Getting Ready… Holy Tuna Batman…This is harder than you think.

A couple of my friends have asked me to keep them posted on our travels.  Well just in case they were saying that just to be nice, I’m posting a blog instead of sending spam.

So here is my first blog.

Let me just tell you packing a storage area, a pickup and a BMW for the long term is harder than you think.  Every single item in our house was sorted into 3 buckets: Storage, Goodwill or in the car.

Some decisions were easy.  Did I really need 20 copies of the Dec 1987 issue of my high school newspaper?  I was editor and all, but really.  One copy is enough, unless I plan on selling them at our 25 year reunion. They were 25 cents in high school, probably not worth keeping.

Other decisions were not so easy. If you are a chick or a gay man, imagine narrowing your whole wardrobe down to fit in a 3 series BMW trunk.   I have had trips to Hy-Vee that more than fill that trunk.  Some of my favorite sweaters got voted out of the BMW to the purgatory that is the Extra Storage garage.

I did a couple trial runs.  There are 30 hangers of clothes, 21 pairs of shoes, a file box, a bottle of Baileys and an extra large bottle of gin that fit in that trunk.    In the back seat, there is a large and small suitcase, a yoga mat, 3 storage totes, a lap top and a printer.  In the front seat, there is a toiletry bag and a mini cooler.

Now granted, Dave has the pickup and the trailer.  So he has our bikes, golf clubs and a whole crap load of tools.  So for him, my clothes dilemma is his tool dilemma.  He has no qualms about the decision to wear only 10 shirts, 4 pairs of shoes, a bathing suit, shorts and a couple pairs of jeans for the foreseeable future.  But ask him which saw got voted out of the trailer.  I think I may have seen a hack saw in the Extra Storage purgatory, otherwise the other 21 saws are making a roadtrip.

The other thing is groceries.  I have a problem throwing away food.  It may have been in my pantry for 5 years, but I have waited until the day before we close on the house to toss it.  Ashley ended up with some Kashi, a ton of spices, the most monstrous jar of pickles, kidney beans, cherry pie filling and miscellaneous crap.  Just what she was hoping for…

Our closing is tomorrow Sept 28^th, but we turn over possession noon on Sept 30.  First stop-Anthony, Kansas.