sale.
Rebecca’s mini-van started its road-trip to Alaska on May 24. It should be there sometime near our original arrival date of 6/18. I suppose this spells r-e-n-t-a-l until that day…yuck!
Daughter Katie made the high school cheer team on the basis of a video tryout she prepared and sent over email to the team coach. Our eldest daughter has so much drive and determination…she’s got herself on a team long before her first day of school!
I underestimated a couple of things when I first started this journal. First, blogs take a lot of time. I don't seem to be able to post an entry without spending at least 4 hours. I like to add the pictures and spend lots of time making it fun and easy to read. I don’t regret any of it and the only reason I bring it up is to note how the time it takes contrasts the time I have to spend.
The second thing I underestimated was how busy life would become as Departure Day drew closer. I have been pulling more-than-a-few 19-hour days. A typical day includes getting up with the kids at 6:45am, driving them to school at 7:30am and heading home to get cleaned up for the day’s activities. By 9am, I’ve either engaged in a "goodbye coffee" with a friend at a local cafe, or headed off to deliver something I’ve sold on Craig’s list or made my way over to our Brownsboro office, the location of our family business. Lunch has been starting at 2pm and as late as 4pm, mostly on-the-fly, while driving. Hauling home the boxed remains of my company’s dwindling inventory for the morning pick-up has filled many of my afternoons leading up to dinner. With the close of the kid’s school year, there’s been an endless barrage of closing ceremonies, awards presentations and talent shows. It’s fun to see the fruit of my girl’s labor at school and after-school activities and I don’t mind the momentary break from the relocation craziness. Returning home at 10pm sets the scene for the bedtime scramble for the kids. I’ll usually plop in a chair in front of my laptop after the kids are down and size up the day against my punch list, throwing lines through the completed tasks and typing in new “hills to be taken” in the day ahead. My mind can rest with that download-and-reflection time and I think “now what’s on the DVR?” And this is where I lose sleep: I’ve been getting caught up in the season finales of all my favorite shows! How is ANYONE supposed to go to bed without knowing if (a.) Jack Bauer gets offed?!, (b.) Russell is voted the Ultimate Survivor??, or (c.) if Bowersocks or Dewyze will become the next American Idol??. OK, OK… I know… who really cares?! And I really don’t either. But this last activity is simply an excuse to wind down; the result is less sleep, less blog entries and less Andy the next day. Thank goodness for the weekends to get caught up!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
House Camping - Part II
What does a family do for six weeks without all of its stuff?!
Temporarily losing access to our belongings has already helped us realize how much we don't need. We can be happy with a lot less than we think! This has really been an interesting experience: we've seen the gracious outlay and offering of furniture and furnishings from friends; we've been served meals by compassionate friends who noticed we were in over-our-heads during the days leading up to Moving Day; we've had physical help lifting boxes, desks, etc., getting everything where it needed to be in time for the movers to pack the shipping container. It's been one blessing after another, albeit exhausting both mentally, physically and emotionally.
In summary, the "house camping" is going well. Here are some of the highlights:
It's a little harder to get out of bed since it's on the ground, but we're very thankful we have one so comfortable.
We still have cable television and the cable company's DVR to record our favorite shows. We held out one 19" television from the movers
which will eventually be packed into pickup and driven to our new Palmer, Alaska home. Until then, it sits waiting on a shaky card table. The biggest adjustment is that we watch tv seated on either on a cat-scratched love seat, a high-back chair or the floor.
Dinner is held in the same place since Moving Day, just now it's on a card table surrounded by folding chairs.
We've been eating off paper plates and borrowed cups and glasses. We're in the process of eating whatever combinations of boxed foods and canned goods we can that works toward baring the pantry shelves. Takeout and delivery sure looks better and better over some of the options we're left with, but Rebecca does a great job of keeping it tasty. What's on the menu is likely because it was passed over several times before. But these days, even the dinner choices we make can potentially lighten the load we'll take to Alaska.
Internet access is still available and we have all of our computer equipment on or around a combination of folding tables (have you picked up on our folding table decor motif yet?). Now, we have a great view out the front windows and the family remains close-by as all I've described above is on the first floor.
When the movers did their work, they left with all the kid's toys. The reality this was coming occurred to the kids a little late as they held-out scarcely a single toy except one water-logged hula hoop that was left at the back of our rented property. With the idea coming from neighborhood yard sale signs, we decided to re-populate the house with a few yard-sale-priced toys that we could leave in Kentucky on Departure Day.
This means Erin and Jillian are now the owners of two $10 bicycles. These bikes are getting a work-out as they represent the lion's share of their outdoor play things. Yet pointing to another truth the move has reminded us: less stuff = more use of what you've got. These bikes have greater value now than they ever would have just weeks ago. It's all they've got and now they're much more special. Even if Erin's bike is too small for her!
Here's another fun moving story: We've taken our 3 girls to Gattiland a LOT. If you haven't heard this name before, Gattiland is a Chuck E. Cheese-style kid restaurant/play place. For what seems to be years (at least to the kids) , we've suggested that when they get those tickets-turned-points for playing all the games that they just keep adding them up rather than spending them on the little junky stuff. Any kid can get the stuff out of the glass displays on the floor, even with just one good turn at Colorama! (...uh...why do I know this information?!) Seriously...what kid never looked at the "good stuff" on the back wall, considered the 72 points they held in their hand and didn't feel a little dejected for being 3,928 points shy of the toy they really wanted?? With leaving Kentucky, and perhaps the last Gattiland we'd see in a long while, it was time to cash in the Gatti points.
We went up to the mobbed prize counter with our points card and handed it to the young man standing on the other side. He scanned our points card just a second before letting out a serious "Whew!" under his breath.
This led us to believe it had been a while since he'd seen one with enough points to permit pulling a prize from the back wall. We were Gattiland royalty this night. We walked out of that restaurant playground with not one, but two Nerf guns!You should have seen the green eyed monsters flanking our girls on the way out of the building!
And these Nerf toys are the very "inside" toys they've been playing with since Moving Day. We outfitted 14-yr-old Katie with her own (I can hear it already "Dad, why'd you write I have a Nerf gun on your blog?...I'm so embarrassed!") and a wall target that all three can shoot at. They have fun, as does the big kid writing this!
So, as I began this thread, I will end it: the "house camping" is going well.
Erin and I look to the calendar and see only three weeks until we pull out and start our Alaskan Road Trip. It's just about time to focus on preparing all that will go into our actual trek, the subject of posts to come.
Rebecca and I would like to thank everyone who responded so kindly to the post that mentioned the kids were getting nasty comments from their friends about the move. It surprised us to see how many friends were ready to defend our kids...sounds like family!
It's important to mention that everything is fine now and all the relationships are back to normal. Fact is, this is as rough a time for our kid's friends as it is our own children. We have to keep in mind we're not the only ones trying to "get over" the upcoming separation! Another valuable life-lesson to share and remember.
Temporarily losing access to our belongings has already helped us realize how much we don't need. We can be happy with a lot less than we think! This has really been an interesting experience: we've seen the gracious outlay and offering of furniture and furnishings from friends; we've been served meals by compassionate friends who noticed we were in over-our-heads during the days leading up to Moving Day; we've had physical help lifting boxes, desks, etc., getting everything where it needed to be in time for the movers to pack the shipping container. It's been one blessing after another, albeit exhausting both mentally, physically and emotionally.
In summary, the "house camping" is going well. Here are some of the highlights:
It's a little harder to get out of bed since it's on the ground, but we're very thankful we have one so comfortable.
We still have cable television and the cable company's DVR to record our favorite shows. We held out one 19" television from the movers
which will eventually be packed into pickup and driven to our new Palmer, Alaska home. Until then, it sits waiting on a shaky card table. The biggest adjustment is that we watch tv seated on either on a cat-scratched love seat, a high-back chair or the floor.Dinner is held in the same place since Moving Day, just now it's on a card table surrounded by folding chairs.
We've been eating off paper plates and borrowed cups and glasses. We're in the process of eating whatever combinations of boxed foods and canned goods we can that works toward baring the pantry shelves. Takeout and delivery sure looks better and better over some of the options we're left with, but Rebecca does a great job of keeping it tasty. What's on the menu is likely because it was passed over several times before. But these days, even the dinner choices we make can potentially lighten the load we'll take to Alaska.
Internet access is still available and we have all of our computer equipment on or around a combination of folding tables (have you picked up on our folding table decor motif yet?). Now, we have a great view out the front windows and the family remains close-by as all I've described above is on the first floor.
When the movers did their work, they left with all the kid's toys. The reality this was coming occurred to the kids a little late as they held-out scarcely a single toy except one water-logged hula hoop that was left at the back of our rented property. With the idea coming from neighborhood yard sale signs, we decided to re-populate the house with a few yard-sale-priced toys that we could leave in Kentucky on Departure Day.
This means Erin and Jillian are now the owners of two $10 bicycles. These bikes are getting a work-out as they represent the lion's share of their outdoor play things. Yet pointing to another truth the move has reminded us: less stuff = more use of what you've got. These bikes have greater value now than they ever would have just weeks ago. It's all they've got and now they're much more special. Even if Erin's bike is too small for her!Here's another fun moving story: We've taken our 3 girls to Gattiland a LOT. If you haven't heard this name before, Gattiland is a Chuck E. Cheese-style kid restaurant/play place. For what seems to be years (at least to the kids) , we've suggested that when they get those tickets-turned-points for playing all the games that they just keep adding them up rather than spending them on the little junky stuff. Any kid can get the stuff out of the glass displays on the floor, even with just one good turn at Colorama! (...uh...why do I know this information?!) Seriously...what kid never looked at the "good stuff" on the back wall, considered the 72 points they held in their hand and didn't feel a little dejected for being 3,928 points shy of the toy they really wanted?? With leaving Kentucky, and perhaps the last Gattiland we'd see in a long while, it was time to cash in the Gatti points.
We went up to the mobbed prize counter with our points card and handed it to the young man standing on the other side. He scanned our points card just a second before letting out a serious "Whew!" under his breath.
This led us to believe it had been a while since he'd seen one with enough points to permit pulling a prize from the back wall. We were Gattiland royalty this night. We walked out of that restaurant playground with not one, but two Nerf guns!You should have seen the green eyed monsters flanking our girls on the way out of the building!And these Nerf toys are the very "inside" toys they've been playing with since Moving Day. We outfitted 14-yr-old Katie with her own (I can hear it already "Dad, why'd you write I have a Nerf gun on your blog?...I'm so embarrassed!") and a wall target that all three can shoot at. They have fun, as does the big kid writing this!
So, as I began this thread, I will end it: the "house camping" is going well.
Erin and I look to the calendar and see only three weeks until we pull out and start our Alaskan Road Trip. It's just about time to focus on preparing all that will go into our actual trek, the subject of posts to come.
Rebecca and I would like to thank everyone who responded so kindly to the post that mentioned the kids were getting nasty comments from their friends about the move. It surprised us to see how many friends were ready to defend our kids...sounds like family!
It's important to mention that everything is fine now and all the relationships are back to normal. Fact is, this is as rough a time for our kid's friends as it is our own children. We have to keep in mind we're not the only ones trying to "get over" the upcoming separation! Another valuable life-lesson to share and remember.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Shipping Day
For two days, we've been watching the moving company guys pack everything in our home into boxes. Now, with the 53' trailer set in front of our home, it's time for all of our personal possessions to be loaded and made ready for the 5-week journey to Alaska. 
That's not where it started. To leave this entry as some sort of summary that you might get in passing would defeat the whole purpose of this web journal. The truth of the matter is...we are in the midst of a HIGHLY EMOTIONAL event. That last statement has manifested itself in different ways with each person in the family. Two of us decided to get in a big argument over a pop tart instead of admitting that it was just venting fear of the big change. One of us unraveled because a favorite toy was packed up; the true pain was actually from mountains of boxes that represented the time to leave our friends was near. Over the past week there have been similar stressful moments randomly popping up. It's interesting to note some of the kid's friends have even been providing their own share of emotional surprises, further complicating the situation for our girls. 
Like the "BFF" who told one daughter she was "tired of hearing about the move" and that she "wished [my daughter] would just leave already so [her friend] didn't have to hear about [the move] anymore". Stuff like that just adds to the drama and doesn't really help quell the ball of nerves we're all wrestling.But back to the story...
As I write this, the moving guys whisk one hand truck load
after another...up our driveway, up the ramp and into the container. It's going to take the rest of today and most of tomorrow to get all of our belongings loaded. The last thing to go will be our beds. This brings a little peace, just knowing we'll have at least one more night of sleep in our own beds!For those with an interest in the logistics of this part of our relocation, this paragraph is for you:
Tuesday - The moving company shows up with a 50' tractor
trailer loaded with packing materials and send three guys to break down and pack up our entire home. Whatever is not set aside and identified as such is packed and on its way to Alaska. Anything not marked, whether intentional or accidental, goes. Like the accident that I didn't set out my airline flight kit that has all my charts and maps for my next flight assignment in four days! OUCH. 
I've already called the airline and fortunately they'll have a loaner flight bag waiting for me. The manager I spoke to was very understanding as he had made a similar move once.Wednesday - The moving guys arrived at 7:30am with the fancy blue semi and finished packing at approximately 3pm; we are officially living out of a limited number of pants, socks, underwear, towels, etc.
Thursday, Shipping Day 1 - Movers showed up at 7:30am in the tractor truck and no trailer. The Louisville container ship yard was supposed to dispatch a 53' container to arrive at our home at 9am for the movers to start packing but, for whatever reason,
it didn't arrive until a little after 1pm. Before arriving, the trailer was taken to a weigh station to get its "light weight", the weight before it is loaded with our stuff (a.k.a.- tare weight). The late arrival at our home meant our movers were sitting on my front lawn doing nothing but waiting for 4 hours! And that's where we are up to the moment - loading.
Friday, Shipping Day 2 - Once the trailer is finally loaded, the movers will hook up their blue big rig to the industrial-looking, rust-colored container and take it back to the weight station to get its "heavy weight". The difference between the heavy (gross) weight and the light (tare) weight is the weight of the load. My company pays for any load up to 18,500 pounds and we are responsible to pay for any amount over that figure. Just 1,000 Lbs over will cost us approximately $1,500, so coming in below that amount is very important.Once weighed, the container is taken back to the Louisville ship yard and prepared to change transportation modes to heavy rail. It's very possible that the container
will be double stacked like you see in the picture to the right. It will take the train 10 to 14 days to get to Tacoma, Washington where it will change transportation modes to sea shipping. It will take about 2 or 3 days to get loaded aboard a sea-going vessel. The trip to Anchorage, Alaska will take another 10 to 12 days. Once in Anchorage, the container will be unloaded and be placed in a warehouse. The container's transportation will change modes again, back to trucking. Once the delivery date is set up, it will travel the final 40-miles to our new home in Palmer, Alaska. The projected arrival date of the container is June 16, just a couple days before Erin, Holly and I expect to finish our 4,500-mile drive. And a nice surprise I learned about Tuesday...the movers will haul all of our stuff into our new home, take it to the right room (marked on the side of each box), UNPACK the contents and remove all the packaging garbage!! What a break! I thought that was all ours to manage and was very delighted to get that bit of information.
Closing out this entry, the movers are finishing up
for the day. With the garage and entire basement loaded(two-thirds of the house) the container is only halfway full!These are the highlights up to the moment. What's immediately next is to move in our gracious neighbor's "loaner furniture" and set up whatever is needed to make the house camping doable for the next 4 weeks. June 6 (Departure Day, or D-Day) is coming and before we know it Erin, Holly and I will be headed westward on our adventure. As soon as we get the house set up to live in, the focus will clearly shift to preparing for the long journey. Those preparations will be the subject of several upcoming entries.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
"House Camping"
Time seems to be accelerating as we rapidly approach our two-day moving sale. We need to thin down even more as we do our 
very best to stay below the 18,500 Lb relocation-plan-limit on our personal goods. We have a lot of stuff we're just not going to risk going over that limit for fear of how fast the cost will start to add up. Mark, the moving company representative, explained that going over the limit by just 1,000 Lbs will cost us approximately $1,500! If you live in the Louisville area, please come out Oaks Day or Derby Day (8am-Noon) and check out our moving sale. We've listed it in the Oldham Era and one Craig's List. Our address is 1007 Forest Lane, Goshen and you can find directions in the listing on Craigs by searching our address.
Rebecca and I have been spending a lot of mental energy calculating our steps. We have to - the moving company rolls-in just three days after our moving sale. The real trick is deciding what to set aside from what the movers will take. Since it takes 5 weeks for the container with all of our belongings to be transported to our new Alaskan home, we'll need to hold out certain items...namely, clothing!
It's a little tricky to articulate the
timeline perfectly, but the following is an attempt to describe our current plan:
As you can see, there's a significantly long period of time (5 weeks)where our family is doing what I call "house-camping". Starting next Tuesday, we'll be left with a handful of suitcases, the clothes that will fit into them, whatever is set to go with Andy and Erin on the cross-country road trip and a LOT of borrowed furniture.
God truly has provided for our needs in the "borrowed furniture" category. Our 50-something next door neighbors are Gary & Jown. They have a garage-full of their parent's furniture stored-in-waiting for their children's eventual use, whenever they buy their first home. About three weeks ago, I mentioned in passing that we were just starting to consider what we were going to do once the movers took our stuff. Without hesitation, Gary started rattling off all he could lend us in the interim while we were waiting for the kid's school year to end. What a blessing! Not only was it just what we needed, but it was all just a short walk across the back yard to the neighbors garage!
So the adventure is about to enter the next phase: a borrowed card-table for a make-shift dining room table, borrowed dishes, lamps and beds.
Really...not too shabby! The refrigerator and stove came with the rental, so that's covered. Oh, and our washer/dryer...we negotiated with our landlord's son (he's to be the next tenant at the home we're renting) and he said he would buy them from us. So we get the use of these until the last day we live in this home. I'd say, all-in-all, if this is "house camping", we're going to be all right.
very best to stay below the 18,500 Lb relocation-plan-limit on our personal goods. We have a lot of stuff we're just not going to risk going over that limit for fear of how fast the cost will start to add up. Mark, the moving company representative, explained that going over the limit by just 1,000 Lbs will cost us approximately $1,500! If you live in the Louisville area, please come out Oaks Day or Derby Day (8am-Noon) and check out our moving sale. We've listed it in the Oldham Era and one Craig's List. Our address is 1007 Forest Lane, Goshen and you can find directions in the listing on Craigs by searching our address.Rebecca and I have been spending a lot of mental energy calculating our steps. We have to - the moving company rolls-in just three days after our moving sale. The real trick is deciding what to set aside from what the movers will take. Since it takes 5 weeks for the container with all of our belongings to be transported to our new Alaskan home, we'll need to hold out certain items...namely, clothing!
It's a little tricky to articulate the
timeline perfectly, but the following is an attempt to describe our current plan:• Moving sale this coming Friday and Saturday (4/30 & 5/1)
• Moving company arrives and boxes up everything the our family owns next Tues & Wed (5/4 & 5/5)
• Moving company packs the 53' container with everything our family owns next Thurs & Fri (5/6 & 5/7)
• Moving company takes Rebecca's Ford Windstar and ships it to Alaska (5/24)
• Rent car for Rebecca (5/24 - 6/18)
• Last day of our home rental agreement...we officially move out of our rental home (6/6)
• Andy, Erin & Holly (the dog) start the 4,500-mile drive to Alaska (6/6 - 6/17)
• Rebecca, Katie & Jillian stay-over at a friend's home for one week and in a hotel for the following week.
• Rebecca, Katie & Jillian fly from Louisville, KY to Anchorage, AK (6/18)
• Late evening, June 18, Andy & Erin pick up Rebecca, Katie & Jillian from Anchorage Intl Airport. We might drive everyone home to Palmer, 45 minutes away, but there's a strong chance we'll spend the night in an Anchorage hotel since everything at home will be in boxes!
As you can see, there's a significantly long period of time (5 weeks)where our family is doing what I call "house-camping". Starting next Tuesday, we'll be left with a handful of suitcases, the clothes that will fit into them, whatever is set to go with Andy and Erin on the cross-country road trip and a LOT of borrowed furniture.
God truly has provided for our needs in the "borrowed furniture" category. Our 50-something next door neighbors are Gary & Jown. They have a garage-full of their parent's furniture stored-in-waiting for their children's eventual use, whenever they buy their first home. About three weeks ago, I mentioned in passing that we were just starting to consider what we were going to do once the movers took our stuff. Without hesitation, Gary started rattling off all he could lend us in the interim while we were waiting for the kid's school year to end. What a blessing! Not only was it just what we needed, but it was all just a short walk across the back yard to the neighbors garage!
So the adventure is about to enter the next phase: a borrowed card-table for a make-shift dining room table, borrowed dishes, lamps and beds.
Really...not too shabby! The refrigerator and stove came with the rental, so that's covered. Oh, and our washer/dryer...we negotiated with our landlord's son (he's to be the next tenant at the home we're renting) and he said he would buy them from us. So we get the use of these until the last day we live in this home. I'd say, all-in-all, if this is "house camping", we're going to be all right.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
How it ALL started!! - by Erin
I’m the one who asked my dad in the first place.
Hi! I’m Erin. When I first asked my dad if he and I could go on a drive to get to Alaska, he said that he didn’t think that he was man enough. That was pretty much me planting the mental seed in my dad’s mind.
Three, maybe four weeks later, my dad was on a trip and he sent me an e-mail asking if I would like to go across the county with him. I immediately responded “YES! YES! YES!”. My little sister, Jillian, wanted to go too (and still wants to), but my dad and I both didn’t think that she could stand the whole trip, due to the fact that the first time we started talking about it, we were on our 2-day trip back from our spring break in Florida and Jillian was complaining within the first 5 hours!
When we got back to Kentucky, my dad immediately started working on my passport because we have to pass thru Canada on our trip. My dad already has a passport because his job is to fly airplanes around the world. When he finished the main parts of my passport, he took my mom and me to the prospect post office because that was the closest post office that took it in.
There, I had to swear that what was on the paper was correct. After that, my mom and dad both had to sign the same passport paper and I later found out that is because, if my parents were divorced, let’s say, and my dad wanted to sneak me out of the country, it would be… failure!
Hi! I’m Erin. When I first asked my dad if he and I could go on a drive to get to Alaska, he said that he didn’t think that he was man enough. That was pretty much me planting the mental seed in my dad’s mind.
Three, maybe four weeks later, my dad was on a trip and he sent me an e-mail asking if I would like to go across the county with him. I immediately responded “YES! YES! YES!”. My little sister, Jillian, wanted to go too (and still wants to), but my dad and I both didn’t think that she could stand the whole trip, due to the fact that the first time we started talking about it, we were on our 2-day trip back from our spring break in Florida and Jillian was complaining within the first 5 hours! When we got back to Kentucky, my dad immediately started working on my passport because we have to pass thru Canada on our trip. My dad already has a passport because his job is to fly airplanes around the world. When he finished the main parts of my passport, he took my mom and me to the prospect post office because that was the closest post office that took it in.
There, I had to swear that what was on the paper was correct. After that, my mom and dad both had to sign the same passport paper and I later found out that is because, if my parents were divorced, let’s say, and my dad wanted to sneak me out of the country, it would be… failure!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Never Saw It Coming
There are moments, whether it's while 
running errands, in the shower or maybe lying in bed, when I try to think about events associated with the move that are coming up. The exercise takes me into visualizing about all the details associated with the events and this usually leads me to a "punch list", similar to what many call a "to-do" list. The point is to reduce the blind spots and make it all very predictable. Less stress is good, right?
Without fail, the more people involved in any production, the more variables one can expect. With relocation to Alaska there are a LOT of people in our production and, consequently, stuff can get uncomfortably unpredictable.
For instance, on Tuesday we were told the amount we have to ship is below our relocation plan limit of 18,500 lbs, but just barely below. We originally wanted to take as much stuff up with us because everything in Alaska costs so much more for the cost of transportation. (Next time you're watching TV or reading a magazine ad and a business offers "FREE SHIPPING", look at the bottom of the screen or in the fine print in the corner and notice the "excludes Alaska and Hawaii".) Anything and everything in Alaska costs more for the expense to get it there. So, now we're looking at the list of items we were going to buy and have shipped up for free and are forced to choose what we could do without. Ugh! Sounds a little trivial, but these little rubs with go/no-go decisions are the first significant ones coming from the move, at least for me.
We've already been told that all our stuff is getting loaded into a 53' container that's getting hauled across America to Tacoma, Washington. Once there, our container will go onto a sea-going vessel and float its way up to Anchorage. What complicates the thought of a 53' container sitting in front of my rented home during the move is that the moving company advised me that it would be a four-day (yes, 4!) process to pack us up. I was perplexed about whether or not to contact my landlord about this revelation from the moving company. The saying "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" ringing in my ears, I decided to do the stand-up thing and called my landlords. The time I placed the call was somewhere in the late afternoon.
Later that evening, at around 9:30pm, I got a call back from Mr. Landlord and this is the way it started (in a deep, gruff Boston accent):
I handily cut the blue wire and diffused the would-be-bomb that this call represented, and we hung up with the understanding that I would get back to the movers with some guidelines from the property owners.
Their expectations were not very "reasonable" and included things like no heavy objects on the asphalt driveway, no parking/setting the container anywhere on the property and no excessive walking on the grass. So, basically, our landlords left us with levitation as our only option for completing our move out of our rental home. Fortunately, the moving company made everything all better the next day when Mark, the moving company rep, told me that they wouldn't be dropping the container off but pulling in front of the home, on the street, and only for one day. Mark explained the packing would take the two days prior to the hauling out of stuff (day 3) and apparently day 4 is for clean up items, presumably whatever didn't get hauled out of the house on day 3.
running errands, in the shower or maybe lying in bed, when I try to think about events associated with the move that are coming up. The exercise takes me into visualizing about all the details associated with the events and this usually leads me to a "punch list", similar to what many call a "to-do" list. The point is to reduce the blind spots and make it all very predictable. Less stress is good, right?Without fail, the more people involved in any production, the more variables one can expect. With relocation to Alaska there are a LOT of people in our production and, consequently, stuff can get uncomfortably unpredictable.
For instance, on Tuesday we were told the amount we have to ship is below our relocation plan limit of 18,500 lbs, but just barely below. We originally wanted to take as much stuff up with us because everything in Alaska costs so much more for the cost of transportation. (Next time you're watching TV or reading a magazine ad and a business offers "FREE SHIPPING", look at the bottom of the screen or in the fine print in the corner and notice the "excludes Alaska and Hawaii".) Anything and everything in Alaska costs more for the expense to get it there. So, now we're looking at the list of items we were going to buy and have shipped up for free and are forced to choose what we could do without. Ugh! Sounds a little trivial, but these little rubs with go/no-go decisions are the first significant ones coming from the move, at least for me.
We've already been told that all our stuff is getting loaded into a 53' container that's getting hauled across America to Tacoma, Washington. Once there, our container will go onto a sea-going vessel and float its way up to Anchorage. What complicates the thought of a 53' container sitting in front of my rented home during the move is that the moving company advised me that it would be a four-day (yes, 4!) process to pack us up. I was perplexed about whether or not to contact my landlord about this revelation from the moving company. The saying "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" ringing in my ears, I decided to do the stand-up thing and called my landlords. The time I placed the call was somewhere in the late afternoon. Ring...Ring...Ring...
Whew!...no answer...good...I'll just leave a message!
And that's what I did…I left a message.
Later that evening, at around 9:30pm, I got a call back from Mr. Landlord and this is the way it started (in a deep, gruff Boston accent):
"Now Andy, we've had a great experience with you (as a renter) and now I'm growing concerned that we're going to have some serious problems (with you) at the eleventh hour..."
I handily cut the blue wire and diffused the would-be-bomb that this call represented, and we hung up with the understanding that I would get back to the movers with some guidelines from the property owners.
Their expectations were not very "reasonable" and included things like no heavy objects on the asphalt driveway, no parking/setting the container anywhere on the property and no excessive walking on the grass. So, basically, our landlords left us with levitation as our only option for completing our move out of our rental home. Fortunately, the moving company made everything all better the next day when Mark, the moving company rep, told me that they wouldn't be dropping the container off but pulling in front of the home, on the street, and only for one day. Mark explained the packing would take the two days prior to the hauling out of stuff (day 3) and apparently day 4 is for clean up items, presumably whatever didn't get hauled out of the house on day 3.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thinning down for the trip
Today is Monday and, not unlike many who will read this, my wife Rebecca and I discuss what to accomplish around the house this week. Perhaps the biggest difference for us is what looms in the background. On May 5, "Cinco de Mayo", we have a different sort of party planned at our home. This is the day when a team of commercial movers is set to arrive with a large sea-going container and intentions of packing into it everything we own and expect to take to Alaska.
So just how does one plan one's week of house work? What's the point of getting overconcerned with straightening, cleaning, or preparing for much more than the move itself? And that's more or less where our focus is drawn...preparing to move out of our world any and all things that aren't going with us to our new home in Palmer.
So this week is going to be comprised of selling off the remainder of our inventory of handmade stationery from my all-but-closed business, getting everything that's banned-for-transport by the moving company identified and ultimately begin preparations for a KY Derby Day (May 1) moving sale.
Direction is good - knowing this is the next step in our preparation for the relocation somehow brings the anxiety down just one more notch. At a minimum, not having to think about all that lies ahead for having the daily to-do list formed is worth it. There really is an amazing mountain of items to get done before we pull out with the pickup and head west. But that's just part of the adventure...at least that's what I'm going to keep saying to myself.
So just how does one plan one's week of house work? What's the point of getting overconcerned with straightening, cleaning, or preparing for much more than the move itself? And that's more or less where our focus is drawn...preparing to move out of our world any and all things that aren't going with us to our new home in Palmer.
So this week is going to be comprised of selling off the remainder of our inventory of handmade stationery from my all-but-closed business, getting everything that's banned-for-transport by the moving company identified and ultimately begin preparations for a KY Derby Day (May 1) moving sale.
Direction is good - knowing this is the next step in our preparation for the relocation somehow brings the anxiety down just one more notch. At a minimum, not having to think about all that lies ahead for having the daily to-do list formed is worth it. There really is an amazing mountain of items to get done before we pull out with the pickup and head west. But that's just part of the adventure...at least that's what I'm going to keep saying to myself.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The blog begins...
On Sunday, June 6, 2010, my Daughter, Erin, our family dog, Holly and I will begin our road trip to Alaska. Starting from our present home in Goshen, Kentucky, we will travel over four thousand four hundred miles in less than two weeks to our new home in Palmer, Alaska. We're going all this way in my 2001 Ford F250 pickup truck which I expect will average a whopping 13.5 miles per gallon. Mapquest estimates this 4,470-mile trip as taking 77 hours and 15 minutes of actual road time with a fuel cost totalling around $1,035.
Click on the map below and take a look for yourself:
We will be journaling everything along the way including all the planning and, of course, the trip itself. When I say "we will be journaling", I'm referring to both me and my 11-year-old daughter, Erin - she's a very talented writer.
We sincerely hope you'll follow us on this blog where we'll record our travels from Goshen, Kentucky westbound across America to well-known stops like Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. At Yellowstone, we'll turn north and run a few thousand miles along the eastern face of the Rocky Mountains. We'll describe our border crossing into Canada as we set our sights on joining the Alaskan-Canadian (ALCAN) Highway at Dawson Creek in British Columbia.
The ALCAN will be our route through British Columbia and Yukon, Canada all the way into Alaska. Once there, Interstate A1 will take us rest of the way until we reach our destination in Palmer.
We'll do our best to keep the writing lively and interesting and hope you'll give us your feedback.
-Andy
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