Most of what has been done so far on the house has been baby-sitting: let the painters in (putting paint over perfectly good paint), deal with the HOA, get the landscaper scheduled, let the garage rack guy into the garages, show the water softener/conditioner guy where the plumbing stubs are. Other than walking around the yard, discussing the landscaping among ourselves, it hasn't been... physical. (cue the Olivia Newton John music)
Today, the moving pods are supposed to be delivered. We got a confirmation from U-Haul, so we think it is going to happen. It will be fun if we get the same pods back that we filled in Texas. After those pods arrive, it will be physical to get them unloaded... so they can pick up the pods tomorrow. We scheduled a week to get them loaded, but we are anticipating the unloading will happen faster. And will fill our garage until the painters are done with their work.
Another early morning today: up just after 5:00 to get ready, put a feeder out for Rufus, then take on the big city traffic. On a Friday. Looking forward to getting this "commuting" stuff behind us.
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A couple world records this morning! Right before we left the motorhome, Joan checked traffic and said, "Let's try the Interstate today and do the HOV lane." As I pulled onto the Interstate from the entrance ramp, I put my turn signal on and ran left through 7 lanes, over to the HOV lane - that is what I would call a "Texas lane change." We got slowed down a bit, where the 202 Loop exits off I-10. The GPS said it would be a 37 minute trip - pretty optimistic. We made it in 38 minutes. That same trip the other direction last night took us an hour and 20 minutes.
Needless to say, we were both feeling pretty upbeat. While at the house, waiting for some word on when our moving pods would be delivered (between 8:15 and 10:15), Joan and Steph worked on setting up the Ring app for our front doors...
No, they are not short - the house has 8' doors throughout.
With no advance call from U-Haul, the driver bringing our pods showed up at 8:20. Impressive! She went right to work unloading...
The driver Melissa is our new best friend...
Joan did a great job in packing the pods, and it appears that nothing shifted in transit. We went to work unloading - and by "we" I mean Joan and me; Steph and Dan had a vet appointment with one of their cats. We put most of the stuff from the pods in our garage...
Yes, we put those overhead storage racks that were installed yesterday to good use. Joan and I had the first pod unloaded in an hour; a short break for rehydrating and ibuprofen, then we went to work on the second pod. About 45 minutes into that one, we were down to the "last layer"...
It all went into our garage...
No, there isn't room left for the car. Probably not even one bike. And to be fair, we did put a few things in the house and a few more in Steph and Dan's garage. Over the next couple weeks, we will be going through all those boxes and seeing what fits in the house... and what we hauled from Texas just for the pleasure of tossing in Arizona. ;-)
About 2 hours to get the pods unloaded. I texted Steph to let her know: "It is safe to come home - we have the pods unloaded." ;-)
Plenty of physical work and more to come as we go through it all. But, I have to say I am pretty pleased with how this part of the move is progressing.
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The pods were scheduled to be picked up tomorrow. When someone from U-Haul called to set a time, we told them we had the pods empty, and if they wanted to pick them up yet today, that would be fine with us. We knew in talking with the driver Melissa that she had a run going to Yuma tomorrow and said she would be back late in the day. She was delighted when she showed up at the house to pick up the pods today: "This is going to save me from having to do this at the end of a long day - you guys are great!" Honestly, we felt the same about her - what a nice attitude and very personable (see the photo of us with her above). Our whole experience with U-Haul with these moving pods was very positive all through the process... two big thumbs up.
We met with the landscaper again this afternoon - final meeting. We added some stuff on our side of the yard, he re-figured the cost, I quietly gasped, we shook hands, and Joan wrote him a check for the 1/3 deposit. He talks a good game, gets good reviews on-line, and seems to genuinely want us to have things just the way we want. He offered suggestions without being pushy. It will be a week from Monday before he and his crew can start, and he expects to have it done within a week. (the other landscape company we talked with said it would take "at least 3 weeks" to complete a less ambitious project. This is a big deal, as it will make our outdoor areas more livable and inviting.
The painting continues. Not sure what time Steph and Dan got out of there (90% of the painting is on their side). Joan and I left around 4:00. We decided to take the 202 Loop north and get on I-10... once again, the HOV lane was moving pretty good. Good enough that we felt we could stop at Panda Express and pick up some supper.
Rufus got a walk in after we got home. He has been sitting right by us all evening. He's a good boy.
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