Our transition and "cozy conestoga"

3/15/07

We are up to our waists in boxes now, deciding what can be stored for up to six months while we build the house. I know I will miss my kitchen things the most! The travel trailer, which we call our "cozy conestoga", is a 35 footer and very comfy for weekends so far. We have a kitchen, bedroom (a 6' by 6' raised level that just fits a queen size mattress), a small shower, small bathroom and living room (6' by 6'). We had some leaks in the bedroom ceiling over the winter but are in the process of sealing them - and the warmer days help because the sealing material expands to seal the small cracks. We're going up this weekend to see if the recent rains got in or not. And Skip is replacing the two ceiling exhaust fans in the bathroom and shower. They were broken and water came through them as well. We are anxious to repair all situations before we move in but some will be ongoing. We are still wondering why the water heater suddenly decided to stop making hot water. We've taken it apart once and now think it might need a new heating element. Thank goodness for the internet! We are able to research repair advice for everything from the riding lawn mower to the trailer leak issues.

So as we are packing up all our things and only saving the bare necessities to live in the trailer, I know both of us are wondering how we will handle this new adventure. It's so exciting - like a really long camping trip. And both of us love the outdoors. I have started four trays of seedlings for the future garden. Skip thought I was crazy but I told him it makes me happy to see the little sprouts come up among all this chaos. As I am packing boxes I go check on their progress. I bought 55 packs of seeds in all - only could plant 10 packs early. The rest go right in the ground once we have the garden ready.

And this weekend we will run up to Honey Grove and put in our six first grapevines. We bought 3 different varieties to see which will do the best. I am trying to find "grow tubes" before we go up - they will help keep the deer from eating the brand new shoots.

We will also be putting up our mailbox! We have to stop by the local office of the Texas Department of Transportation to pick up our support pole - (who knew all this!) because we are located on a principal highway. And then we sink that in some cement and attach our mailbox to it with some reflectors on the support pole.

All in all, a very busy week! I will be getting a new camera shortly (left the old one in Mexico in the taxi cab over vacation!) Need to document with pictures!!

Have a blessed week! Vaya con Dios!