One Crazy Week

"So... you guys leave when again?  Two weeks?"

"No, we leave Saturday morning, bright and early."

"Really?"  Looking around our apartment.  "Hmmm..."

It was Monday 21 October.  Our friend, Karen, had stopped by to drop off a couple of chairs that we had left at her place after our going away party.  We were feeling pretty confident that we had a solid plan in place for the week leading up to our departure for Central America.  

We got the sense that Karen didn't necessarily see our apartment as 'ready' or 'packed' or 'planned' or anything other than a chaotic mess.  Another friend, Anna, had arrived shortly before Karen to pick up a few plants we were giving her.  Come to think of it, we got the same vibe from her.  But they must be wrong, right?  I mean, we had a plan, damn it.

Looking back, the final nail in the coffin, the coffin that held our presumptions, was the reaction of my son, David, when we answered his questions "What's your plan for the week?  How do you feel your preparations are going?".  Confidently "Oh, we figure we'll be ready to load the UHaul Wednesday and then clean Thursday and have Friday pretty much as a down day to chill and relax with family."

He laughed.  A lot.

He was right.  So was Karen.  So was Anna.

The week was pretty crazy!  It was a mad rush right up to the end, with us re-packing at my sisters house until after midnight, into morning Saturday - our flight mere hours away.

Monday and Tuesday was for packing all the oddball stuff that didn't fit nicely in the crown boxes we had from the brewery.  'Crown boxes' are the heavy duty cardboard boxes that beer bottle caps - or crowns - come in.  They are great for moving:  big enough to hold enough crap to make packing the box worthwhile, small enough that they are hard to make too heavy.  We had a bunch of them and of course had already done all the easy stuff.  Bex! made the suggestion that going forward we should only have stuff that fits in crown boxes.  Great idea!!  I'm sold.

We packed boxes into the night Monday and all day Tuesday.  Taking frequent breaks to run last-minute errands or see family and friends, we were still making good progress.  And by Tuesday night, we were feeling (mostly) ready for the load out the next morning.  I drove out to pick up the Uhaul, a 14 footer, and made the drive back to the apartment.  Bex! met me in the driveway and we got the truck situated first shot.

It was go time.  We started by loading the cab-over area with all the loose crap that doesn't fit in any box.  Soon enough, my sister Susan arrived to help, bringing my niece and nephew with her.  After setting up Julienne and Ian in the living room, in the only empty corner of the floor so they could do their homework, my sis jumped in to help.  And soon after, Justin (Anna's husband) showed up, too.  Once homework was done, the kids started helping, too.  Inside the UHaul, Bex took up the role of official 'truck loader' as the rest of us kept hauling stuff down the three flights of stairs.  Before we knew it we had everything but the really weird crap loaded and ready to roll.

About this time, brother-in-law Neil showed up, which was a good thing because he is the master at this.  However, first thing's first.  It was time for some food.  After taking the crew to the Blue Moon, we said goodbye to our morning shift (Susan, Ian, Julienne, Justin) and put the afternoon shift (Neil) to work.  He really wishes he would have arrived earlier...

We re-situated some of the odd shaped stuff on the back end of the truck and fit in some more of our 'precious belongings'.  But we still had more!  Thankfully, Neil offered to load up the back of his truck and drive out with us.  Awesome!  Although we still had a little more to get, we could at least get 98% of it all in one drive.  The thought of coming back same day to make another trip was disheartening, to be sure.  We closed up the truck and were off for the storage unit!

We hit the sweet spot for traffic, cruising right out to Hillsboro, no problem.  After we viewed the 10' x 10' shed that would hold our stuff while we're gone, we finalized the paperwork and started unloading the truck.  Neil played it smart, opting to stay in the UHaul feeding stuff down the ramp some we could load up the roller carts and wheel 'em to our unit.  That left Bex! and I to fill the shed.  It worked out great until, of course, we got down to the weird stuff!  Lamps, BBQ, bikes, patio furniture, etc.  So we did the best we could.  Neil took off once we had the last of it out of the UHaul.  We got everything inside and closed it up for the night.

Whew!  We returned the truck, picked up my car and went to Bex!'s uncle and aunt's for dinner.  Good food and a great visit.

In our 'plan' we knew the apartment would be bed-less for Wednesday and Thursday nights.  We originally thought we'd stay at a hotel but decided instead to camp on our living room floor.  This was a great idea!!  We had a blast and slept really well, even though we knew we were getting close to our crazy adventure.  Thursday was spent cleaning the apartment and staring at the piles of items we were planning to take with us.  Friday was more of the same.  But not before we had one last breakfast at Besaw's and dropped our valuables (wedding rings included) at the bank in our newly acquired safe deposit box.  

We were down to the last of the items for the storage unit.  Our sleeping bags and sleep pads, a couple of pillows, cleaning supplies, mop and broom, and our road bikes.  We loaded up my car and - drats - it still wouldn't all fit.  So Bex! had the great idea of grabbing a ZipCar for the last of it.  Brilliant!  We drove out and finished that part of the move.  Practically everything we owned was safely stored.

My daughter, Deidra, and Ben and the grandkids stopped by to say last goodbyes.  It was good to see all of them and give her a last hug.  At the apartment, we started the overwhelming task of trying to get stuff into actual real live suitcases.  Ugh.  Just as we were about ready to snap, my son, David, and Lisa and the other grandkids showed up - with food!!  The break was good and the visit was fun.  And encouraging.  They had recently returned from a two year stint in Honduras, so understood exactly what we were going through.  And after realizing we would not be able to fit all our bags in the car to get to my sister's place for the night, they graciously offered to make the trip to haul the rest of our bags.  Woohoo!  One trip!

Once we got everything over there, we spread out on Pat's dining room table to unpack, sort and repack EVERYTHING.  A daunting task.  We had to eliminate a couple of two or three piles of clothes, boots, shoes to make suitcase weight limits. But we finally did it!  We had one bag that was about a pound over but had one that was slightly under, so we went with the average.  Finally, we felt we were packed.  

It was after midnight; our flight left at 6:30.  We tried to sleep but couldn't, tired as we were.  We checked our flights to make sure they were on time, we double checked the need for 'onward travel' verification necessary upon arriving in Central America.  We felt we had the bases covered.  So we finally dozed off for a couple of hours of restless sleep.  Our adventure was upon us!

We had a lot of help and support in getting ready for this trip but my sis and her hubby, Pat and Neil, got up at 4 AM to get us up and ready and out the door to the airport.  With coffee, even.  It was an awesome favor, and we were hugely grateful.  It beat getting a cab or taking the train.  We even offered to let them drop us at the curb but they insisted on coming inside with us, helping us cart our three suitcases, two backpacks and two musical instruments.  We looked like the Clampett's from 'The Beverly Hillbillies', or at least felt that way.

Check in was a breeze, the checked bags all made the weight restriction, we waved a last goodbye to Pat and Neil and it was on through security.  No issues there, other than needing to hold my shorts up until I could get my belt back on.  We had a snack while waiting to board and before we knew it, we were on the plane!

Goodbye, Portland!!  Hello, Managua!!