Closing day - a final goodbye

At 8:00, Bette and the new owners arrived for their walk-through. The house was sparkling clean, but looking very empty. Joanne and Mark seemed excited to be buying, much to our relief. Trying to avoid the sway-back kitchen floor, the dog stained bedroom carpeting and the sinking stone wall, we emphasized the beautiful garden and the complete supply of paints and hot tub supplies. Mark was pleased with the notebook filled with owners manuals and mentioned bringing it home to read that night. You might call him “anal”.

We left Mija in the house with her blanket and dishes for the closing. By the time we returned, she was ballistic. I’ m sure she thought it was all over and that she was being left forever. With tears in our eyes, we closed the door for the last time on our home of 11 years, took our trembling dog into the car and headed off to our new home. With the Saab packed with boxes, we looked like the gypsies that we were about to become. To soften the blow of leaving the home we loved, we immediately took the check to the bank and deposited it.

Then, it was off to Arlington RV SuperCenter. The RV was stacked high with the boxes that John had been carting down. So, in the packing lot of the SuperCenter, just off busy Highway 2, we started packing and repacking our belongings into plastic buckets and trying to figure out where they would fit in the "basement" of the RV. Fortunately, the weather held out and, although we must have been an amusing site for the drivers on Hwy 2, we managed to get everything into a place in the RV with room to spare.

Our first night was fast food and traffic noise, but we actually slept better than we had in the weeks prior. With the pressure of the move and the fear of the deal falling through gone, we slept like babies.

Rain arrived the next day and we concentrated on the inside of the RV. Highway 2 was retail row with every possible chain store imaginable within 5 miles. While I shopped, John worked with the “systems” making frequent visits to the Service Center for questions and problems (and opening an ‘account’ at the Retail Store. We needed everything from toilet paper to sewer connections to refrigerator bars.

The next day, we faced yet another rainy day and more time to continue the RV setup. The setup process took much longer than we expected, but being close to stores and mechanics was a god-sent. We finally finished – at least enough to feel comfortable leaving the safe haven of Arlington RV. Dinner was a Boston Market chicken dinner- comfort food for 6 for 2.