After weeks of traipsing through rooms littered with piles of stuff we were finally ready to load the trailer. We lined it up with the garage and starting loading. I really hate that this sounds like a small task when in reality it was hours of carrying things outside as the sun went down and the temperatures dipped lower and lower. At about midnight we were exhausted but had the trailer closed up and ready to go. We then drove out to the machine shop to drop off some materials and picked up a pizza on the way home. Spent, we collapsed into bed, mind you our bed was now packed away in the trailer so we were crashing on an air mattress. Being so tired I don't think we noticed one bit.
Early the next morning we woke up to eeiry, howling winds and set to the task of packing up a few remaining items in bed and cab of the pickup. Then it started to snow. With the winds gusting the otherwise gentle snow was whipped through the air in a horizontal direction. I was growing more and more worried about Tim driving in such weather even if it was only for the first few hours of the trip. I was almost in tears at the thought of him on the road, alone, with a fully loaded trailer and pickup.
Tim pulled the pickup and trailer away from the house and immediately we knew something was wrong. The wheels on the trailer were not only "squatty" but the axle looked precarious at best. It was bowed in a unnatural direction toward the ground. Despite our seemingly careful efforts to pack the trailer the load was obviously too much for it.
We were unsure as to what to do at this point. I mean, "Should Tim start driving and see what happens?, Should we wait until the next morning for the weather to clear? But then the roads would have hard packed snow which would still be dangerous??". In the end we decided to move some of the heavier items out of the trailer to ease the burden on the axle. Mind you this was no easy task when the snow is still whipping sideways, the ramp to the trailer is a veritable skating rink from the wet snow and the item you're trying to move is a table saw that weighs 300 pounds. After much wrestling and slipping on the ramp we rearranged some of the items in the trailer but to our dismay the bowed axle looked unchanged. What? At that point we were both anxious and truly unsure as to what to do. We walked back into the house and Tim said, "Ok, I should get going". He gave me a kiss on the cheek and walked out to the truck. I immediately starting crying because I was so scared about the weather, so tired from loading and unloading and not much sleep and so worried about the safety of the trailer. What if something happened out there? Would there even be cell service or any passersby to help Timmy if something happened?
Then something amazing happened. No, the snow did not stop. Rather Timmy walked back through the front door. The look on his face mirrored everything I was feeling - at that point we both melted down. Hugs and deep breaths followed. We decided right then and there for so many reasons that it was not safe to be driving that day. I can't tell you how relieved I was and I'm assuming Tim felt the same. Within minutes we were joking and laughing, happy to working on Plan B. Whatever that might be.
We decided to brave the weather, at this point we didn't even notice it, and drove out to a favorite breakfast spot for some grub and a brainstorming session. On some paper scrounged from my purse we laid out all the options with pros and cons. What if we sold the pickup here in Bozeman? Could we rent a Uhaul and just make one trip to Fresno with all our stuff? Maybe we could sell the Honda in Salt Lake when we finally leave?
So we spent the rest of the day talking with our families to let them know that plans had changed, researching other options and we settled on what is now Plan B. We decided to sell the pickup in Bozeman and we will rent a Uhaul to take the belongings that Tim was going to drive to Fresno before the blizzard and meltdown happened. The trailer, along with several items, would go to my mom, Linda, and her husband Paul when they came to visit for Thanksgiving.
Feeling refreshed, well kind of, we unloaded the trailer and put everything in the garage. So in 24 hours we loaded and unloaded the trailer. Looking back I know we made the right decision to postpone the trip and now all of our belongings are packed and organized. The house is empty and we are ready to go.
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