Well, we’re here and the trip was uneventful which is a good thing!  Going in we knew there would be some bumps along the way, things we should have brought, and things maybe we didn’t need.  I like how Diane put it in her blog, words to the effect of how to put 20 years of living in a 5 bedroom home into a 6′ x 12′ trailer for a six month trip.  We did manage to pack it in as these pictures show:

Did we forget anything?

…. sure hope not!

Seems as if we spent many days packing what we thought we’d need, Diane went so far as to make a list and check it all off as she packed it in.  The day before the move we taped off the size of the trailer on the garage and staged the larger items like the studio tables, chairs, outdoor bench aka living room couch, etc.   My neighbor Richard helped me move those items into the trailer and then it was a matter of stacking boxes around them.  The knock down carving bench I made went into the back of the truck along with my bicycle and portable carving bench.  With everything except the last minute items loaded we had dinner with our good friends and neighbors Richard and Carol and tried to get a good nights sleep for the journey ahead.

Eugster Convoy to Scottsdale

So, there we are bright and early as you can see the sun is just starting to hit the rooftops of the houses.  Brandy is in her “apartment” behind the seat with Diane in the Mini and Ali is in her carrier next to me in the truck.  She meowed to me for a good period of time of our almost 7 hour trip.  Speed and gas milage suffered somewhat with the weight of the trailer.  On arrival we needed to go over some final paper work and were unloaded by 6:00 pm; much quicker to unload than it is to load.  We’re on the second level which meant 10 steps up each time, that’ll take the place of our leg work out!  I was happy to learn that the U-Haul location was less than 10 minutes away and since they closed at 7:00pm I had time to get rid of the trailer — couldn’t figure out where I could have possibly parked it at the complex!

The first day was spent putting it all together, unpacking, and settling in.  Diane had such a good idea of re-purposing our outdoor furniture to use for our living room.  She also recovered the folding chairs and table top which is now our dining room set!  Check out this picture looking from the dining area:

View from Dining Room

In the forefront is the separation of dog and cat.  After extending this screen and painting it we can easily go from the dog zone to the cat zone.  Ali and I have the living room and master bedroom where my carving bench is set up.  Diane and Brandy have the front bedroom, kitchen, and dining area.  The animals are adjusting well, thanks goodness!  The “coffee table” is made of 4 wooden wine boxes and a piece of plexiglas.  Double duty, they first held things to be moved and now they’re our table.  You can see my bike on the balcony where I’ll also spray shellac (shhh, don’t tell the management!).

Here’s some little things I’m discovering as we settle in to our new location.  It reminded me of a design class I took at SFSU way back in the 70’s!  You don’t realize how habitual your life tends to be.  For example, the kitchen sink here has the disposal on the left, at home it’s on the right so that’s the side you put dirty dishes in.  Even seemingly minor items like what side the toilet paper is “supposed” to be on require you to re-think what you’ve taken for granted the last 20 years.

And so, the adventure begins.  Diane’s first session at the Scottsdale Artist School is Monday.  I intend to begin work on one of the many projects available on Chris Pye’s video workshops before I start on one of the dozen frames I have ready for carving and gilding.  What a kick — a six months long, 20th anniversary trip.  One of our field trips today was to IKEA to spend some of the gift certificate that Adam gave to Diane for her birthday.

Ikea before and …..

…. after. How do those Swedes do it?

Happy New Year to all of my readers — May your 2016 be as adventurous as I hope ours will be!!