Lots of progress over the last several days. Most importantly, Brady and Faithanne flew down from San Francisco! Normally, we would have stayed with them on our trip up, but as luck would have it, they are flying out to Europe on the same day we start our move. It's great to see them both.
At about the same time Kathy received her job offer, we came into some money, and so as we prepare to move, we are also scrambling to do catchup on some home repairs, hoping to get them all done before we leave. So far, the dishwasher has been replaced. Next, work on both bathrooms happens this Friday. Next week, Lowe's comes in to do more work. It's nice to have all of this scheduled, and finished, we hope! It wouldn't be terrible if it didn't all get done, considering Kelli is moving in, but it would be nice.
Kathy made reservations for the ferries we need to take, and I reserved the 14' U-Haul truck we will use, to move as few belongings as possible. This was after we finally settled on a route, and this after I got lucky and found an inexpensive way to renew my expired passport. We will head north to Bellingham WA, where Brady was born, by the way. We cut inland there and head for Abbotsford BC, and from there continue north to Prince George, another 500 miles. From there, we head almost due east to Prince Rupert BC, on the coast. There, we catch an Alaska Ferry for a six hour ride to Ketchikan AK. Lastly, we take a three hour ferry to Hollis AK, on Prince of Wales Island, where we will live for the next two years.
We have two major details left to nail down, those being where we will live, and buying a new car. Turns out the deals on new Subaru Outbacks are better than used ones. I test drove one yesterday, and we will probably seal the deal and drive one home today. That will be a nice task to have completed. It's not an Accord, but that's not the object: we need a car that is ready for the tough winter conditions, and everyone says that is the Outback, with all-wheel drive, for starters. Kathy will be driving this north with the two golden retrievers, while I drive the U-Haul.
Where we will be staying is still up in the air. We'd really like the four bedroom house, but won't know for sure for another six days or so, and are working on options in case it doesn't pan out.
The weather has been a little muggy here, but otherwise, fantastic. As I wrote earlier, I feel like I have new set of goggles on, looking at everything in a different light, knowing how much our world will change soon. The weather, Kelli and Jared and Henry, and Brady and Faithanne, and all our families, not so close in two weeks or so. :-( Those Henry Hugs are all the more special. We had a wonderful family dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Sanfilippo's in Hillcrest. We hadn't been there since they moved to the bigger place right next to Extraordinary Desserts. They have a lot more room now.
It will be hard leaving our community, too, and I've received some nice comments from people about the things I've accomplished in Serra Mesa in the five years I was Planning Group chair. We just found out that $1.1 million is being returned to Serra Mesa and will allow the Wegeforth Elementary School Joint Use Park project to be completed, instead of phased over who knows how long. We have been working on this for over a year, so a hard-fought victory, one we weren't sure we would win, despite our strong belief that the money never should have left Serra Mesa in the first place.
Kathy told me she has ordered some new sweaters for me, and jeans. Because we have come into some money, and it's time, we are donating a lot of clothes to Goodwill, and replacing much of them: our San Diego sweaters won't be enough for Alaska, so we're buying new clothes, and even dishware and pots and pans, and replacing them with new purchases. They will stay in the boxes, securely packed and ready to load in the U-Haul.
Enjoy the great weather today; I know we will! :-)
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