We arrived back in Fort Collins early in the morning.
Registered the car, unpacked and arranged some of our belongings and bought some supplies for our kitchen.
Then we waited.
Movers were to be arriving at 1PM.
By 1PM, Peter had picked up the truck and still no movers.
They did call and arrived at 2:30 or so.
At the same time, Paul & Maris Fried arrived to give us a hand with the moving. We were grateful for their assistance. They were on their way home from a 6 week journey to the West Coast and Canada.
We were done unloading the truck (in 90+ temps!) by 5:30, cleaned up and headed into
downtown Fort Collins for dinner at Beau Jo's. Tuesday nite is apparently Calzone nite. We shared 2 very large Calzones and then took a walk through the shops to work off some calories.
We were back home by 9:30 or so and tried to find sleeping areas for all of us. Plan was to be up early so that Paul & Maris could begin their 2 day trip back to Milwaukee.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Friends helping us move in
Long time friends, Paul & Maris Fried arrived just in time to help us unload our truck of our belongings into our new home in Fort Collins.
They were just completing a 6 week camping trip that took them to BC, Washington, Oregon etc. Stopped in Colorado on their way home to Milwaukee.
So good to have great friends who are willing to help.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Our Closing Day
It is Monday, June 27th. Our scheduled day for the closing on our new home.
We are still certain when it will take place because of last minute paperwork, but we are assured it will be today.
To kill a bit of time while waiting, we go to the downtown public library to check our e-mail and look around. We received a call from our Realtor that he was on his way to the closing and hoped that we were doing the same. Closing is to take place in Greeley, Colorado where the builders have their offices.
Closing went off with only one hitch, missing money from the Title Company that closed our house in Milwaukee. We were told it had been sent and would be found by tomorrow.
So we headed back to our new home, dropped off some supplies and then drove back to Doug and Heidi's home in Golden, Co.
Plan was to get up early the next morning, pick up the truck and wait for the movers to show up at 1PM.
We are still certain when it will take place because of last minute paperwork, but we are assured it will be today.
To kill a bit of time while waiting, we go to the downtown public library to check our e-mail and look around. We received a call from our Realtor that he was on his way to the closing and hoped that we were doing the same. Closing is to take place in Greeley, Colorado where the builders have their offices.
Closing went off with only one hitch, missing money from the Title Company that closed our house in Milwaukee. We were told it had been sent and would be found by tomorrow.
So we headed back to our new home, dropped off some supplies and then drove back to Doug and Heidi's home in Golden, Co.
Plan was to get up early the next morning, pick up the truck and wait for the movers to show up at 1PM.
Our first Sunday Morning in Fort Collins
It's Sunday morning, June 27th and we are sitting in a Panera's Coffee Shop checking
e-mail and sorting out some of our papers. Looks like this will be our new office for a bit. While here, Peter is looking for internet connection that we can
order for our new home.
We again stayed with Doug and Heidi last night at their home in Golden. Heidi worked late at a nature program. All of us were up early as Doug and Heidi were heading out on their 2 week journey to City of Rocks in Idaho. They left with their little car fully packed and not much room left over for Molly. Molly continues to struggle with her health issues but they are all managing. They will be camping and hiking for 9 days and then meeting up with Heidi's parents, Hank and Judy. Heidi does not get to see her parents often as they live in Washington state and travel can be difficult. Total travel (one way) will be about 650 miles so they will arrive late and there will be no phone service where they camp. Best to all of them on their travels.
We on the other hand are setting out to explore Fort Collins. We found a Church this morning where we attended Mass. Will probably be doing some Church shopping during this initial time.
After this stop at Panera's to catch up on some paperwork, we will head out to shop for a mattress. Our mattress is still in Milwaukee storage and will be used for our guest bedroom. Way too many choices for a mattress. And then we will have to look for furniture. Again, more decisions to make.
Last night we decided that it would be good for us to return to Milwaukee to pick up the remainder of our belongings. At this point it is our intention to fly into Milwaukee on July 8th, stay with our friends Paul & Maris for a couple of days, go to a couple of medical appointments, attend an art fair at Wisconsin Lutheran College on the 10th, pack up the truck and make a return trip to Fort Collins.
By not having to drag a car on a trailer, this trip should not be as difficult.
(We Hope!)
e-mail and sorting out some of our papers. Looks like this will be our new office for a bit. While here, Peter is looking for internet connection that we can
order for our new home.
We again stayed with Doug and Heidi last night at their home in Golden. Heidi worked late at a nature program. All of us were up early as Doug and Heidi were heading out on their 2 week journey to City of Rocks in Idaho. They left with their little car fully packed and not much room left over for Molly. Molly continues to struggle with her health issues but they are all managing. They will be camping and hiking for 9 days and then meeting up with Heidi's parents, Hank and Judy. Heidi does not get to see her parents often as they live in Washington state and travel can be difficult. Total travel (one way) will be about 650 miles so they will arrive late and there will be no phone service where they camp. Best to all of them on their travels.
We on the other hand are setting out to explore Fort Collins. We found a Church this morning where we attended Mass. Will probably be doing some Church shopping during this initial time.
After this stop at Panera's to catch up on some paperwork, we will head out to shop for a mattress. Our mattress is still in Milwaukee storage and will be used for our guest bedroom. Way too many choices for a mattress. And then we will have to look for furniture. Again, more decisions to make.
Last night we decided that it would be good for us to return to Milwaukee to pick up the remainder of our belongings. At this point it is our intention to fly into Milwaukee on July 8th, stay with our friends Paul & Maris for a couple of days, go to a couple of medical appointments, attend an art fair at Wisconsin Lutheran College on the 10th, pack up the truck and make a return trip to Fort Collins.
By not having to drag a car on a trailer, this trip should not be as difficult.
(We Hope!)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday June 25th, another day of travel
Started the day out with breakfast at the motel. Left about 8AM. Turned the wrong way out of the parking lot and ended up on a street that did not allow trucks! Lucky us! Peter got caught in a parking lot that did not have a way out except
by backing up and as he puts it "his reverse skills are not the best!" He went over a small medium of grass in order to get out of the area. We finally headed in the right direction, stopped for more diesel fuel and were on our way. A bit of tension and frustration in the truck! But that passed after a few hundred miles!
I was frustrated just sitting in the passenger seat and unable to help with the driving. Ride was not very comfortable and it was very hot! 90's. Oh, and there was also no way to plug in our satellite radio, so the music selection was next to nothing! And no audio book to listen to. Oh, this was proving to be a long trip, but we would get through it.
We received a call from our Banker late in the afternoon saying there was still a question that had to be answered before we could close on the house. We will be calling the credit bureau as instructed early on Monday morning to answer their additional questions. Will this never end!? Now closing may be delayed a couple of hours. We are still scheduled to have the movers show up at our home to unload at 5PM on Monday. Hope it does not take too long.
by backing up and as he puts it "his reverse skills are not the best!" He went over a small medium of grass in order to get out of the area. We finally headed in the right direction, stopped for more diesel fuel and were on our way. A bit of tension and frustration in the truck! But that passed after a few hundred miles!
I was frustrated just sitting in the passenger seat and unable to help with the driving. Ride was not very comfortable and it was very hot! 90's. Oh, and there was also no way to plug in our satellite radio, so the music selection was next to nothing! And no audio book to listen to. Oh, this was proving to be a long trip, but we would get through it.
We received a call from our Banker late in the afternoon saying there was still a question that had to be answered before we could close on the house. We will be calling the credit bureau as instructed early on Monday morning to answer their additional questions. Will this never end!? Now closing may be delayed a couple of hours. We are still scheduled to have the movers show up at our home to unload at 5PM on Monday. Hope it does not take too long.
Picking up the trailer
Thursday morning - June 24th. Up early and breakfast in the lobby of the motel. Standard fare. Nothing special, but at least it was there!
We left to pick up the truck that we had left in the parking lot at the other motel and were grateful to see that it had not been disturbed and was still in the same place. But who would do anything with that?
Drove the truck and car to the East Side of Milwaukee to pick up the trailer that we would be hauling behind with the car. Always so glad when Peter does this driving through heavy traffic in tight places without a word of complaint or frustration!
We hitched it all up and were on the road by 9:30AM.
We got into the truck and headed West. Oh what gorgeous surroundings! And this would be our home for the next couple of days. We had had some concerns the day before that we may be too overloaded and would be stopped on the I-80 on our way
out. But the gentleman who helped us load the trailer at Penske's said we would have no trouble. So we believed him and took off heading West to Colorado.
A modern day Covered Wagon with most of our belongings on board.
Stopping at Truck Stops to refuel and at Weigh Stations was an experience. Next time we bring along separate gloves for Peter to use while pumping. And washing the
windows of a truck is another experience that no one should miss in their life time. You need a step ladder to reach!
We drove all day long making only one stop at a rest area to grab a 20 minute nap. I did not drive. Peter did it all and in good spirits. We tried to make the
journey as pleasant as possible. Plan was to get as far as Council Bluffs by nightfall, but because we were hauling a trailer with a car, Peter was only able to drive 55 mph so we arrived there later than planned. And no room
available for the night. Ended up in Lincoln, NE for the night. Pulled into the motel parking lot about midnight and Peter had to finagle a way to park the truck and trailer without hitting anything else and without being hit. He is simply amazing! Does not show any pressure and maintains a cool head in difficult situations! Finally we were able to go to bed and set the alarm for 5:30AM
again. 5 hours is never enough sleep, but when it is all the
time you have, you take it gratefully!
We left to pick up the truck that we had left in the parking lot at the other motel and were grateful to see that it had not been disturbed and was still in the same place. But who would do anything with that?
Drove the truck and car to the East Side of Milwaukee to pick up the trailer that we would be hauling behind with the car. Always so glad when Peter does this driving through heavy traffic in tight places without a word of complaint or frustration!
We hitched it all up and were on the road by 9:30AM.
We got into the truck and headed West. Oh what gorgeous surroundings! And this would be our home for the next couple of days. We had had some concerns the day before that we may be too overloaded and would be stopped on the I-80 on our way
out. But the gentleman who helped us load the trailer at Penske's said we would have no trouble. So we believed him and took off heading West to Colorado.
A modern day Covered Wagon with most of our belongings on board.
Stopping at Truck Stops to refuel and at Weigh Stations was an experience. Next time we bring along separate gloves for Peter to use while pumping. And washing the
windows of a truck is another experience that no one should miss in their life time. You need a step ladder to reach!
We drove all day long making only one stop at a rest area to grab a 20 minute nap. I did not drive. Peter did it all and in good spirits. We tried to make the
journey as pleasant as possible. Plan was to get as far as Council Bluffs by nightfall, but because we were hauling a trailer with a car, Peter was only able to drive 55 mph so we arrived there later than planned. And no room
available for the night. Ended up in Lincoln, NE for the night. Pulled into the motel parking lot about midnight and Peter had to finagle a way to park the truck and trailer without hitting anything else and without being hit. He is simply amazing! Does not show any pressure and maintains a cool head in difficult situations! Finally we were able to go to bed and set the alarm for 5:30AM
again. 5 hours is never enough sleep, but when it is all the
time you have, you take it gratefully!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Arrival in Fort Collins
Peter unhitching the car from the truck when we arrived in Fort Collins.
Cute!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday
It is now Wednesday, the second day of packing up the truck. We left the motel early. Left the truck in their parking lot and headed home to continue our
packing. Leng, Anthony and Eric showed up shortly after us. We had told them that 4 hours would probably be enough time to load the rest of everything.
The day before I had rented another truck from U-Haul to load the rest of our stuff in and take it to a new storage unit where it would have to stay until we made
it back to Milwaukee to pick it up! Appears we will be making this trip once again!
We worked for a short time on the letter for the bank, but some of the documentation that we needed was unfortunately in a box, somewhere in the infamous truck! We will figure this out, trust me! Alone I may have given up, but Peter just keeps on, not knowing the meaning of the words "I can't".
Steady is his middle name! Stress is my middle name!
We packed the truck until about 1PM, paid off the guys who helped us pack and then were on our own again. My dear friend, Karen showed up during this time and helped with cleaning out the fridge, the bathrooms and the garage. We were gone to the
storage unit while she was still cleaning. Thank you Karen!
Peter and I made one last trip to the storage unit to drop off the last load and then we headed to the Motel where we left the moving truck. The plan was to stay in Milwaukee one more evening and then start out early the next morning to pick up
the trailer that would carry our Prius.
Found that the motel was full. Apparently the beginning of Summerfest, a Brewer's Game and a Jimmy Buffet Concert filled up the rooms in Milwaukee for the evening.
We searched the internet and found a place in Waukesha on Moreland Blvd that did not charge an arm and a leg to stay there, so we booked it.
We drove to Waukesha to check in and then made contact with Fried's neighbor. The plan here was to leave our van in the Fried's driveway until we returned and leave the spare key with the neighbor. Following the drop off, we had dinner at Oscar's.
Perhaps our last dinner there???? Time will tell.
Finally made it back to the motel and wrote the letter for the bank and faxed that off. Then we crashed for the evening with a wake-up call scheduled for 5:30AM.
packing. Leng, Anthony and Eric showed up shortly after us. We had told them that 4 hours would probably be enough time to load the rest of everything.
The day before I had rented another truck from U-Haul to load the rest of our stuff in and take it to a new storage unit where it would have to stay until we made
it back to Milwaukee to pick it up! Appears we will be making this trip once again!
We worked for a short time on the letter for the bank, but some of the documentation that we needed was unfortunately in a box, somewhere in the infamous truck! We will figure this out, trust me! Alone I may have given up, but Peter just keeps on, not knowing the meaning of the words "I can't".
Steady is his middle name! Stress is my middle name!
We packed the truck until about 1PM, paid off the guys who helped us pack and then were on our own again. My dear friend, Karen showed up during this time and helped with cleaning out the fridge, the bathrooms and the garage. We were gone to the
storage unit while she was still cleaning. Thank you Karen!
Peter and I made one last trip to the storage unit to drop off the last load and then we headed to the Motel where we left the moving truck. The plan was to stay in Milwaukee one more evening and then start out early the next morning to pick up
the trailer that would carry our Prius.
Found that the motel was full. Apparently the beginning of Summerfest, a Brewer's Game and a Jimmy Buffet Concert filled up the rooms in Milwaukee for the evening.
We searched the internet and found a place in Waukesha on Moreland Blvd that did not charge an arm and a leg to stay there, so we booked it.
We drove to Waukesha to check in and then made contact with Fried's neighbor. The plan here was to leave our van in the Fried's driveway until we returned and leave the spare key with the neighbor. Following the drop off, we had dinner at Oscar's.
Perhaps our last dinner there???? Time will tell.
Finally made it back to the motel and wrote the letter for the bank and faxed that off. Then we crashed for the evening with a wake-up call scheduled for 5:30AM.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Ready to Move?!
It's Tuesday and we are ready to move to Colorado. But will it happen......
time will tell.
We picked up the truck at Penske's on Milwaukee's East Side in the morning.
BIG TRUCK! 26' long.
And then on top of that we planned on pulling our Prius on a trailer.
We decided to leave the trailer at the rental establishment until Wednesday and hook it on then. Less to worry about and no place to keep it anyway.
Went back to our house on Tripoli. Leng (our neighbor)showed up to help us move at about 11AM. Eric and Anthony came about noon. And the fun began. A few hours later, Peter's sister Susan came to help me with the remainder of the packing. Just having someone else there was a big morale boost for me!
This has been a lot of work thus far.
When you think you have everything packed, think again!
When you think you have downsized and given away or thrown away all unnecessary things, think again!
Stopped for a bite of lunch from Subway, and then back to work again. No such thing as rest for us!
Continued to pack things into the truck, but it did not seem feasible that everything was going to fit!
When the house proper was emptied, they headed downstairs to take out more. But there was still the garage and the shed to work on! No way was this all going to fit!
Doug's buddy, Jason came to help in the afternoon after his class. Right away it seemed he knew what to do about restacking the boxes etc in the truck to make more
room. Experience does that! So unfortunately, many of the things had to be rearranged. And all of this on one of the hottest days of the year.
And because we still live in Milwaukee, a very humid day as well! One of the reasons, we are moving out of Milwaukee to Colorado where it is drier.
Everyone worked until about 7PM. Peter and I continued to do last minute clean up through out the house and then stopped to check our e-mail and grab some supper at Arby's. By this time is was well unto 10PM. Peter suggested that we get a motel for the night and start over fresh again tomorrow. I could have cared less where I put my head, but I guess a soft pillow, a bed and a shower did sound pretty good! And this way we had a place to leave that massive truck. The e-mail we received from the bank meant that we would have to write another letter of explanation for the underwriters and fax it to them ASAP. Plan was to go to the motel to work on that. But sleep at that time was way more attractive.
So we headed West and got as far as West Allis where we stayed for the evening. Difficult to unwind even though we were so tired. Morning would be here soon and we had to do it all over again!
time will tell.
We picked up the truck at Penske's on Milwaukee's East Side in the morning.
BIG TRUCK! 26' long.
And then on top of that we planned on pulling our Prius on a trailer.
We decided to leave the trailer at the rental establishment until Wednesday and hook it on then. Less to worry about and no place to keep it anyway.
Went back to our house on Tripoli. Leng (our neighbor)showed up to help us move at about 11AM. Eric and Anthony came about noon. And the fun began. A few hours later, Peter's sister Susan came to help me with the remainder of the packing. Just having someone else there was a big morale boost for me!
This has been a lot of work thus far.
When you think you have everything packed, think again!
When you think you have downsized and given away or thrown away all unnecessary things, think again!
Stopped for a bite of lunch from Subway, and then back to work again. No such thing as rest for us!
Continued to pack things into the truck, but it did not seem feasible that everything was going to fit!
When the house proper was emptied, they headed downstairs to take out more. But there was still the garage and the shed to work on! No way was this all going to fit!
Doug's buddy, Jason came to help in the afternoon after his class. Right away it seemed he knew what to do about restacking the boxes etc in the truck to make more
room. Experience does that! So unfortunately, many of the things had to be rearranged. And all of this on one of the hottest days of the year.
And because we still live in Milwaukee, a very humid day as well! One of the reasons, we are moving out of Milwaukee to Colorado where it is drier.
Everyone worked until about 7PM. Peter and I continued to do last minute clean up through out the house and then stopped to check our e-mail and grab some supper at Arby's. By this time is was well unto 10PM. Peter suggested that we get a motel for the night and start over fresh again tomorrow. I could have cared less where I put my head, but I guess a soft pillow, a bed and a shower did sound pretty good! And this way we had a place to leave that massive truck. The e-mail we received from the bank meant that we would have to write another letter of explanation for the underwriters and fax it to them ASAP. Plan was to go to the motel to work on that. But sleep at that time was way more attractive.
So we headed West and got as far as West Allis where we stayed for the evening. Difficult to unwind even though we were so tired. Morning would be here soon and we had to do it all over again!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Signed our Papers
This morning, Peter & I met with our Realtor, and signed the papers for the closing of our home in MKE. This will be the first time in all our years as homeowners that we will not physically be at the closing and will not have met with the buyers.
Strange feeling.
Now all we have to wait for is the contact from our closing office in Colorado saying that the closing date there will be done on Friday. We will be leaving MKE this Wed if the truck is packed and ready to go. Otherwise the trip to Colorado begins on Thursday morning.
Strange feeling.
Now all we have to wait for is the contact from our closing office in Colorado saying that the closing date there will be done on Friday. We will be leaving MKE this Wed if the truck is packed and ready to go. Otherwise the trip to Colorado begins on Thursday morning.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
2 weeks of appointments
We spent the last 2 weeks in Milwaukee packing up all of our belongings and tossing out what we thought we would not need in the future, making appointments with Doctors for final check ups, and doing an art show in West Allis on June 6th.
June 6th started out as a nice day. We set up our tent in West Allis on the streets and the foot traffic was great! We had many visitors to our booth, had several sales of our art and of our new book on Milwaukee and enjoyed spending time
talking with friends who stopped by to chat with us before we moved to Colorado.
Day went well until it started to rain about 3PM. We took down some of the pictures on the outside of the tent and then the sun came out again and we put them back up. About 30 minutes later, the weather changed again and it began to pour. There was no choice, we had to leave or have all of our inventory destroyed. We were able to remove all of our works without anything being damaged and were ready to head home about 6PM. Long day but had some good sales and had a good on-camera interview
with the local cable station about our work.
June 6th started out as a nice day. We set up our tent in West Allis on the streets and the foot traffic was great! We had many visitors to our booth, had several sales of our art and of our new book on Milwaukee and enjoyed spending time
talking with friends who stopped by to chat with us before we moved to Colorado.
Day went well until it started to rain about 3PM. We took down some of the pictures on the outside of the tent and then the sun came out again and we put them back up. About 30 minutes later, the weather changed again and it began to pour. There was no choice, we had to leave or have all of our inventory destroyed. We were able to remove all of our works without anything being damaged and were ready to head home about 6PM. Long day but had some good sales and had a good on-camera interview
with the local cable station about our work.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Stress
Packing up a household and a business is very stressful!
Don't let any one fool you. This is a major job.
And my sincere desire is that this is the LAST time we need to move. Getting too old and tired for this sort of fun.
Don't let any one fool you. This is a major job.
And my sincere desire is that this is the LAST time we need to move. Getting too old and tired for this sort of fun.
Our Going Away party
As time was short to plan a party, we did the best we could on such short notice.
Simple wine, soda, cheese and desserts. Enough to make all happy. But of course, food was secondary to seeing family and friends for the last time in Milwaukee.
Thanks to all who showed up on such short notice. It was good to see all of you.
And remember you are always welcome in our new home. Give a call to make sure we are not traveling.
Simple wine, soda, cheese and desserts. Enough to make all happy. But of course, food was secondary to seeing family and friends for the last time in Milwaukee.
Thanks to all who showed up on such short notice. It was good to see all of you.
And remember you are always welcome in our new home. Give a call to make sure we are not traveling.
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