Welcome to Colorado!

Greetings from Parker, CO. On Monday of this past week we signed papers for the sale of our Tucson home. On Tuesday we signed on the papers for our Parker home. Early on Wednesday morning we packed up the last of our belongings and headed to Colorado. Many hands helped us clean the house, pack the car, and helped us emotionally. We are grateful for people's time, energy, and love.

Craig and Grace Earls opened Hotel Earls and were kind enough to let us stay at their home for a couple nights prior to our departure. We were able to sleep in a bed rather than on an air mattress. I must admit that I am very grateful for their hospitality.

The boys finished school at Sycamore Elementary. Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Middendorf, the boys' classroom teachers, have been wonderful as the boys have been moving. The boys celebrated by bringing a white t-shirt to have their classmates sign it and shared a treat on their last day. We have been blessed to be at Sycamore.

The drive to Colorado was long. The Scout did just fine pulling the Prius, and Wendy pulled the trailer behind the Pilot. We averaged about 60 MPH for the whole trip. We stayed at a Worldmark in Santa Fe, NM. It was the tiniest Worldmark we've every been too. They had no pool, no club house, and very little parking. Fortunately we were able to make arrangements with the Japanese restaurant across the street to park the Scout for the night. The manager let us park the Pilot and the trailer in an 'off limits' part of the parking lot because we agreed to leave before the workmen showed up at 6 a.m. I just moved the Pilot across the street and went back to bed. 

I found that the Scout has some carburetor problems. Someday I hope to put fuel injection on it, to make it easier to start. It should also improve the mileage. 10-11 MPG is all we got on our trip. I also had to put a quart of oil in every 150 miles (which is about how often we filled up with gas, too!) The changes in elevation in Colorado are such that fuel injection is a really good idea. I just have to get all the other house projects finished first....

On Thursday night we made it to the new house. The carpet guys were just finishing up the removal of the old carpet. We discovered large animal pee stains all over the sub-floor, which confirmed our decision to have the carpet replaced. The boys ran through the house and immediately discovered the joy of the slide in the basement. My friend Brandon, and his wife Moriah, who also live in Parker, were gracious enough to let us sleep at their house. (We've been camping out at their house ever since- Thank you Brandon and Moriah!)

On Friday we unloaded the truck. Brandon and Moriah came by to help us unload. We had some help from the freight company. The unload took us three hours instead of the two hours that I had originally thought, but we are glad we got the help. The bulk of our possessions are in the garage, with a few items in the basement. The rest of the house is 'naked' because there is no carpet. 

On Saturday I returned the tow dolly to Uhaul and we started working on the house. Wendy and Moriah did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen. (The new house has been neglected quite a bit!) Wendy mowed the front lawn and we took turns mowing the back yard lawn. I somehow managed to misplace the box that had all the painting materials (rollers and paint trays) so I took the boys to Lowes to pick up more rollers. We began painting the subfloor with Kilz primer. Underfoot and Hurricane did a great job painting. Hurricane and I also began removing all the face plates from all the light switches and outlets. We returned home to Brandon and Moriah's house exhausted. Underfoot said his back hurt from bending over so much to do the painting.

Today we attended church at our new congregation. During the second hour, we attended a special sunday school class were members of the congregation leadership introduced themselves. We were also given a chance to introduce ourselves and ask questions. It was the first time Wendy or I had every attended such a class, but it was really nice to get acquainted with a few people. Underfoot and Hurricane were both nervous to attend church, but I believe they have already made some new friends and will be just fine here in Colorado. 

We have not yet decided if we will enroll the boys in school tomorrow or wait a week to give them a little break. They've already been in school this year for 5 weeks, the local school system is only on week 2. Underfoot wants to start school tomorrow, Hurricane wants to wait a week.

Be Well.