No more storage unit for us!

When we planned to move our storage unit to California, we agreed that we were in no hurry for our cargo to arrive. The window for delivery ended up being more than two weeks, which we attributed to the relatively remote location of Humboldt County, CA. We were surprised to be notified that our goods would arrive on the earliest possible date,` Monday Sept. 26, 2022, just one week after it was picked up from Carol Stream, IL. For me, the planning and arranging seemed to take ages. I was away from home, caught Covid, and had to sit tight for almost two weeks. Once our things were loaded, it seemed like they arrived in the snap of a finger.

Our driver, Ralph (probably Rafael), arrived at 9 am Monday morning with two assistants. After looking over the possibilities, he pulled the immense moving van (over 70 ft long) across the end of our alley, and the guys hauled our boxes to the garage, avoiding the stairs between the street and the front door. It took about a half hour just for them to maneuver the contents inside the van to extract our boxes. From that point, the delivery went rapidly. By noon, all the boxes were piled in our garage, and the storage shelves disassembled by the packers in Illinois were put back together.

Everyone was pleasant and helpful, and we got to chatting in Spanish. Two of the truckers were born and raised in California. The third, Anthony, was from Chile, so we spent a few minutes discussing our favorite places in Chile, and comparing notes on the differences in vocabulary between South America and North America.

When everything was unloaded, all the inventory tags matched entries on the list, meaning nothing was lost. Nothing was broken, either, a minor miracle. The movers got our dining table through the narrow door, and reconstructed the storage shelves that were disassembled for the journey. By noon, the project was done and the giant van pulled away from the curb. The crew had a very long drive, as vehicles over 40 ft. long are not permitted on Highway 101–they can’t get by the redwood trees! Our driver was heading through the mountains to Redding, to pick up the freeway south toward their next stop outside San Jose.

We began to sort boxes, putting books, papers, and photos on the reassembled shelves, and opening boxes of clothing, memorabilia, and artwork, and carrying things into the house. We took a break for lunch, but couldn’t resist continuing to unpack boxes for the rest of the afternoon. By the time I set down my box cutter for the day it was almost six pm, and I had enjoyed seeing items that hold memories of our years in the Southwest US as well as Peru, and all our travels. It was like a constant stream of Christmas stockings to open, each one full of surprises.