I can't believe that we moved to Oregon! Back to where we met, 8 years ago. Back to where we first lived after we got married , 7 years ago. Back to where his family and our friends live, in the Pacific Northwest! It seemed only just a few days ago, that we weren't sure whether we would be moving or staying in Montana, where we have been for the past 3 1/2 years. So, on the 16th of August, we got up and tried to have breakfast, which we ended up NOT having, after not getting served at a restaurant after 45 minutes of being there...We left. When we got home, continued getting things ready to leave...on the trailer, in the truck and in the car..ready to leave on another "adventure" . We waited for the carpet guy to clean the carpet, but his machine broke down, so he had to come back, but we were determined to leave that day, so we worked it out with the management group that was taking care of the property for the landlord. Then, we still needed to do a little more clean up work , you know, floors, dusting, etc...so we did that. Got our deposit check back and OFF we go!
It was about 5 pm, when we took off from our little cabin in the woods in Seeley Lake, Montana. We loved our little cabin , with its modern comforts and the wild life surrounding it, the beautiful lakes around and the Clearwater River just down the road. We loved our life in the woods. Something we never thought we would have. It was quiet and serene. Especially during the snowy winters and the hot summers with dragonflies and crickets everywhere, and the wild life of deer, bear right in our back yard!
We were on the road and about two hours into our drive, I was driving my car behind Marty in his truck. I had Latte' the cat, with me, out of her cage, free to roam where she wanted. She did really well and mostly stayed out of my way. Then the dogs, Ru and Buster road with papa, in the big truck. Attached to the truck was the car trailer, filled with all of our belongings. Didn't look like much as we tried to get rid of as much as we could before we left. Garage sales, Craigslist, Ebay, and giving stuff away...We decided to make the trip as light as possible..We stopped for gas in Bonner, and fortunately I was able to say good bye to my friend, Vera Bearden. She was coming back from Missoula and just stopped there too, so it was God's grace that allowed us to see each other one more time before I moved. She was getting ready to move to Seeley Lake, from Montana. I will miss her.
So, we are driving along, I am listening to a little music and then singing my own songs of praise to God. Just before dusk, about 730 or so, the truck tire blew out , in the middle of the freeway. Fortunately, it was a desolate freeway, not much traffic on our side. When his tire blew, I was behind him, and in a short second, all I could see was very thick ,solid, white smoke, dust and no clear path. I didn't know what I would find or run into or worse yet hit my car with. I was terrified of another car accident, this one would be the end of my life, as I was going about 70 the speed limit and when this happened, I couldn't see anything in front of me at all. I tried to slow down, and pull over, again, not being able to see anything..Right before this happened though, something funny happened. It goes back to days before as I was packing...In our bathroom, under the sink, I had "feminine products". And since I am "past my prime" in that department, I thought who I could give them to? I thought about it, but then thought, "I'll do that later" , so I packed them away. While on the back of the trailer I thought tucked away very tightly, the top of the container "lifted" and here come these little "pink and white" pads all over the freeway HAHAHAHAHA!, of course neither of us knew what they were at the time, but I thought that it was a sign, of "me giving them away," as I had thought of doing that earlier but had not. Again, later in our trip the same thing happened, even after we thought we had "battened down the hatches" again, out they came, "flying" on the freeway. The commercials always say they have "wings" . Well now I know they do, and they fly too! Oh my gosh, it was the funniest thing. The second time was AFTER we got the tire replaced AND fixed the hitch that got bent when we went over a bump at the motel parking lot! WHAT A TRIP! AND we weren't even out of Montana yet! 8 hrs after leaving (Its only a 10 hr trip to where we were going anyway!)
Finally got the trailer fixed, also, payed someone to take the mattress(there goes our bed!!) away, as it weighed like a billion pounds, and it was making more weight for the tiny trailer. So with that done, we had to re pack all our clothes that were on the mattress! So, in the middle of the motel parking lot in St Regis MT, in the heat of the day, we packed everything back on the trailer. Again, off we go, praying that nothing else will happen. Finally about 10 more hours and we arrived at our destination. It was dark out, about 1200 midnight. We travelled up the steep embankment. I went first up , it was a hard for my front wheel drive car but it made it like a champ. Then he came up last with the trailer behind. The new landlords hid a key for us, so we could get in, as they knew that we might get in late and they live far away. So we got in the house, and were SO TIRED< that we threw a couple of pillows down, and some sheets and covers and totally crashed out! We were thoroughly exhausted! But we were here in one piece, the two dogs and cat all made it here. YAY!
The next morning, it was really pretty, we woke up , got some coffee, (how we found the coffee pot and coffee and stuff is amazing, but we did. And then we went to get some things done, because Marty would have to start his new job in a few days. Its a cute place, and other than its smaller by a little than our previous place. and doesn't have a W/D for laundry, that is the only difference. We love it here. Lots of privacy, little shop for Marty to tinker in, cute little house and all wood floors and cute little windows including a couple of stained glass ones..making it a home is really fun. And we have a little waterfall outside in the side of the house, really cute, the doggies really love it here. And even Miss Latte' the cat, she LOVES it outside, all of our yard is private and very secure. We love it here.
Marty started his job on the 20th of August, we had just gotten there on the 17th. so a few days of rest was nice. So he started to his new job. But it was only to last a month. At the end of the month, they did a review and asked him how he was doing. He told the truth and said that it was physically daunting for him and the really young ones said they were afraid he was going to get hurt, as the heaviness of the job,(grading on the green chain) is hard even for the 20 yr olds! So it was hard on Marty who had never been not able to physically do a job, He would come home every night just thrashed and in lots of pain and hating his job..So we were praying for a way out. And God answered our prayers, so he is no longer in pain. But we are a few steps back from where we thought we would be, as we took this job for more money than we were making in Montana. And we had great benefits with this job also, and the cost of living is cheaper here, so we were looking to saving for retirement. But I guess that was not meant to be, and since we believe that God is in charge and He knows what we need, we will get through this as we have gotten through other little "road bumps" in our lives. Even when we moved to Montana, we moved there for a job, and actually took a large pay cut, as he wasn't employed then, so we needed a job. But we hated to leave our family and friends. But it was a growing experience for both of us, and we really learned a lot about ourselves, our marriage and what we are made of. I know that we will learn from this move, whatever God has for us to learn. Although I think some lessons may be tougher than others...But we'll see. I pray it all goes well.
Thankfully, we still know that God is in charge, and that He will fulfill all our needs and maybe some of our desires. Oh, by the way, God has taken care of us all the time since we have been here, having family and friends here has made a world of difference. It's been nice to meet up with friends from HS, and from my childhood that has been really helpful for me, to get out more and do more. We have been fishing and boating a couple of times. That has been challenging but fun. And mostly we have a unique neighbor an Alpaca named Alma. She herds the goats and sheep of our neighbor, so she (Alma) comes up to our back fence and stares at us and we stare back and talk to her, she is pretty friendly! We are making a new experience wherever we go, here in Oregon. New things everyday, loving and living, enjoying, and sharing, with each other, as we grow in love.
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