Almost there…….

It has finally started to warm up here.  Beginning on Sunday the temperature got above freezing and is expected to reach the 50’s by midweek.  Snow is melting, but there is a lot of it still to go!

It was very cold to have the garage sale.  Setting up on Thursday was unbearable.  I could only be in the garage for about 30 minutes then had to come inside to warm up.  I believe it was something like 5 degrees.  On Friday it was not much better.  We did have a significant number of people show up, many who said they just had to stop to see who would hold a garage sale in the winter.  Others were excited because they were having garage sale withdrawals and were able to get their fix!  We sold most of the big stuff so after two days we ended up with a lot of little household items.  We have a charity coming today to take the rest of the stuff. 

We have been saying goodbye to many friends and it continues this week.  We have had dinner invitations for just about every evening.  Saturday was Fran’s going away party from work and it was a great time.

Minor things left to do this week.  Today our internet and phone get disconnected, so those of you reading you will no longer be able to call us on our home phone number.  Please use my cell phone number or Fran’s.  Tuesday and Wednesday will involve Fran finishing up some projects and me moving some items to the trailer and storage unit.  End of the week has all the kids here for one last fling in the house then it is final pack up and clean the house.

It’s $#@&!%* cold here!

As I write this post my thermometer shows –7 degrees here.  You don’t even want to go outside to get the newspaper.  According to the forecasters it is supposed to warm up to around freezing this weekend and maybe into the 40’s next week.  We will see.

Meanwhile we are preparing for the garage sale this weekend.  It will be interesting to see how many people turn out for a winter garage sale with temps around freezing.  Fortunately we are down to just a couple of large items, kitchen table, a couple of chairs, with the rest being small items.  Anything not sold will be donated on Monday.  A few more items to the storage unit and the house will be empty.

With this cold weather it did make it a fun time in moving stuff to the trailer.  I loaded up the truck and drove out to where the trailer is.  It was probably around 10 degrees in the middle of the day.  I opened up the slides on the trailer and noticed ice build up on the awnings over the slides, so I went onto the trailer roof and laid down on the roof to reach the awnings and get rid of the ice.  When I stood up my pants were slightly wet then immediately froze.  Fun to walk around with starched jeans!

I had planned to do some organizing of the storage section in the trailer but after unloading the truck, quickly, I had no feeling in my fingers and toes and thought it best to leave the task for a warmer day.  Hopefully the warm up will occur and allow us to do some organizing of the trailer before we leave, otherwise we will just have to cram everything in and head for a warm spot to unpack.

It’s out!

The trailer is out of the storage yard and now parked in their parking lot, free of the deep snow and drifts.  As previously mentioned the storage yard was going to be closed next week so the trailer needed to be pulled out this week.  I decided to go out to the yard and evaluate the situation to determine if it was feasible to move the trailer.  Fortunately the service manager had got my message and done a little plowing around our trailer.  He thought I would be able to get it out with our truck.  The problem was I did not have the hitch installed in the truck bed as I have been moving stuff to the storage unit.  I figured if the trailer could be moved they could do it with their tractor.  He said he would give it a try.  He came back unsuccessful as the front jacks were frozen in ice and the tractor was not big enough or powerful enough to lift the trailer or move it.  He offered me a hammer to chip away at the ice, which I did and got the ice all away but not sure if the jacks were still frozen to the ground.  It was decided I would go get my hitch and come back and they would do some additional plowing to make it easier to maneuver the truck and trailer. 

An hour later I came back, hitch installed, and drove back to the trailer in 4 wheel drive, low.  The truck made it with no problem.  They had plowed a full circle so I could connect then take the trailer out around a small motorhome.  We connected up and then raised the jacks and were all excited when they cleared the ground with no problem.  They were not stuck!  After some tricky driving and tight turns the truck and trailer went out in the parking lot.  Here is our trailer, parked.

Here is where it will stay for the next couple of weeks.  It is not a good idea to bring it to the house as the streets are narrow with so much snow on the sides and there is no way the trailer could make the turn into the driveway as we have 6 foot piles of snow on either side of the driveway.  The plan is to load up the truck with all the stuff that needs to go into the trailer and then go to the storage yard. 

Craigslist

I have become a huge fan of Craigslist.  For those of my followers who may not be familiar with Craigslist, it is an online classified ad website.  You can post anything for sale with no charge for the posting and it stays on the site for 7 days.  I have used this site extensively in getting rid of items as we prepare for our move.  It all started in the spring when we decided to have our first garage sale to get rid of stuff.  I decided I would use Craigslist to get rid of some of the larger items rather than try to sell them at the garage sale.  I listed a treadmill and a portable generator.  I had both sold within 12 hours of my posting.

This time I have been listing the larger, more expensive, items we have for sale on Craigslist and have been doing very well.  So far just about everything I have listed has sold within a couple of days.  In addition I listed the garage sale, both times, so I think that helps in getting people to the sale.  This time I put the garage sale posting a full week before the sale and have already been getting inquiries about items in the ad.  In fact I sold one item, a bike, tonight and while the buyer was here he looked through the rest of the stuff and bought additional items. 

Being the old fart that I am, I found out about Craigslist through my daughter who used it to find housing when moving to another city.  I kept it in mind and a couple of years ago when I replaced my big screen projection TV I decided to give it a whirl.  I mean what do you do with a 55 inch projection TV.  The thing is a huge black box that nobody would want because flat screens are the rage.   It worked great and it handled HD TV, so it was still of use to someone.  So I put it on Craigslist for a week and got no interest.  I waited a week then put it back on with a reduced price and sold it in a couple of days.  Better than putting it our for the trash guy!

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!