Prologue -
I was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1946. I was the 1st-born, with 2 younger brothers and a sister. Although I was the first to leave the nest (I enlisted in the Air Force and went to Basic Training at 17, ten days after high school graduation), I spent 99.9% of my life in Florida. In the Air Force, I spent my entire 4-year service at Tyndall AFB, in Panama City Florida. In our last move, I simply moved from South Florida to Central Florida. And so, this move, this permanent re-location to Pennsylvania, is the first time I have ever been out of my "zone", my familiar surroundings. Florida is a very flat state; where I am living right now has a mountain view from my back porch. When a bad winter hit us in Florida, it once hit 25ºF and our water pipes froze - I was amazed. Here, temps in the 20's will be normal for part of the winter. I will experience snow, and slipping on ice, and having to warm up the car before we go somewhere. And I have never driven in northern winter conditions. I'm beginning to think I'll just stay home when it gets "slippery" outside.
This blog is the beginning of my new experiences in the Lehigh Valley, a little north of Philly and west of "Joisey". If you are a southerner, and particularly a Floridian, you might want to bookmark this blog and visit here from time to time. I'm 66 years old, and not too sure of what awaits me. But I call it "Gary & Jen's Excellent Adventure", because I am facing the future with much optimism. Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Let's wait and see!
Chapter 1 - We're "Going Home!"
Ah! The adventure begins! Or really, continues, as it really started about 15 years ago, when I met my wonderful bride, Jennifer. You see, I met her through the machinations of my brother and his wife. His wife who happened to be Jennifer's sister. There was only one problem - Jen lived in Pennsylvania and I lived in Florida, Davie to be exact, a small town just west of Ft. Lauderdale. Of course, love has no geographic limitations, and after a fairly short telephone relationship and a few trips to PA to meet her, Jennifer came to Florida to be my wife.
And she left a lot behind - a good job, two daughters and a grandson...and the home she loved in Allentown. She arrived with little more than the clothes on her back, her guitar, and her calico cat Blossom, and we made a nice little home in Davie. We were married on Valentine's Day in 1999, in a nice little Disciples of Christ church in our neighborhood.
The story continues as we moved to another church family, Calvary Chapel Sawgrass, where I became the church Web guru, and Jen ended up working for the associate pastor. When he decided to plant a new church in Central Florida, we decided to help out. And so we moved to a nice 3/2 ranch home in Deltona in mid-2005, and settled in.
Here I might mention that it didn't take much time after Jen moved to Florida before she started feeling a little home-sick for Pennsylvania. And as the years went by, both daughters married and we now were the proud grandparents of 6. And as our distant family grew, so too did Jen's homesickness. As the youngest of 6 kids herself, she always longed for a big family. And now, there were two sons-in-law and six grand-kids, and she was missing out on holidays, school outings, baseball and football games - all the things she would participate in, if only she could be there.
And I always promised her that one day, I would get her back to PA, to her family, to being a hands-on Nana to her grand-kids. But there never seemed to be that certain situation that would take her back home. After 8 years in Deltona, and a lot of personal changes, we became resigned to the possibility that we would always be long-distant grandparents - we'd fly up to visit, and they'd travel south to see us.
And then the phone call came! Amanda, our younger daughter, called her Mom to announce that she was expecting again, her 4th child and our grand-child number 7. But it wasn't just a call to tell us, but a plea to come back home and help out with the new arrival.
I need to pause here to explain something: we are born-again Christians and believe very strongly that God orchestrates our lives. When we were living in South Florida, I had a good job with Motorola, and we had a very nice home in a nice community. When the associate pastor decided to plant that church in Deltona, we wanted to go with him, but my situation wouldn't allow it. But we prayed about it, and shortly after, I took a very generous buy-out from Motorola, and we ended up selling our home for way more than it was worth, in one day. Other income that wasn't expected showed up, and we knew that God was making it possible to go north.
And so, to continue, when Amanda called with the news of her pregnancy, the first thing we did was pray that, if it was God's will, He would make it possible to move back to Pennsylvania. Jen had actually accepted our permanence in Deltona, and so we started to pack for the trip, continuing to pray for guidance. The original call came in January, the baby was due probably in July or August, and we had no idea how this move was going to work. But we kept packing and praying, and as we went, other doors started opening. Our prayers were being answered in different ways - a financial hardship was ending in May, a friend knew a realtor who could sell our home in Deltona, we had several yard sales that lightened up our moving load... Jen shopped for a home on-line, and found out that an old friend of the family knew the realtor handling a property we were looking at in Palmerton.
Now, we were looking for a rental, something affordable, someplace that would accept our 4 pets - 2 dogs and 2 cats, and someplace that was one floor. Jen has hip problems, and both my knees are shot, and stairs were not an option. So what happens? We find a place in Palmerton, and the rent is very acceptable (so the place is about 100 years old). It's a two-story, but there are access ramps into the house, and there is an electric chair lift on the stairs. Thanks to the modern miracle of the Internet, we were able to look at the place inside and out, Google Earth it, and finally make all of the arrangements to rent it. The way the whole deal went down, we know that God had His hand in the deal - everything was perfect!
So now it's early June. We have everything packed up, and no idea how we're going to get it up north. Looked at PODS, looked at Pack-Rat, and started calling around the truck rental places. Penske gave me a deal I couldn't believe - probably 60% of the Ryder and U-Haul quotes - but we still had my '92 Ford Ranger and Jen's '98 Escort to deal with. Who's going to drive the big truck if I drive my pick-up and Jen drives the Escort? Solution: PA has vehicle inspections, and my truck never would have passed without expensive repairs. So I sold it for a great price, and got more moving money. And Jen didn't want to drive, so Penske rented us a car dolly...I'd drive and Jen would be in the cab with me. We made the reservations.
Situation so far: we have sold almost everything we weren't taking, and built up our moving war chest. Brand new refrigerator - sold! Whirlpool Duet washer & dryer - sold! Lawn tractor - sold! My truck - sold! Our bedroom set - sold! Everything else - given to friends or to the Salvation Army. Everything else is boxed up and ready to load onto our 22' Penske truck. Hired two professional movers to load the truck - they're on deck and waiting for the call. House in Palmerton is rented - 1st, last and security paid starting July 1st. Utilities to be turned on 6/29.
Oh, and Amanda's baby due around end of July! Yep! Looks like we're on track and on schedule.
Chapter 2 - The Trip
First matter of business - what to do with our four furry children on this adventure. Sasha, our Dal mix, is about 45 pounds and medium size. We have a soft crate for her. which will reside in the back seat of the Escort (which is being towed). Sandy, our Papillion, is about 15 pounds...she will ride in the truck cab with us. Shadow and Coco, the cats, each have carriers, which will ride in the front seats of the Escort. Car windows will remain mostly down to provide ventilation. Windshield and back window will have sun shields. Do not judge this arrangement yet - read on.
As we will be staying at a hotel both half-way through the journey and for a night once we arrive in PA, we have found 2 pet-friendly places. We have purchased a Soft Side Play Pen, a octagonal pop-up container which will house the kitties in the room, and the dogs will sleep on the floor. So the pet situation is covered (Yeah, uh-huh!)
Trip plans: we will pick up the truck on 6/26, and the loaders will arrive that morning to get everything on-board. On 6/27, we will personally load the remainder of our personal things, and get a good night's sleep. We will leave Deltona early on the morning of 6/28, and drive to Fayetteville NC, approx. halfway to our final destination. Hence we will depart NC early on 6/29 and arrive in Allentown PA that afternoon. There we will spend another night with the pets. On 6/30, I will leave the car dolly at the hotel and drive the truck to Palmerton, where our family will be waiting to help me unload. Sounds good, eh?
Well, here's what really happened:
June 26 - Picked up the truck, and found that we had been "upgraded" from a front-wheel tow dolly to a full car trailer. God is good...the Escort will now be totally off the road for the trip. I liked that! Then I walked out of the Penske and actually got UP INTO THE CAB! This truck is HUGE! Three steps before I hit the seat. The cab is huge, too! And that will really count later! It's diesel-fueled, 50-gallon tank, A/C, cruise-control, and automatic trannie! Nice! Guy at the desk says that, pulling the car, we can expect maybe 7 mpg, so it looks like about $500 for fuel...still not bad when you consider we don't have to drive the Escort.
I hadn't driven anything this big is a long time, but it wasn't too bad. I had to remember the car trailer, and I made those wide turns, but we got back home and waited for the pros to show up and load the box. Believe it or not, they got lost between Daytona and our place and showed up a bit late, but for two guys, they were indeed pros! Took them 4 hours - I never lifted a finger - and they packed a very heavy dining room set, my computer desk, and everything else, and when they finished, there was about one foot of space left in that box. Should have rented the 26' truck, but it's too late now. Jen and I are trying to figure out how to put the remaining stuff on the truck in the morning, and it's kinda scary - will it fit? It better, one way or the other.
June 27 - Re-attach the car trailer, load the Escort. Cram everything we can into the truck, until it's ready to fall out when the door is opened (and it will!). Load everything else we can into the trunk and floor of the car. Inflate our Aero-Bed for the "good night's sleep" we are supposed to be getting. Get some nourishment delivered for our last meal on good ol' East Fairbairn Drive. Try to think of anything we are forgetting. Last-minute check of the truck...lock it up. Take a shower, and go to bed.
(To be continued...)
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