Wichita Falls

We had intended to roll out of Kingwood around 10:00am, BUT!   Gary won $100 in the lottery and so going to Krogers to cash in took us by the house to get the rest of the trash out, say goodbye to our neighbor, Clyde & Vickie, fill the pool, disconnect the pool sweeper robot, pay for George's grooming, fill the tank and GO!  It was 12:30pm!

We settled into a pace and all went well until our navigator took us out into the nether regions of the Texas plains.  Fortunately, we realized this soon and got back on track - though it was an interesting side trip.  Pure prarie sparse with farms and ranches.  We finally got to the Holiday Inn to learn they had no reservation - back to the car to retrieve my laptop, I forgot we had reserved a room at the Candlewood Suites - fortunately 2 exits further on the highway.

What a scorcher!!  We left Kingwood at 102 F (39 C) and hit a high of 111 F (44 C) in Fort Worth.  During most of our drive, the dash thermometer showed a steady 108 F (42 C) - and it was 108 when we got to Wichita Falls at 6:30pm.  The Texas landscape through Fort Worth was heavy with trees, yielding to chapparal and finally prarie.  All in all - uneventful, except for my goofs.  (Gary insisted I post them)

We've taken precautions by emailing all future reservations to my Blackberry so that we can ensure that our navigator is properly programmed.

I discovered tonight that I left my camera cable at home in Coquitlam - and so will stop by Best Buy tomorrow to get another - tomorrow night I'll add some pictures.

We've been planning to stop at the state line tomorrow to conduct a ritual of contempt for Texas, but our first ideas would probably get us arrested.  None the less, we will at least photograph the event. Probably the biggest frustruation faced by us living in Kingwood was experienced by Gary, who faced re-careering as a Realtor in a slowing market.  Further, where we lived served to isolate us from the gay community.  However our neighbors were fabulous!  THANK YOU Clyde & Vickie, Brian & Barbara, Jill & Dave Henderson!

Now that we're turning in, I'll say goodnight!

Cleaned up and GONE!

Another long day today, as Gary and I got rid of the pile of garbage in the garage, discovered the movers rolled over one of our sprinkler heads, cleaned the carpets, waxed the floors, cleaned the pool filter, recycled glass, plastic, and donated excess clothing.  Both Gary and George got clipped today.  Aaron our new yard and pool guy came over, fixed the broken sprinkler, installed the new control system and is now set up to provide our tenants pool and yard services.  Sharp guy, and hungry.  Glad Gary found him!

Gary engineered another break by talking the trash collectors into picking up EVERYTHING on the curb and the  pile in the garage.  WooHoo!!!  All the garbage is gone - a truckload.

Finally, we got back to the hotel, ordered out, and finished dinner around 10:00pm...  Tomorrow we launch!  I'll figure out how to get pictures posted here and catch you up!

An interesting point is that we're staying at the same Holiday Inn Express as the day we arrived to live in Kingwood - almost exactly 6 years ago.

Sorted, Packed, and SHIPPED

After a week of screeching tape dispensers, sorting, discarding, discovering treasures, paper & bubble wrapping, boxing, labeling and stacking, we're DONE.  Gary's packing helper never showed, and so we prevailed upon Allied to send a crew of 3 to our rescue.  After an 8 hour day with no breaks - 5 of us packing away - we got 90% of it done.

At 8:00am sharp, our movers arrived:  Dave and Lorrie.  They're a young, Vancouver married couple who made quite a team.  Moving households is clearly in their blood as evidenced by their tireless work and bedroom-sized sleeper on their tractor wrig.  They had a standing crew in Houston that was perhaps the best crew of packers and loaders I've seen.

Throughout, Gary and I built boxes, wrapped, and packed until the very, very end.  The last item out was our vaccuum cleaner.  An hour from the end, as I packed, Gary vaccuumed.  It was another full day - 11 hours this time; from 7:30am until 6:30pm.  We loaded the car and checked into our hotel room at 7:30, and will be back to the house again at 7:30am to put the trash out - about HALF of what we have to throw away.  Gary's arranged for a guy to clean out the garage next week, under the supervision of our property manager.


In short, we're happily exhausted.  Tomorrow it's washing & charging the pool filter, cleaning the hardwoods,  taking George to the groomers (and to get a veterinarian certificate).  Then Sunday - ON THE ROAD!!