The best laid plans...

Never turn out how your think they're going to. Wait. That's not quite how that quote goes... Oh well.

The plan:

To tarp up and head out from Farmer's, a one night stop at the Parental's with a New Year's Eve night out with Bff, and then driving the rest of the way home Saturday leaving Sunday for unloading and cleaning up.

What actually happened:

Friday, December 31:

I slowly hobbled out of bed and once again donned every piece of clothing I brought with me. When I checked the outside temp it was reading 12º and if I thought I was stiff before, it was nothing compared to what I felt like once the frigid cold hit me.

So I made my way out to the barn to begin tarping up the crap, er, my stuff. However, in the midst of it I remembered that I forgotten to load up the two most important items...

The pet-hair retrieval unit and my sanity...

They had gotten set aside up in front of the camper and I had forgotten all about them until I pulled the truck into the barn. Thank goodness I remembered them. The TV (sanity) I could have probably lived without since I do have a TV already back at the coast... However, the pet-hair retrieval unit is a must. I've only been in my place 2 weeks and the pet hair has already started to morph into a 3rd dog.

So, the second attempt at tarping went exactly as planned. Kinda.

Then I started up the truck, which promptly died on me. I started it. It quit. This went back and forth for several minutes. Finally I got it started. Kinda.

The truck was not happy. At. All. By then I decided to throw my crap in the cab and get on the road STAT. It was running and I didn't want to chance it dying on me again. And once on the road it seemed happier... once I was over 65mph that is. Up to that speed it was touch and go... every time I let off the gas the "check engine" light would come on and the truck would try to quit on me.

However, most of the trip down I-84 was pretty decent since I was going around 70mph.

I even got a great view of Mt. Hood...

About half way down I-84 I decided that it would be a good idea to just drive all the way to the coast. I was afraid that if I stopped at the Parental's for the night that I would never get the beast running again on Saturday. So I called Bff and told her that I was going to take the truck back to the coast and then I would drive the VW back to Portland. She was on her way back from a cabin in Washington and said that sounded like a good idea. So, modification #1 to the original plan was in place.

All was going reasonably well... until I hit Salem. And traffic. The truck doesn't like traffic. Traffic means we were not going a happy 65mph. More like 30. Not good...

I basically had to learn to drive the truck a different way. So, as long as I was accelerating the truck was happy. When I had to let off the gas I had to put it in neutral right away or it would die on me. It made for a long and exhausting drive back to the coast. Gas. Clutch. Gas. Clutch. Gas... you get the idea. Both my legs (which hurt like hell anyway) got a workout. But I nursed the truck home and then promptly collapsed on the couch.

I was laying there contemplating how I was going to find the energy to drive back up to Portland to celebrate with Bff when she called me. They had stopped in Hood River for pizza and had ended up with food poisoning. Oh man. I was glad that wasn't me. I was also kind of glad not to have to drive anywhere else that night. Modification #2 to the original plan. And RR was thrilled that we got to spend the New Year's Eve together. Modification #3 to the original plan.

We went for Thai and then I was asleep by 10pm. Modification #4 to the original plan. Oh well, maybe next year I'll make it to midnight.

Saturday, January 1:

Happy New Year!! Wait, what day was it again? Because it felt like March. 

I got out of bed (reluctantly) and saw the truck outside my window. Still packed. 

Darn... The magikal unpacking fairies had not come to visit. So instead I called RR. He's almost as good as a magikal unpacking fairy. And we unpacked. All. Damn. Day. By the end of the night I was barely able to navigate through the rooms. It's amazing how much crap I have that I really haven't needed for 2 years. But I'm going to love having my pet-hair retrieval unit and the BBQ. The rest is hit or miss...

Sunday, January 2:

I decided to skip the putting away of crap in the morning and go for a ride instead. RR was glad for the morning of tedious work off. Elmo, on the other hand, was not so thrilled with the plan...

You wanna do what?

 I refuse to be a part of your evil plan...

But once Cricket got Bella saddled Elmo decided to go along with the plan...

And it was a beautiful morning...

However, Elmo felt it was a lot of work and stopped at this mud puddle to drink it dry.

Slurp, slurp, slurp...

And then it was back to the house and back to unpacking. I now have one room that looks very put together and just the way I want it. The rest of the house, not so much. But I have pathways that will suffice for now. I will just try to get a little bit more put away every night. And then this weekend I will head to the Parental's to round up the last few boxes and my desk. 

Then my house will be complete!! Once I find a place for everything...