Departure Day, out of Transition, into Transport

Actual date: November 3, 2010

With no more reasons to delay our move to Alaska, other than that cute baby boy, Ken and I decided November 3 was the day to leave. We had ruled out looking for any more gear in Wichita, we had exhausted all resources. We had shipped, and shipped, and shipped boxes even up to the day before. We had packed and repacked boxes and belongings to leave in the basement. I had been careful to put plastic boxes or as much on the tops of shelves as possible that could handle a water line break if something should occur. I also positioned plastic boxes on the floor should the basement leak due to heavy rain. It was not all perfect, but the best I could do. 

The paperwork we purged was burned with the brush burn pile on non-windy days (few and far between in Kansas). The car and trailer had been driven around town, tested, leveled, weighed, and retested. It needed the long trip for real testing now. 

It was a hard decision to leave my sister’s home in Wichita. I love my sister and her family, but Wichita is not where Ken and I want to settle right now. (Besides, we hope they will move to Alaska in the future too!) Deciding on which day of the week to leave was even hard. We had made several deadlines in the past to leave, but three or four came and went and we remained stuck. So my sister had become jaded to our really leaving. I said goodbye to her every day as if it were real. Tonight it would be. She works the second shift, going in at 3pm. We should have been on the road in the morning, and ideally that is what any smart road tripper would do. But sometimes you just have to leave when you are ready. Today that meant tonight. 

Curtis was so nice and fatherly. He approved of our massive equalizing hitch for a 3,000 pound load. He gave us an extra set of tire chains he was not using since they did not fit any of his vehicles. They were brand new too!!! Thanks Curtis. And best of all he made us dinner, he said he could not let us go on an empty stomach. Yum! Baby Andrew ate with us, oh he is a cutie pie! Can you tell I love this baby! We really tried to stash him in the trailer, or leave on a day both parents were gone, but I know my sister would have hunted us down and hurt us. wha! 

After dinner, we cleaned up and started up the car. It was dusk, but we figured we had 4 or 5 good hours in us. On the way out of town, one more stop at a truck stop to weigh the final load. We came in about 500 pounds under the total limit the car gave us. We could definitely feel the trailer was heavier than on previous trips. So far, though, flat road ahead. 

Above, I tried to get a photo of Cessna as we left. My sister and her husband both work there in really cool jobs. We are so excited to be moving to Alaska where the Cessna 150, 172, and 182 are standard transport in the bush! Airplane aficionados, check out the current planes and Cessna history here http://www.cessna.com/