Anyone who has every moved knows that no matter how much you plan and plan, there are always things that come up you never can anticipate. That has been the story of the Foster Family this past week.
Mike returned on Wednesday, a week and half ago, to load the truck and move us to Gurnee, IL. The adventure began on Saturday morning as we tried to pick up our U-Haul. We were supposed to be getting it from a local towing business. As Mike and I followed the directions the this business, we found ourselves going down a dirt road in a residential area and stopping just on the outside of a home surrounded by a chain link fence with a "No Trespassing" sign on it. Talk about scary. Mike preceded to call the business phone number several times but no one seemed to want to take our calls. He attempted to go knock on the front door but only got about halfway when a not so nice looking dog appeared. So we ended up calling U-Haul and they luckily had another 26 foot truck just a few miles up the road from where we were currently. So our morning started out a bit behind schedule. Mike and several guys met up at our storage facility and began the packing process. I went over around one to bring them lunch and had to remove myself after about two hours when they began asking me what stuff was "expendable." Translation, we probably aren't going to get everything on the truck. But miracles do happen, and a few hours later, Mike called me to tell me everything was on the truck and he was on his way back to the Hawleys. Whew! One task down! Saturday evening and Sunday we enjoyed our last few hours with the Hawleys and also had the opportunity to say good-bye to many of our other friends in Charlotte. We love you all!
Monday morning we threw the last few boxes in the truck, packed the car, picked up Katie Willett (our dear friend who gave up part of her spring break to help us move) and began the 15 hour drive to Chicago. Besides leaving a little later than we had hoped, Monday's leg of the trip went well. We were able to stay the night in Louisville, KY at the home of the Glen and Wendy Gibson. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them as they were on their spring break vacation. We all had a good nights rest and got back on the road Tuesday morning. And until about noon on Tuesday, we were having great trip. Then the drive shaft on our U-Haul decided to fall off the truck. God was definitely protecting Katie, Sarai and I as we were following Mike behind the truck. Mike had noticed something didn't feel right with the truck so he had pulled over to the side of the road. We looked around the truck and then decided to cautiously get back on the interstate. He was probably only going about 15-20 mph when the drive shaft then fell off the truck. If he had been going much faster, it could have been much worse for those of us behind him. So we then had the privilege of having our truck towed into West Lafayette, IN home of Purdue University. We actually decided to go check out the campus while the U-Haul mechanic put a new drive shaft on our truck. We figured we had nothing better to do :-) And four hours later, we were back on the road and scheduled to hit Chicago during rush hour in the rain. We couldn't have planned it better! Mike skillfully maneuvered the truck through traffic and we arrived at our rental house around 7. For those of you don't know, the previous renters had done a number on the house and our landlord had been working the entire week and a half before to get the house ready for us. He had actually been there more than 50 hours straight when we arrived. There are still some little things to be done but we are just excited to have a place to call our own. Oh, and we got to unload the truck in the poring rain. By this time in our moving adventure, nothing surprised me.
So now, five days after moving in, we are starting to feel more at home. We have found our couches so we now have a place to sit, Sarai's room is all but done, and I can cook in my newly remodeled kitchen. It has been like Christmas finding all the things we had packed away over six months ago. Now don't go back to the guest bedroom because that is where we are hiding all the boxes that still need to be unpacked! Hehe!!
Mike returned on Wednesday, a week and half ago, to load the truck and move us to Gurnee, IL. The adventure began on Saturday morning as we tried to pick up our U-Haul. We were supposed to be getting it from a local towing business. As Mike and I followed the directions the this business, we found ourselves going down a dirt road in a residential area and stopping just on the outside of a home surrounded by a chain link fence with a "No Trespassing" sign on it. Talk about scary. Mike preceded to call the business phone number several times but no one seemed to want to take our calls. He attempted to go knock on the front door but only got about halfway when a not so nice looking dog appeared. So we ended up calling U-Haul and they luckily had another 26 foot truck just a few miles up the road from where we were currently. So our morning started out a bit behind schedule. Mike and several guys met up at our storage facility and began the packing process. I went over around one to bring them lunch and had to remove myself after about two hours when they began asking me what stuff was "expendable." Translation, we probably aren't going to get everything on the truck. But miracles do happen, and a few hours later, Mike called me to tell me everything was on the truck and he was on his way back to the Hawleys. Whew! One task down! Saturday evening and Sunday we enjoyed our last few hours with the Hawleys and also had the opportunity to say good-bye to many of our other friends in Charlotte. We love you all!
Monday morning we threw the last few boxes in the truck, packed the car, picked up Katie Willett (our dear friend who gave up part of her spring break to help us move) and began the 15 hour drive to Chicago. Besides leaving a little later than we had hoped, Monday's leg of the trip went well. We were able to stay the night in Louisville, KY at the home of the Glen and Wendy Gibson. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them as they were on their spring break vacation. We all had a good nights rest and got back on the road Tuesday morning. And until about noon on Tuesday, we were having great trip. Then the drive shaft on our U-Haul decided to fall off the truck. God was definitely protecting Katie, Sarai and I as we were following Mike behind the truck. Mike had noticed something didn't feel right with the truck so he had pulled over to the side of the road. We looked around the truck and then decided to cautiously get back on the interstate. He was probably only going about 15-20 mph when the drive shaft then fell off the truck. If he had been going much faster, it could have been much worse for those of us behind him. So we then had the privilege of having our truck towed into West Lafayette, IN home of Purdue University. We actually decided to go check out the campus while the U-Haul mechanic put a new drive shaft on our truck. We figured we had nothing better to do :-) And four hours later, we were back on the road and scheduled to hit Chicago during rush hour in the rain. We couldn't have planned it better! Mike skillfully maneuvered the truck through traffic and we arrived at our rental house around 7. For those of you don't know, the previous renters had done a number on the house and our landlord had been working the entire week and a half before to get the house ready for us. He had actually been there more than 50 hours straight when we arrived. There are still some little things to be done but we are just excited to have a place to call our own. Oh, and we got to unload the truck in the poring rain. By this time in our moving adventure, nothing surprised me.
So now, five days after moving in, we are starting to feel more at home. We have found our couches so we now have a place to sit, Sarai's room is all but done, and I can cook in my newly remodeled kitchen. It has been like Christmas finding all the things we had packed away over six months ago. Now don't go back to the guest bedroom because that is where we are hiding all the boxes that still need to be unpacked! Hehe!!
4 comments:
I MISS YOU!!!!! I can't wait to be able to come to Chicago and see you guys in your new place.
I'm glad you got there safely!!! =) I look forward to hearing all the things God has in store for you guys in Chicago!
Wow, that was quite the adventure! I'm glad that you arrived in one piece!
It's good to know that your in and settling. I hope you have a wonderful time getting things started.
We're praying for success, blessing and souls saved! Way to go Foster family! Thanks for answering the call :)
Just wanted to let you guys know we miss you very much. Wish I could have said hi sooner but we had a very sad and unexpected death in our immediate family. Praying for you every day and Lily misses her Sarai bunches! xoxo
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