One More Sleep

 

Tomorrow morning, early, we'll leave for our big trip Out West. 

We'll eat a couple of breakfast sammies I made up today, load up the last of our 3 metric shit tons of stuff into the trailer and truck, hitch up, load in the dogs, and head west.

We've spent the last three days loading up the trailer, in between random house projects that popped up at the last minute. A column on the front of the house that had rotted and was becoming a beehive had to go and then get replaced. 8000 cuts later, and gluing and screwing, priming, sanding, wood filler-ing, and painting, that got finished. Jim is a marvel and did so much of it on his own. Oh, and, there have been some finches freeloading in our gutter and the attic and we finally figured out how they got in -- through a hole on the opposite side of that column. That hole was also fixed when the column went back up. Sorry, kids, y'all gotta find another place to build your nests.

And as if the column wasn't enough of a project to tackle, on Sunday, our main sump pump died. And the reason the backup alarm didn't yell at us was because the battery it was attached to had corroded to the point of even eating the wires. I think I have most of this right. The battery was for sure effed and had to be replaced. The sump was dead and also needed to be replaced. The Good News on that though, was that Ace Hardware was blowing out a discontinued model of sump pump at 50% off. I made Jim get a second one after the new one was installed, so we are now ready for the next time a sump takes a dump. More good news, we were able to get rid of 5 old batteries yesterday -- one at Farm and Fleet and the other four at Clean Sweep. We had three big batteries and a couple of old motorcycle batteries lurking in the garage. All gone now!

We went to see They Might Be Giants on Sunday night as well, which was a great show (even though I don't follow enough of their music anymore to know everything they played). Sat in the balcony at the Barrymore, ran into a friend there. I think I sat on the edge of my seat all night, leaning in to watch the show. No obvious strain on my back that night or even the next morning.

But. On Monday I was loading the dishwasher and not paying attention to how I was moving or bending, and something went ka-chunk in my low back. Didn't feel it right away, but then there was a serious hitch in my giddyup, back left side of my lower back. What fun. Thank GOD for my chiropractor who straightened me out and gave instructions for ice and heat  and ibuprofen, which I've been good at following.

So that's been fun to have a gimpy back while trying to tie shoes or pick up anything off the floor, help with the column project, step up the few steps into the trailer to load things. Teaching me to slow the F down and pay attention to my body and prioritize what really needs doing and what can be left alone or delegated.

The pain was ridiculous this morning getting out of bed and I was really panicked. But it's gotten lots better through the day with movement and rest and ibu and heat and cold. Being in the car all day tomorrow will be a trick, I'm sure.

First night we will end up in Garretson, SD, just over the border from Minnesota. Not a super-long day but long enough with two dogs in tow. And gimpy girl. We were a little terrified about I-90 being shut down due to flooding, but it looks like we are in the clear, thank goodness. Monday we had a panic about maybe having to change course and thus campgrounds at this late date. But the 511 says we are good so I'm hoping that's true and stays so overnight.

I'm nervous about the amount of crap we're taking, but I also think we've done a really good job of stowing things well and cleverly and still keeping it to needs more than just random stuff. I hope. I probably have too many clothes; we will do laundry along the way. We will shop for food every 2-3 days, depending on where we are and whether we're in or out of civilization. 

I hope the dogs will forgive us for schlepping them almost clear across the country, trapping them in the truck for long stretches of the day. Not sure how they will get exercise except for leashed walks. They sure love playing together here in our yard and I know they'll miss that. I'll miss seeing it. Which will make home all the sweeter when we get back, of course.

Tonight after dinner we took them for a quick walk around the block, and my goodness it's a beautiful night. Finally not so sticky-humid and a nice breeze, one of the nicest evenings in a long time. I'm thinking, "Why the hell are we leaving Wisconsin?!" But. This has been a plan in the works for a long time now and even though we run through All The Feels about it every 5 minutes -- nervous, scared, excited, worried, with a little bit sleepy thrown in for Marge Simpson -- I think it will be fun, and I know it will be an adventure. 

I hope you'll follow along as I try to spin this yarn of our travels.