Norway MI to Bemidji MN

What a perfectly family-filled weekend to kick off the trip to our new home.  Friday started with Tom having to work in the a.m. and I had a date with two coastie wives at the Dancing Crane for one last smoothie & some girl talk.  By the time we had our beverages finished Tom txt'd to say he was done with work, at the hotel & ready to go!  I believe we were on the road west around noonish eastern time and in Norway some time around 2 central time.  One thing I LOVE about this trip is we keep gaining time and when we get to Juneau we'll be 4 hours behind the eastern time we're used to. 
     Friday evening we had a HUGE bonfinre (surprise surprise) and everyone had a blast.  All present were me, Tom, Eve, mom, Pete, Perry, Justine's children Aiden, Liam & Caroline and cousin's James & Joseph and their lady friends.  Good times but early bedtime for this gal...and the party raged on while I slept :)  Saturday mom & I met auntie Jackie and auntie Joanne at the garden for some hardcore weeding, mulching and laying biodegradable paper down for the tomatoes.  Fun but our butts were kicked at the end of the day.  We stayed up a little too late playing some hand & foot but only got 2 of 3 games played, to be finished this morning over coffee (mom & I were ahead by a measly 45 points at bedtime).  This morning we celebrated father's day with scratch off lottery tickets & cards :)  The card game continued and mom & I kicked Tom & Pete's butts :)  Then it was time to go :(  We packed the car and set out at 11:30am with tears and hugs and a flaming send off by Pete.  A few pit stops were made for potty breaks and food but made it to Bemidji in good time around 7pm to drop Eve off at her friend Kylie's house for the night.  Kylie & Eve met about 5 years ago and have remained the best of friends but when Kylie moved to Minnesota a few years back it was hard for the girls so this was a natural choice to spend the night after a day of driving. 
     Wildlife wasn't too abundant on today's trip.  There was a large turtle (!!!) walking on the side of the road in Wisconsin, a few deer and a handful of very large birds that we couldn't identify.  No moose :(  Our wildlife are adapting very well to life on the road.  Cork got out of the carrier immediately after getting in the hotel room this evening and Dude is being Dude...happy & playful. 
     Tomorrow I'm hoping to make it to Montana but will be happy with western North Dakota.  We've got plenty of time until we need to be in Skagway on the 27th so if we're able to relax some and enjoy our trip, all the better. 

Packing Day, parts 2 & 3

     Yesterday and today saw the end of our packing!  We had two fellas yesterday morning and a third helping for a short while in the afternoon & these guys managed to get nearly everything packed & crated by 5:30 yesterday!  This morning only two guys showed up to load the few remaining items into a UHaul to be crated at Weirs later today and they were done by 9:15 a.m.  This was by far the easiest move I've ever experienced.  All that was left to do was some last minute cleaning after the movers were gone & Tom & I finished everything by 11 a.m. :)  Tomorrow we have our run-thru with the property manager at 11 then, I'm happy to announce, we'll officially be homeless!! :D  Unfortunately we can't leave town until Friday when Tom gets cut loose from work for good. 
    The next two days will be pretty boring around here...nothing really to do but wait.  BTW...Cork has come out from behind the bed!  He's adjusting well & behaving almost normally.  Dude is still Dude...happy and loving :) 

Packing Day, Part 1

     Yesterday Tom & I gathered our things to take with us on our adventure, leaving behind everything else to be shipped.  It was a task but we managed to narrow things down quite well then checked in at a local hotel for the rest of our week in Sault Sainte Marie.  Getting Dude into the full car wasn't a big deal since he's travelled to Seattle & back without a hitch.  Cork, on the other hand, wasn't so easy.  The tussle began as I calmly picked him up in the livingroom.  He knew things weren't going his way by the time we entered the kitchen and by some sort of terrible kitty knowledge he knew the carrier was meant for him.  After swiping at my face and wrangling himself free of my grasp, Tom took over the battle and got him stuffed into the carrier.  Immediately he began his sad meowing :(  He made it to the hotel without any mishaps but when we got into our room, he refused to come out of his carrier.  After a few hours, Tom gently dragged him out and he promptly ran behind our bed.  Ok, this area is large enough for a small kitten, far to small for even Dude to fit, and Cork remained there until this evening.  A couple of hours ago Tom coerced him out briefly only to have him run & hide within a few minutes.  He made another appearance about 15 minutes ago he came out to stretch, get a little love from "daddy" and now, as I type, he's back in his little Cork spot.  *sigh*  It's going to be a loooooooong trip. 
     The packing is going remarkable well!  We woke early this morning, had a semi-decent breakfast in the hotel lobby, got some doughnuts at Super Valu for the movers and made our way to our old house (oh how I love referring to it that way :).  The movers showed up shortly after 9am and didn't care for coffee or doughnuts (fine, more for me) and started packing things up.  Tom & I weren't allowed to do anything so of course Tom was antsy all day.  He took the car to get weighed empty and paced back & forth for the remainder.  I came back to the hotel to check on the kids a few times & played with Dude & failed many times to get Cork to leave his hiding spot.  When I picked Tom up after he said the movers had gone for the day I was amazed at all they accomplished.  There were only two of them and they worked from 9am until only 4:30 with an hour or so break for lunch.  When we walked room to room, it was great to see they're nearly finished putting things into boxes!  How wonderful!  The fella said they hope to have everything out of the house & crated by 1pm Wednesday and it won't surprise me if they're done earlier.  Well done guys at Weirs Furniture. 
     Tomorrow is another day same as today.  Will Cork come out and be a part of the family?  Will Dude continue to be a good boy?  Will they finish packing our stuff so we can get the heck out of here?  Can't wait to see the next chapter...Packing day, part 2!

And I thought this would be easy...

     so I'm taking a break.  It's pre-packing day, the day I thought would be the easiest by far of the moving process.  Today is simply packing the clothing & few essential items we'll need on the road & our (hopefully) short hotel stay in Juneau until we find & move into our new home.  It isn't easy choosing which pieces of clothing we'll need since we'll be encountering temps of all kinds from here to there and keeping in mind we've got VERY limited space to carry it all.  Our furry boys are anxious and know something big is up.  Cork has been meowing more than normal & Dude is whiney.  The vet prescribed calmer-down meds for both boys if we should need to medicate them for the drive & certainly for the 6 hour ferry trip from Skagway to Juneau so here's to hoping we don't need them or if we DO need to use them, they work :) 
     Last night was our last in this house.  I will carry wonderful memories of our life here with me but will not be missing the actual house so it is with no sadness we're spending the rest of our time in Sault Sainte Marie at a local hotel :)
     Tomorrow, the true packers are coming.  The professionals.  From what everyone says, all we need to do is be nice, provide them with coffee & doughnuts for breakfast and pizza & refreshments for lunch.  Let's hope the two days of real packing and one day of shipping go smoother than today!

My very first post

We will be starting our adventures shortly.  Packing begins June 13th, shipping June 14th.  Our family is moving to Juneau Alaska from upper Michigan and this blog will chronicle our adventures.