Moving in

Back in December 2016, we were deep into the moving process.  But we also took breaks, like little forays for supplies..or lunch! 

 We stumbled on this cute little place.  Good greasy burgers.  And they had a pot of self-serve free beans, which were very good!  We've never seen that before, but we like it!!

And we loved their cute Texan Christmas tree!

 And check out these fancy trees out in the green space in front of the restaurant!

 Fun!

 The start of a new routine - outings with the critters in our ATV/utility vehicle.  This little run-around sort of came with the house - we traded some rent (as neither party was quite ready to move at the time of sale) for this and a riding lawnmower.  Here the dogs take the ride to one of their favorite locations - the lake.  Zou is not too sure about the trip over however.  She loves to ride and loves to play in the lake, but this utility vehicle is gas-powered and extremely noisy!!  So at first she found it kinda scary!  (Dad has made a few modifications so it doesn't rattle quite as much, and Zou has gotten more used to it all now)

 Happy Hayes and Worried Zouey...

 The last of the fall colors (lakeside).  Hopefully next year we will be here for the full display!

 Zouey checks out her new (yeah, it's old, but new to us!) dock!

 Back at the house, it was still a blank palette - ready for us to fill with our collections!  Here, Tractor and Zouey explore the living room area.

 Hayes and Zou in our bedroom.

 While we were waiting for the majority of our stuff to arrive (in the big container we had packed that would be commercially transported), we continued to live in our RV.  Once we got our bedroom furniture in and arranged, we started sleeping in the house and slowly got all the necessaries moved over (One bummer was that one half of our Sleep Number air mattress had bit the dust.  Bill discovered it leaked.  It hadn't survived the seven years in storage, or the moving process, somehow.  We bought a very expensive new one, but in the meantime we slept on an uncomfortable cheap Walmart air bed.  Took way too long to get the replacement...!!)

It was quite an ordeal getting this container situated in the right place on our property.  We are at the end of a narrow little gravel road, and there's just not much room to maneuver!  And it had been rainy, and the driver was worried he'd sink in the mud with all that weight...  But it finally worked out fine.  And so the mass exodus of stuff began...

 Our kids all found the REAL animal TV - the great outdoors!  And lucky for them, all the windows are low enough they can easily see out!

 Enough room for you guys?

 Tractor & The Shower Walls Show!

 Dad literally lends a shoulder...

 and...again...

 Tractor, like most cats, likes life in the high reaches!  Is it because they're snobby and like to look down on us?!  Or is it just a good viewpoint to watch for prey items?  Or is it just fun adventuring?!!!

 Time to get down...

 And the dismount is complete!

 Wow, where did all that stuff go?!  No, we did NOT move it all ourselves!  Bill smartly hired a couple of guys to help!  They did a great job and were nice to boot!

 They weren't too sure about posing for me but finally gave me a cute shot!  Good guys.  And we couldn't have done it without them!!

 So...let's see where all that junk wound up...  In the hangar (some of this came out of the trailer, some from the big container)...

On our back porch...

  We didn't intend to get such a large pile on the porch, but this was a weird weather day - very cold.  It actually snowed on us for a few minutes!!!  And the moving guys got worried that the freezing temps might make the metal ramp up to the container too slick, so they started hurrying and just moving the stuff to the closest location...

 And, of course, the big furniture went straight into the house...!

And while it should not be surprising that rooms can drastically shrink in size with the addition of large pieces of furniture, it always is!!!