Blizzard!–The Aftermath

So it is now official, this blizzard was the third biggest in Chicago history, just over 21 inches of snow.  So, where do you put all the snow you have to get off the roads, your driveway and sidewalk?  Here are pictures showing our neighborhood and the front of our house.

It was so much shoveling!  The drifts near the truck were over 3 feet and I had to throw the snow as it would not make a large pile that would keep falling back onto the driveway.  Thank goodness the truck is large and was parked in the driveway, less to shovel!  It took Fran and I close to 2 hours to get it shoveled.  We then relaxed until late in the afternoon when the snow plow finally came by to plow the street.  Then it was back out to shovel.  The plow dumped close to 2 feet of snow on about 6 feet of driveway from the street, oh what fun!

As previously mentioned our plan it to leave on the 21st.  Well our trailer is parked in a storage yard about 20 miles away and they got just as much snow as we did, plus the drifts.  I was going to get the trailer sometime during the week of the 14th to bring it home and pack it up.  Now, unless we get some very warm days, I don’t think I could get the trailer in the driveway, either backing it in or driving in forward due to the limited turning with the high snow mounds.  My alternative was to see if the storage yard would bring it out to their parking lot and would leave it there for a few days and pack it up at their place.  I then get an email from the yard, which is also an RV dealership, that they will be closed from the 14th to the 20th due to the Chicago RV show.  They will be open on the 15th only.  So I called them to see what we could work out and was told that at the moment they cannot get anywhere in the storage yard due to the snow and the drifts.  They have no where to move any of the snow if they attempted to plow it.  I was told to check back late next week and see if anything has changed.  Pray for warm weather!

Good news was that we did pass the Radon test, so that hurdle has been cleared.  Next week we prepare for the garage sale and then ??????

BLIZZARD - 2011

You just knew it would have to happen before we leave, a major snow storm.  As of this writing this storm has dropped over 15 inches of snow and is rated as the fifth biggest storm to hit the Chicago area and is predicted to move up to fourth, because it is still SNOWING!  Since moving here in 1993 we have been through one other top 5 storm, 1999, when over 21 inches fell.  The difference this time is the high winds that came with this current storm.  As you can see from this picture the winds have caused the snow to form a huge pile outside our front door near the truck.  I would guess this drift is close to 3 feet.

The picture was taken from our front door which is about 18 inches above the sidewalk and driveway and the snow is at the bottom of the door on the porch.  This is going to make for some heavy duty shoveling.  I already parted with our snow blower but it was lighter duty model and would not have been able to handle this much snow.

The big question now is will this affect our departure.  Obviously the roads will be cleared so I can get to the storage lot, but will I, or them, be able to get to the trailer and get it out of the lot.  We shall see.

A Couple More Check Marks

I have checked off a few more items on the To Do list to get us “On The Road”.

As previously mentioned we did not pass the Radon test which then requires us to install a mitigation system to bring the house within “safe levels”.  The system was installed this week and involves the installation of a suction fan on the exterior side of the house with a vent pipe to the roofline.  In the basement a hole is drilled into the foundation to the gravel below and a pipe inserted so the Radon can be trapped.  Then the sump pump well is sealed with a new cover and finally the crawl space area is sealed with a pipe inserted to trap the Radon.  Here are pictures of the installation.

The re-test is next Monday (we have to pay for it), so we will see what happens.  The installer guarantees the system will keep Radon within the “safe level” for five years.

I sold a number of items on Craigslist this past week and will most likely be putting some additional items on this next week.  The big item sold was Fran’s car as we would have no need for it on the road.  I had planned to use Craigslist but was checking Autotrader.com and they have a program where your car is appraised online either to trade it in at a participating dealer or to sell it at a participating dealer.  I input all the information and received a quote that I felt was very reasonable for the vehicle.  I went to the dealer and they looked it over and found some additional scratches that needed reporting.  I agreed and the offer was lowered a little but still within the range I was hoping for, so I sold it to them.  Seemed like an easy way to go with little hassle.  I am sure we could have gotten more if I tried to sell it on my own but could have delayed our departure or created other issues.

Next big item on the list is to have our garage/moving sale, which will be in a couple of weeks.  Following that our house will be pretty much empty.  As it stands now the plan is to hit the road on the 21st or 22nd of February!

Radon

As expected we did not pass our Radon test for the home sale.  For those of you that are not familiar with the Radon issue it is huge in the Midwest and has become its own little industry attached to the buying and selling of homes.  Even though there is generally no government law or regulation that mandates testing and remediation the real estate industry has seized on this and now makes it a requirement when a home transfers hands.  You have to be tested, which the buyer pays for, and have a reading of below 4 (whatever unit they use???).  Funny thing is no one can say where this “Safe Level” of 4 came from.  As the tester told me, 46% of the homes in this area fail.  Sure enough we had a reading of 10 with an average of 7 for the whole test (48 hours).  Now as the seller we have to bring our home into compliance by having a remediation system installed.  The system, for our size house, is around $1,000.  It involves installing a fan and vent pipe over the crawl space area of the basement.  It circulates air up and out of the basement.  What you are paying for, besides the installation, is a guarantee that you pass the re-test.  Interesting!

I have seen many of the systems installed on homes in our neighborhood as they changed owners over the years so I fully expected this expense at sale.  However, as I continue to research the issue I am beginning to feel like a conspiracy theorist.  I think this is a government hoax and nobody is calling them on it.  If it was such an issue why is it not mandated that all homes be tested and that new construction have systems installed.  “They” say that thousands of people are getting lung cancer each year because of this.  Sorry, I am not buying the hoax, but I am buying the system because I want to sell my house!

On a lighter note.  Since selling the house it has seemed like Christmas all over again at our house as we get a delivery about every other day of items ordered for the trailer.  I had put together a list of things that we would need for the trailer and had held off ordering them until the sale.  Now Amazon is my best friend, no shipping and no sales tax.  They beat Camping World on just about everything I need for the trailer.  I bought and installed the roll out pantry and am very pleased with that idea.  Other things have included a 50 amp extension cord in case we get caught with an electrical hookup far from the trailer, heavy duty wheel chocks to secure the trailer, new Corelle dishes, home theatre system, fold up ladder, leveling blocks along with other minor stuff. 

The big issue will be to see how we do on weight for the trailer.  RV’s have a weight limit determined by the manufacturer and you should not exceed that as it will void the warranty.  Mainly it has to do with the axle and overloading them as our truck is rated to tow much more than the maximum rating for the trailer.  We have room for about 3,000 pounds of cargo and any water in our holding tanks.  Hopefully we can make it.  Most campers say this is the biggest issue for full timers, they take too much stuff and overload their rigs.  Once we get it loaded I will take it to a local truck scale and get it weighed and see where we are at.

Memories

It was interesting what popped into my head today as I was scraping ice off the driveway and sidewalks. Yesterday I was shoveling snow and these two actions are what prompted my thoughts.  It was Martin Luther King Day yesterday and when I was employed I had the day off and so did the kids.  Prior to living in the Midwest we lived in northern California.  On MLK day we would all pile into our van and start driving up towards Lake Tahoe stopping when we reached snow.  This was our SNOW DAY.  We were all bundled up in snow boots, hats, gloves, etc..  We had our sleds and stuff and had a merry old time sliding down a hill by the side of the road.  That was it, one day out of the year, go play in the snow!

Now I just want it to go away.  With the anticipation of moving out of the house and to start traveling, to warmer climates, it becomes a real chore to deal with the snow and ice.  I don’t foresee us going out of our way to have a SNOW DAY in the future, but who knows maybe we will miss it.

We made it through the home inspection with some minor issues that we gave a concession on to go away.  Presently the radon test is ongoing and we fully expect to fail that and have to install a remediation system.  About half of the homes in the area fail and most with partial basements (crawl spaces) fail.  After that it should be clear sailing to move out day.  Our closing date is March 3rd but most likely we will leave the week before as the house should be empty of everything.  At the moment, depending on the weather, we will most likely head on down to Memphis to spend a few days on the Mississippi river.  We found a campground last year we loved and would like to go back.  From there we will head onto Houston.  If there is snow or ice in either of these two cities when we are there I will SCREAM!

SOLD!!!

Yes, the house sold on Monday.  I find it interesting how the process worked.  The couple came back for a second visit on Saturday morning and left around noon.  Their realtor immediately notified our agent that an offer would most likely be made.  We heard nothing until 9:30pm on Sunday when our agent called us to say an offer was being prepared.  We received the offer at 10:15pm Sunday night.  I guess that is called “Realtor Time”.  No matter, it was a solid offer with a little negotiation that finished Monday evening with a respectable sales price, 90% of our original list price in June.

That was the last big check mark on our plan to “Life on the Road”.  Next up is to sell our car we no longer need, have a huge garage sale and clear out.  Settlement date is set for March 3rd, but we may leave earlier depending on when things get done and Fran finishes up with work. 

Begin looking for our RV in your neighborhood!

Update–1/7/11

It is COLD here!  We did get a few warm days a week or so ago and that melted all the snow, but the Chicago winter is out in full force. 

After all the improvements we put the house back on the market a week ago.  We upped the price a little due to the improvements.  The response has been good so far with 4 showings to date and two more scheduled this weekend.  The feedback has been positive with indications people may come back as they are interested. 

I confirmed that the title on the trailer had been issued by Illinois to our lienholder but the plates never made it to us, so a new set has been ordered.  Does not really matter as I have started the process to get the trailer registered in South Dakota and all I needed was to know the title had been issued.  That will complete all the vehicle transfers.

I went out to the trailer a couple of times in the past week to take some measurements, make sure everything was OK with it and to start the generator.  The door lock was frozen so that took a little work just to get into the trailer, but other than that everything was fine and operating.

What we have found out in owning trailers is that they put storage all over the place but do not go the extra step to make it really functional.  If you look at the pictures of the interior of ours you will see cabinets at the ceiling level all around the inside, but no shelves and no dividers between each cabinet.  This ends up in lost space and significant movement of stuff when the trailer is in travel mode.  We have come up with ideas in the past that we will implement in this one and are also looking around for other good ideas.  One I did find online and hopefully it works out is a roll out pantry.  We have two narrow cabinets (9” wide) that are deep.  This is designed to hold all your non perishable food items.  Problem is how do you get to the items in the back and also maximize the storage.  I found a company that makes a roll out unit that has adjustable baskets.  It does not go as deep as the cabinet but I think it should allow us to store more and get to it easily.  I have not received it yet, so hopefully it works out as planned.

I also was frustrated at the lack of good sound systems for an RV so that we could have surround sound when watching TV or a DVD.  In our previous trailer we had a 5.1 surround system that was nice, nothing fancy but it did the job.  In this trailer they put a very basic system that has 4 speakers inside and 2 outside but is not surround sound and is very cheaply made.  I did some research and could not find any RV specific home theater systems.  Note: RV systems are designed to operate on 12 volt DC instead of regular house current.  I did not want to run speakers and wires all over the place in the trailer so I decided to go with the Bose 3-2-1 system.  This creates a surround sound atmosphere with only two small speakers and sub-woofer type module.    Bose had a great online deal for Christmas so I went ahead and bought it and am very impressed with it.  It should fit nicely in the trailer and will not require the running of any wires.  I figured we will use the existing system to listen to music on the iPod, satellite or whatever but not to play movies.  I find it interesting that the manufacturers put in 12 volt DC sound systems that include a DVD player when the TV is not DC and can only operate on AC power.  I can see having a radio that runs on DC but go the extra step and put in a decent DVD player and surround system!