So, We Bought This Motor Home, Part 2!

Though, I am relieved to say, pictures delivered as promised in my last Hub! (Um, that would be the one entitled, "So We Bought This Motor Home!", just in case you are wondering.) But if you liked the proceeding pictures, you may like what's coming up!

and we were tying up loose ends as our departure date slowly ebbed towards us! OMG! What to do, what to do. I eyed the things that absolutely, had to, can't live without, need to be packed things which steadily grew from day to day, and compared them to the things going to other family members, things to be sold at a garage sale, things to be stored temporarily, and things going to charity and realized the wrong pile of things was much larger than the the other. The wrong pile being the stuff that needed to be loaded!

Just kidding, but not by much. We stuffed every available nook and cranny of Holly with the things that were going to make the transition from Minnesota to Oregon, and prayed there may still be a bit of room for us as well!

I had a bad dream one night of us stuffing just one more pair of my SO's anklet socks into a new found crevice, and instantly hearing a creaking noise. We escaped out the door just as Holly busted open at the seems, distributing all our worldly possessions all over our home town!

Okay, I have wierd dreams, but in my defense, you haven't seen a motor home bulging at it seems before!

I mean, after all, we still had no idea of what the gas mileage was or even a clue as to what to expect, and although I hadn't mentioned it, we had a few things going on in between which kept us away from home and in the cities with family on top of getting ready to move. Busy, busy busy!. That's us!

So, one final trip in Holly, who had been given a clean bill of health after the fuel filter fiasco! (Just to be on the safe side of the unexpected!) So we loaded up and took off to a town near by named Granite Falls. There is a Casino there, or a place better known as a Senior DayCare Facility. As many casino's now have campgrounds for their patrons.  Perfect!

We decided to test our awning for the first time. It went up great, considering neither of us had any inclination as to what we were doing, and the directions were totally worthless since they were only installation instructions! But we prevailed. Well, see for yourself!  (Of course getting it back down was another matter with which I am still too traumatized to discuss yet.)

My SO, as usual had the touch in the casino for the next two nights. She has a thing for those one armed bandits. So do I, but I'm not near as lucky as her though! Don't believe me?

Well, how's this? On the way there we blew a tire. A re-cap to be exact! Ever see what one of those things look like when they go? I had most of the tire still there, with this two foot long section flapping around in the breeze! Kinda like walking around in a pair of flip flops and the toe thingy pulls out!

Worse, it was a Saturday evening, after business hours, for everyone in the entire United States! No kidding! I tried at least ten phone calls to try to find help while broke down on the corner of a very busy gas station in Prior Lake, Minnesota. We even tried one of those national tire service places. They wanted $200.00 just for showing up, a hundred an hour labor, and another couple hundred for a tire. On top of it, cash was no good!

What in the hell has happened to this country? Cash is no good, no one wants to do anything for anyone after 4:00 on a Friday untill business hours Monday morning, unless there is a long weekend, and no one seems to really care that stuff happens 24 hours a day to people!

So, anyway, thanks so much to Ray and his small tire company in Prior Lake who rushed to our rescue, gave us a great deal on a tire, mounted it onto the rim and got us on our way so my SO could clean out the casino! Whoo Hoo! (And Ray, I hope you had a great birthday celebration with the tip!  You earned it and we are forever appreciative!)

Finally, the time had come.  We were ready!  Of course our departure had come, and we weren't, but you know, obligations and loose ends flapping around and stuff!  But we did our best to run around and please everyone we could.  Finally we realized you can't please everyone, and on the Memorial Day weekend we ran for Holly and climbed in, ready and raring to go. 

We made arrangements with one final family member and her gentleman friend, and headed to his farm, not far from our town, but far enough to say we were on our way, and then we were!

We thuroughly enjoyed our evening with the two final people we were to say good bye to in Minnesota, since all the other family and friends had been paid a final ado.  Cathy and Kieth fed us a wonderful pork chop dinner with all the fixin's and friendship and fun that you could possibly stuff into one evening.  We slept like babies, and the next day we left them standing in their driveway, waving good-bye as we began our journey into our dreams, towards Oregon.

Good bye Minnesota.  We will miss those of you who have been part of our lives, and we will remember you fondly as we wait for your visit to our new home.  We love and miss you all.

Yup! We were on our way, but more about that in the next installment!

(I heard that.)

I just wanted to add a bit of sad news. One of the things I have not mentioned till now involves one of the delays in our departure. Our dog, Tah te shea, (moon shadow) was set to go to the vet for, um, alteration in preparation of our move. We knew he would be loose on our property in Oregon, and didn't want any accidents! Well, due to a tragic accident which included him biting someone in the face as he slipped under anesthesia, he had to be put down. An extremely hard decision, but I felt that he could not be trusted, and I did what I thought best. I mention him because we both miss him very much, and he is, after all, the picture you see next to my name. Please know the injured party is fine. It was my SO.

Till next time, Peace Love and Light, and remember us in your prayers. Oh, and if any Hubbers are in Oregon, now's the time to chime in! Chow!