The journey has begun. We are in the town of Rock Springs, WY, getting ready for a bit of sleep on a break from the caravan along I-80. The last several days are a blur - wasn't sure we were ever going to get out of Denver. The house challenged us with an unending packing assignment. It's hard to believe we had so much to pack after living in a house for all of eight months.
I had been monitoring the weather forecast all weekend hoping the predicted Tuesday snowstorm was another misjudgment of Colorado weather. Unlike so many other threats of snow in Denver over the years, this promise came to fulfillment. The snow began late Monday night and persisted until early afternoon on Tues leaving a good six inches of snow on top of the four inches we had received Sunday. Regardless, my appointment with Penske would remain and I picked up the rental truck at 11:30am.
My friend, Trevor, was my right-hand man (as he told me he would be). We loaded boxes and furniture despite the snow and the single digit temps. After it became apparent that a couple of my other friends weren't going to make it over for the fun, I sent out an SOS. Matt, Curtis, and Karla all responded. I wasn't sure that all our things were going to fit in the 26 foot truck - the largest rental available. I also wasn't sure we were going to complete the job on Tues. I was preparing myself to make an early Wed go at finishing the job.
To my astonishment and thanks to Allison and Curtis' uncanny spatial intelligence, the door on the truck was closed, with almost all of our belongings, at 9pm. What a major relief! All that was left was to take the truck back to Penske to hook up the car on a tow dolly Wed morning.
We all slept well at a local hotel last night. I woke up this morning sore. It was a good sore, like I had a hard workout at the gym the previous day (only this sore had a higher level of satisfaction attached to it). We went back to the house to pick up several remaining items and clean up a bit. As I was getting ready to go get the tow dolly I found the truck would NOT start. The temps had dropped below zero all night long and it was -5 at 8am. Unfortunately diesel engines, nor their batteries, care for sub-zero temps and like to express their disapproval.
After a couple hours, a service tech came to the house, listened to the truck tell its sad story and then got it running again. I drove to Penske where I found the Honda's battery dead too. Got it jumped. Got the dolly attached and the car loaded. And finally hit the road to begin "The Big Move," as Alvin calls it, at 2:40pm today.
One other note... The winds along I-80 between Cheyenne and Rawlins were ridiculous. Gale force winds blowing snow from south to north made it seems like we were on an arctic adventure. Speeds hovered between 30-40 mph much of that stretch. I had a plan in my head that included all the steps I needed to take if the wind succeeded in blowing over the truck. Glad I didn't have to use the plan. Hoping for a smoother ride tomorrow into Utah and across Nevada.
I had been monitoring the weather forecast all weekend hoping the predicted Tuesday snowstorm was another misjudgment of Colorado weather. Unlike so many other threats of snow in Denver over the years, this promise came to fulfillment. The snow began late Monday night and persisted until early afternoon on Tues leaving a good six inches of snow on top of the four inches we had received Sunday. Regardless, my appointment with Penske would remain and I picked up the rental truck at 11:30am.
My friend, Trevor, was my right-hand man (as he told me he would be). We loaded boxes and furniture despite the snow and the single digit temps. After it became apparent that a couple of my other friends weren't going to make it over for the fun, I sent out an SOS. Matt, Curtis, and Karla all responded. I wasn't sure that all our things were going to fit in the 26 foot truck - the largest rental available. I also wasn't sure we were going to complete the job on Tues. I was preparing myself to make an early Wed go at finishing the job.
To my astonishment and thanks to Allison and Curtis' uncanny spatial intelligence, the door on the truck was closed, with almost all of our belongings, at 9pm. What a major relief! All that was left was to take the truck back to Penske to hook up the car on a tow dolly Wed morning.
We all slept well at a local hotel last night. I woke up this morning sore. It was a good sore, like I had a hard workout at the gym the previous day (only this sore had a higher level of satisfaction attached to it). We went back to the house to pick up several remaining items and clean up a bit. As I was getting ready to go get the tow dolly I found the truck would NOT start. The temps had dropped below zero all night long and it was -5 at 8am. Unfortunately diesel engines, nor their batteries, care for sub-zero temps and like to express their disapproval.
After a couple hours, a service tech came to the house, listened to the truck tell its sad story and then got it running again. I drove to Penske where I found the Honda's battery dead too. Got it jumped. Got the dolly attached and the car loaded. And finally hit the road to begin "The Big Move," as Alvin calls it, at 2:40pm today.
One other note... The winds along I-80 between Cheyenne and Rawlins were ridiculous. Gale force winds blowing snow from south to north made it seems like we were on an arctic adventure. Speeds hovered between 30-40 mph much of that stretch. I had a plan in my head that included all the steps I needed to take if the wind succeeded in blowing over the truck. Glad I didn't have to use the plan. Hoping for a smoother ride tomorrow into Utah and across Nevada.
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