Healthvues

The movers had come on Friday and took away most of our belongings. We were assured that everything would make it on the truck, but it didn’t. Consequently, we had to make more hard choices about what to take, what to leave and what to give away. We still had all the office equipment plus half a garage when the movers pulled away. But we had this trailer…

We took a break and made our rounds to the neighbors, saying our good-byes. That was very difficult – it was finally hitting us that we were moving out of what was our comfortable haven for the past 13 years. It’s going to be hard to find a neighborhood and neighbors like this.

We knew that friends and family would pull together to help us get through this. It was Dave and Kayo’s turn on Sunday. Davo came over about noon to start helping load the trailer. Nothing eventful to report during the first part of the load-in. About 5, we broke for dinner at their house (along with Stew/Colleen, Sarah/Lauren and Mimi). That night, we went back to Shotwell to finish loading the trailer. Davo could have a second career as a mover – this trailer was packed tight, secure and attractive. Periodically, we’d double check our calculations to make sure we weren’t overweight (the trailer could only hold 2000 pounds safely). No problem. Except no one thought to look underneath to check the axel until we were fully loaded and locked. (Mind you, we STILL had a ton of crap left in the garage.) Turns out, we miscalculated. By a factor of 10. The trailer was grossly overloaded. The plan was that Davo would take the trailer back to their place and we’d pick it up after the closing and head out. Davo gingerly took off about midnight.

Lesson #1: Plans have no meaning when you’re moving yourself across country.

Prologue

Ed. Note: In 2004, after 20 years of living in Syracuse, NY, we decided to relocate the business and family to Reno, NV, to raise our own family around family. The Reno economy was booming, the sun was shining, and we were ready for an adventure. After our adoption journey, we figured we could muster the courage and perserverence to endure anything. Little did we know… This blog is a reprint of the daily email logs we sent to family and friends, chronicling our journey westward. The move not only served as a new start for us as a family, but also as a business. So it makes to begin this blog at the beginning, so to speak.

As most of you know, we had the Shotwell (our house in NY) sold once upon a time. Based on the first buyers’ offer and closing and work schedules, arrangements were made to move our household and iMed Design to Reno. One of the things we had to plan for was the move of the office equipment while still working up until the time we actually left town. The plan was to purchase a small utility trailer for the minimal office items we’d need, plus our clothes and such to make more room in the car so the ride would be as comfortable as possible. We would tow the trailer across country and hit the ground running in Reno with computers and video equipment if needed. We purchased a basic trailer. This purchase would shape the events of the first part of our trip in profound and expensive ways. When the first buyers walked out of the contract, plans were all blown to hell. New buyers stepped forward, schedules changed, work piled up but things were looking up again. But there was this trailer… Looking back, we should have bought a bigger, more durable trailer. But who knew? At the time, what we bought was what we needed. Now, we needed something larger.

Maybe we should call it a “trog?” This blog is dedicated to a lighthearted look at where life takes us - physically and emotionally - in search of… well… life.