May 15: South Dakota Here We Are

We arrived in South Dakota on the evening of May 6th.  We settled in at the hotel and plotted out what we thought we were going to do for the week.  Then we woke on May 7th to a completely different version of our plans.  The movers were not to deliver our household goods until today, May 15th, but apparently there were crossed messages.  We also thought we were supposed to do the walk-through on our house, but that needed to be put off until Tuesday.  That was fine with us because we could then spend time just looking around our old stomping grounds and getting familiar with all the changes that had taken place of our 31 year absence.
Because of the confusion of our plans we chose to stay in a hotel rather than to ask for lodging with family or friends.  We had very pleasant supper and visit with my sister Wendy's family on Monday.  Tuesday we did the walk through, met with the banker.  We also took time to celebrate my 59th birthday.

On Wednesday we started with the closing on our house.  While we were there, we talked about the odd things that had happened after some closings.   One thing that we discussed was that just once our realtor's client discovered the mailbox missing.  GUESS WHAT WAS MISSING AT OUR NEW HOUSE?  I ask you, who takes a ratty old mailbox?  Fortunately my sister Becky and her husband delivered a mailbox as a housewarming gift.


At 1:00 the mover showed up with his truck and our household goods.  It was amazing to watch this young man maneuver his semi up our driveway with its twisty path.  He and a crew of 3 others unloaded all the boxes and furniture and did some of the unpacking.  They worked well together and finished their part of the task in about 5 hours. Then the real "fun" began.  Below are two shots taken in two of our garages.  The house was so full of boxes and furniture that we could not have any others brought inside. 

 Believe it or not, we had already started the process of downsizing before me moved from Minnesota to Vermont last July.  We have purchased a smaller home with a perfect outbuilding for our custom woodworking business.   Added to that, my father-in-law is going to come and live with us so he will need to have some of his own space as well. I guess, now we will have to make more decisions about what to keep and what to let go.  (Having lived in Vermont with a minimal amount of things will make this an easier task, but it will take time.)

Thursday and Friday, we had the help off two of our strong nephews when we went to unload our storage units.  It was a delightful time getting better acquainted with these young men.  On Thursday night my sister Becky and her husband helped us with more of the unpacking.  This family help was quite an unusual happening from our perspective simply because we have made repeated moves with the Navy to locations where we have known no one.  Sure does make the experience more fun!


Opening more boxes and searching for the key for our curio cabinet took up most of the weekend. We did spend a little time removing the bar in my studio.  Did not really take the parts out as much as reconfigured the space.  The cabinets were bolted and glued into place on the concrete floor.   It only took 5 metal cutting disks and my Dremel to remove the bolts.  The studio is not my first priority this week, so I don't think I will be down there doing much, but it is nice to know that Kevin made this task a priority of sorts.

Yesterday we traveled to Minnesota to bring back our pontoon boat that has been in storage for almost a year.  We had dinner with Navy friends on Monday and breakfast with a quilting friend and her husband today.  Loved having time to visit with good friends.

Tonight we sat rocking on the front porch and just enjoyed some down time.  Life is GOOD!