December? Already? If anything, time flies faster in retirement than it did before.
I last updated in October when we drove the Uhaul to Dallas for Natasha and Mike. Steve had ordered our truck and we were waiting for it to arrive before we could go get the trailer from Grand Rapids.
We picked up our shiny, new, blue Silverado on October 31. It's a one ton diesel Chevy quad cab. It has 4 doors and seats 5. It has running boards so I can climb into the thing and adjustable pedals and steering wheel so I can drive it. And, independent heat and cooling for the passenger and driver so I don't freeze Steve out. I sometimes call it Big Blue.
Now, Big Blue needed to have 500 miles on it before we could go pick up the trailer, so we started to drive it everywhere, including over to the Beef House in Covington, IN one night for dinner. We had 300 miles on it when Steve realized that the temperatures in Grand Rapids were starting to drop below freezing and the trailer isn't winterized. So a rush trip to Grand Rapids was planned. Since it's 200 miles to Grand Rapids, the mileage would be okay - barely. We took off on Thursday, November 7, drove to Grand Rapids and picked up the trailer the next morning.
Now, other than towing Natasha's car behind the Uhaul, we are novices at towing. The trailer had been stored at the dealer who did an inspection for us and one of their employees helped us get hooked up and ready for the road.
But the truck isn't supposed to pull at high speeds for the first 500 miles of towing, so no interstates on the way home. We made it in one day (a long one) and I even drove part of the way. ( I also did the backing up when we were getting the truck and trailer hitched together.) Here's our rig.
It was actually a nice drive home. Because Steve is red green color blind, we don't typically go looking at leaves in the fall. While it was late in the season, there were still some brilliant colors and a bit of snow!
After an entertaining half hour, we even managed to get the trailer backed into the driveway. Leigh was there to help and several of the neighbors really did come out to watch! I am impressed with my hubby - he can get a trailer, truck and two prius' in the driveway if he tries hard.
After a whirlwind trip to Michigan, we had a whirlwind weekend before we flew to North Carolina for my niece's wedding. Saturday was a home football game and even with all the construction going on, we're still "tailgating" at our house before and after the games.
We also lost our black dog, Scrappy, that weekend. The front door was open and he saw something to chase and took off, into the path of a car. When Scrappy was focused on the chase, there was no stopping him. Scrappy had some problems, but he could be loving and funny, too and we miss him. This is our last picture of him. He had crawled into Steve's lap and asked for some loving.
We hadn't expected the weather to get as cold as it has, so the trailer has remained mostly in the driveway, plugged into electricity and running it's furnace to keep from freezing. We both head out there daily to work on getting it set up. Steve drove it to Plainfield, IN (I think) to have some antenna work done and Dish Network was here this week to install the satellite.
We had hoped to take the trailer to the family Thanksgiving at the Dickerson's, but that would have meant having to back it into the driveway in the dark when we got home and we thought better of that idea.
We'll be driving up to Bloomingdale (without the trailer) next week to help Natasha supervise movers and close on her house there. Then on the 18th we plan to leave for Dallas. Natasha takes possession of her Dallas house on the 18th, so by the time we get there on the 20th, Olga will probably have everything unpacked! But Natasha has a long Daddy Do list, so we'll be busy through the holiday.
I'll be updating on an irregular basis, so if you want to follow along, you might want to sign up to follow me by email. If you have trouble, let me know and I'll help you get set up.
Deb
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