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Moving: Part 1 - Packing and Driving to Michigan

Before we could leave, there was a lot of packing to do. I had done as much as possible throughout the summer, but there are some items that you just can't pack until the last minute. Here is Wilbert using his favorite packing method--shrink wrap. This is probably the best thing that we bought to pack with, especially to save space. Wilbert really enjoyed using it for some reason, and he shrink wrapped together all kinds of crazy things from blankets and pillows to his long handled tools.
On Wednesday, September 1st, we packed everything into our crazy long trailer and truck. This picture was taken after we had arrived safely on PEI, but it is the only one I have of the truck and trailer.

As you can see it was full, but there was still space left. But it was very heavy. So, we were thankful everything fit and that we had nothing more. Below shows the car inside the trailer as well. That was why we bought such a crazy big trailer. Then we didn't have to drive two cars the entire way.
We set out around 8:30 am on Thursday, September 2. We had hoped to leave a bit earlier, but sleeping on the air mattress didn't go so great for Wilbert. Since he was going to drive the entire way, we slept in a little. And then once we had everything packed and our house ready to be empty, we hopped in the truck. Wilbert turned the key and...nothing. For some reason the battery was very low. So, out of the truck we went and Wilbert had to dig around a little to find his booster pack. We hooked up and everything started right up. So, off we went.

We decided to stop at the first rest stop to see how everything was riding in the trailer. Our biggest concern was that something would fall on the car. I don't really know how you would explain that to your insurance company, but thankfully everything was tied down in place really well. When we stopped and opened it up, we both surprised by how well everything was riding. The road felt really bumpy in the truck, but everything looked just fine in the trailer.

We continued to travel along stopping every 3 hours or so for food, gas and a bathroom break. We made it through Iowa and were just cruising along, singing to the radio, when "POP!" It freaked us both out. Wilbert pulled off on the shoulder of the highway and discovered this:
A blown trailer tire. Thankfully it was on the side off of the highway. Unfortunately, we had pulled off a little too far, so the jack kept sinking into the shoulder. I stood there and prayed and got Wilbert anything I could, but he did most the work. On the very last attempt, Wilbert was able to jack the trailer up high enough to put on the replacement tire we had purchased before we left, just in case. For the rest of the trip, we drove a little slower and finally made it to my parents house in Michigan around 1:00 AM.

More to come tomorrow.
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Han said…
Wow, what a trip. I am really enjoying the story, so please keep them coming.
PS: Your mom looks great with a baby. Hi Mrs. Verbeek!
September 19, 2010 at 11:25 PM
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