Ahhhh...Home Sweet Home!

        "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things"

-- Henry Miller

It's been a while since our last blog, and our public has been clamoring for closure. (Celebrity can be so demanding.) So here it is!

Our circumnavigation of America

We have been quite busy since we drove across that Oregon state line after 10 months on the road:

Wednesday, April 23: We left lovely Canyonville and made the short drive north to Eugene. (Go Ducks!) After dropping Irv-the-fifth-wheel at the campground, we visited Kendall Toyota-Eugene, where we had bought and sold our last few cars. (We highly recommend them.) We arranged a great deal to trade Bessie (our F-150) for a new Prius. But the actual deal will not consummate until after Irv is back in Portland and we no longer needed a truck.

When we first headed out on our trip, one of the most painful adjustments was going from our 50 mpg Prius to a truck that would get between 8-12 mpg depending on whether or not we were towing, going up or downhill, and whether we had a headwind or tailwind. Depending on distances, it wasn't hard to pump $100 a day into our truck, decidedly the biggest single expense of this whole trip. Switching back to a Prius certainly fixes that!

Thursday, April 24: From Eugene we came back to Portland. Since our wonderful renters, the Hernandez family, had not yet moved out, we parked Irv at a campground up on the Columbia River... and right next to the Portland Airport. Luckily, flights in and out are stopped between 11 pm and 6 am.

Friday, April 25: The storage pods were delivered to our driveway. These contained the pieces of our belongings and furniture that we hadn't either sold or given away before we left. Much of our furniture had predated our 2010 marriage, so we decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start. We kept what we loved, and found homes for the rest.

The pods!!

Saturday, April 26: As our house was being vacated, we parked Irv on the street in front. (Thanks to all our neighbors for their patience.) Our neighbors, Sonia and Robin, treated us to dinner, which was much appreciated.

Irv after his bath

Sunday, April 27: While our house was being deep cleaned, we washed and detailed our home of the previous 10 months, inside and out. That took an entire day, and we were amazed at how little wear and tear he suffered. We slept that night in the trailer, one last time.

Monday, April 28: We began moving back into our house. We found our mattress, so at least we could sleep in our house...on the floor. It was sort of strange not to have wheels under us.

Jack-the-Cat was pretty happy to see us, and have HIS house back, too. Our renters and our community of neighbors had cared for Jack. But due to allergies he had to stay outside and in
the garage for the previous year. He was a bit skinny, but appeared none the worse for wear. He was very happy to return to the peace, quiet and warmth of the house.

Ahhhh!!!

Tuesday, April 29: Stacy had a job interview (keep your fingers crossed). We listed Irv on Craigslist, ands delivered him to his storage place. We assembled a dresser and bed, and continued emptying boxes.

Today was also Jack-the-human's 68th birthday, which he happens to share with our good friend Marsha Graham. So we had a lovely dinner out with Marsha and her hubby Peter Stansill to celebrate both birthdays.

Wednesday, April 30: Jack drove Bessie back to Eugene and came home with our brand new charcoal grey Prius. Stacy continued emptying boxes.

Bye bye, Bessie! She was a good truck!

Thursday, May 1: Got a call from a gentleman expressing interest in buying Irv.

Friday, May 2: Second Kaiser Permanente job interview for Stacy.

Saturday, May 3: The boxes are unpacked, crushed, and ready for pick up

Sunday, May 4:  Starting to see some organization in the house. Found a great car for Evan to buy. We had bought her Scion Xb (aka "The Toaster") as a commuter for Stacy, and a "hauler" for us.

Monday: May 5: Stacy interviewed with another company.  Picked up Evan's new car.

Which brings us to today. Perhaps you can see why the blog has not been updated. :)