Saturday Final Touches

Today was a good day!  Temperatures only in the forties, but not much rain.  All of the roads are clear of ice and snow, and we are just about packed.  So--Neil took the tire chains off the Fifth Wheel trailer so he does not have to do that on Monday on the way to the ferry terminal.  He tried using his 1 1/2 ton floor jack and found out that wasn't going to work very well (the trailer weighs in at about 11,000 pounds!), so he got his 8-ton  bottle jack out and that worked a lot better.  There was another reason to get the chains off--so he could get his money back from Les Schwab.  He cleaned them up and took them back to Les Schwab along with the second set of chains for the pickup that haven't even been out of the bag.  At $100 a set, it is good to get that money back.

Neil also loaded the Little Giant ladder on the back of the Fiver and bungied and locked it to the ladder back there, along with a couple of lawn chairs.  It will ride well back there next to the mounted DirecTV mast and dish that Pamela's cousin Gordon helped him mount this past summer.  Neil has set the dish to the azimuth for Molalla, Oregon already to make it easier to set up when we get there.  Both of us spent time today loading our respective vehicles, and while they will be full, there will probably be room to see out the windows--that is the plan anyway.

The house is completely empty except for a few bath towels, and we had a crew of four cleaners working there this afternoon, and they will come back to finish on Sunday.  It will be cleaner than it has been in a long time, since they are doing the really deep cleaning--things like removing the microwave and cleaning the shelf it sits on, and all of the fridge and freezer shelves.

Tonight we have dinner downtown with friends Jim and Elaine at the Hanger on the Wharf downtown.  They were the best man and matron of honor at our wedding in Tracy Arm back in 1984 and have been close friends ever since.  They are also going to bring us dinner at the ferry terminal on Monday night and play cards in the Fifth Wheel until we have to get ready to load the ferry late that night.

Tomorrow there are some final things to be done, like dumping the RV holding tanks and getting our bags ready for ferry travels.  We are really glad that when we built the house, we added a sewer clean out to the rear of the house, so by using three lengths of sewer hose, Neil can dump the grey and black water here without moving the Fiver.  We we taking plenty of snacks like smoked salmon, buffalo jerky, Bailey's Irish cream, wine, makings for Cosmopolitans, cheese and crackers.  Between that and the cafeteria and bar on the Matanuska ferry, we probably won't starve.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,

Neil and Pamela