Seven Year Itch? Or Would You Call it "Ditch"?

I guess every 7 years Jim and I do something drastic to shake up our marriage.

And I'm not talking a different sex position!

Seven years ago this month we did the unthinkable...sold our home, got rid of the majority of our belongings, put the rest in storage, bought a big honking truck (Big Blue), a huge trailer, and called that home. We kissed the kids and family goodbye and hit the road.

Now, seven years later, same month, we're doing it again. We're shaking up our lives just a little bit.

I decided to sleep on Jim's side of the bed.

No! Kidding!

We're leaving the gypsy world behind and moving to a steadier life - both literally and figuratively. A home that doesn't move, and a home that doesn't MOVE when you walk in it!

Now even though living in only 400 square feet, you'd be surprised at how much stuff a person can accumulate. Besides the usual places to store things (like the cabinets), I hid things both behind and under the couch. There was storage under our king sized bed that was filled to the rim. Jim was amazed at what he dug out of there!

Even though Jim and I wear the same two or three pairs of shoes each, I filled a large box with shoes, and of course, my purses. I DO have some nice purses!

It took us about 2 1/2 days to pack/clean the trailer. Look at the mess.

My mathematical husband calculated that we could fit all of our shit stuff in a 5 x  8 U-haul. He even made a drawing to figure out how many boxes would fit across and high, plus how many rows. I know. What a guy.
Of course we couldn't move the boxes OUT of the trailer UNTIL we rented the U-haul, which we only have for 10 days, which has to include our trek across the country. But, we had to have room to move around, you know? So we (read Jim) put some boxes in.

What he DIDN'T figure was how many BOOKS I had stashed and how many boxes they would take up. Oops. All his figuring sounded good on paper. In the end it was like shoving 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag.

We had to shove stuff in the back seat of  the truck. Now I was busy cleaning the trailer. Jim was "packing" the truck. I think I would have done a better job of the back seat. Here's what it looks like:

You see what I'm talking about?

This is the last photo of our truck and trailer together. It was all cleaned and ready to go to the dealer.

The bed of our truck was filled with two bikes, a large 2 x 5 tool box, air compressor, large satellite dish, cooler and a chair. That's all that was missing was a rocking chair on top, and we'd of looked like the Beverly Hillbillies!

Jim also had one of those ladders that can fold into different shapes. The guys came up with this ingenious idea to fold the ladder into an "L" shape to box in our belongings in the back. (The tool box enclosed the other side of the truck).

 Here I am with some of my friends who came to say goodbye. Bob is goofing around in the background and trying to load Rachel's bike on the back of the truck!

l-r: me, Judy, Kathy, Rachel

 Saying goodbye was so hard. So it's SO LONG, my friends, UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!

Judy and Bob

Kathy, Mike, and Rachel

We've stayed at the same resort for 7 years; six of them in the very same spot. This was engraved in the cement. It always made me smile. It reads, "Pete the Wheel & Maxine the Spoke, 12/2/77"

To all our friends at Val Vista......I know we will see you again. Thanks for all the good times, the good food, the laughter. We love you all!

Here's to our new adventure. 'Cause that's how I like it......Living on the Edge!