Moving

Image by carlaarena via FlickrWe have successfully moved into our rented home. This was a long process, beginning in Lethbridge where we sold our old house. The possession date was the middle of August, and the new house wouldn’t be ready for us to move in until September 1. So in the meantime we had to make do.

Kent’s family came from far and wide to help us pack up and move all our many, many precious belongings onto the moving van. We rented the largest size moving truck possible, and also a moving trailer. Kent’s brother agreed to drive the big rig from Lethbridge to Penticton for us, and his wife and children came along to visit as well. Kent’s father came to tow the trailer behind his pick-up truck, and his (Kent’s) mother helped with packing and cleaning. All of us hauled our boxes and cooperated with the furniture out to the van - the new king-sized bed was really heavy!

Then we caravanned to BC. I have never driven such a long way before by myself, but since we bought a second vehicle, we each had to drive one. We made it to Penticton with no unscheduled events, and offloaded the van into the rental house. The owners were still living in it, but they allowed us to put our boxes and furniture into some of the rooms and the garage while we waited to move in. I really would have just loved to start unpacking right away and living in my new house, but alas we had to say goodbye to house and belongings for the rest of the month.

My in-laws generously offered us their fifth wheel RV to live in in the meantime, since Kent had to start his new job right away. So they parked it for us in a nearby trailer park, and we settled in. The fifth wheel is equipped with all we need, and even has a pull-out couch for the kids to sleep on (nick-named “the chaperone suite”). It was way better than sharing a hotel room, and we had kitchen facilities in the RV, as well as shared laundry in the park. Five people can live in a small-ish space, but we are still very happy to be getting into our larger house after a couple of weeks.

The new house has peach, apricot, and walnut trees. It has a panoramic view of Penticton and the lakes. It has almost 2 acres of land and a hot tub. I think we’ll be very comfortable there, we just need to unpack all our boxes first!

So a big thank-you to my in-laws, who did the grunt labour and put a roof over our heads when we needed one. After they’ve helped us with so many moves (this is our sixth one together), you’d think they would disown us. But they haven’t yet - they continue to give of their time and energy and even their home.