Sunday

This is the final post on our first week in Minnesota. As with all of these, it is one week behind reality...

Sunday was a slow-moving day. We spent a good part of the day with Joel, Renee and the kids. We rearranged some stuff in storage, organized and found room for other stuff. We were moving slow, but enjoying it.

We got over to the cabins late afternoon, intending to move in right away. We saw Dave as we pulled up and began talking. He pulled up a chair and we had a good time of fellowship. Again, if I'm learning anything, it is that people trump plans.

I hadn't checked e-mail since Wednesday, so in the afternoon, I checked it for the first time. Wow! Friday around 3:00 PM, a terrific storm had gone through Warsaw/Winona Lake. There were winds over 60 MPH. One of the casualties was a tree right in front of where we had been living. It hit the neighbor's shed, knocked out the power, and blocked our old driveway. Good thing we were gone! It didn't get cleared out until Sunday afternoon. We'd still be there!

Another victim of the storm was Andy's, Eisenbrauns webmaster, house. One of the huge trees on the island where they live had fallen—right on their master bedroom! No one was hurt, thankfully! Quite the storm. But, it was all wind and little rain. That part of Indiana is about 9 inches short for the year—quite dry. The storm only dropped about ¼ of an inch.

And that brings us up to date...

Saturday

You know the drill...

Saturday AM, I helped Joel put up gutter on their house. He works as a carpenter; they also do seamless gutters. When Joel and Renee bought the house, his boss had offered to let him use the machine to put gutter on. Saturday was the day it finally happened. Later, we moved the stuff over to the cabin.

Moving in always takes more time than you expect—especially when there are grandchildren to play with! We got going later than we planned, but people take precedence over plans.

We had to have the truck back in Two Harbors (1.5 hours away) by 9:00 AM on Sunday. That meant we had to return it Saturday night, That was a long 1.5 hours. The truck was empty, so I felt every bump and pothole. I felt like jello by the time we got to Two Harbors...

Friday--arrival!

The events in this post happened one week ago...

As I said, I pulled in to Grand Marais around 10:00 AM. Debbie and the grandkids greeted me. We had a good time talking and enjoying each others presence. In the afternoon we walked over to Sawtooth Cabins to see Dave and Geneva. They greeted us with open arms, showed us the cabin we would be living in and told us to take our time getting settled in. We went back to Joel and Renee's and began to unpack the truck. Because the cabin is a small one bedroom that is fully furnished, most stuff was going to be stored in their basement.

So, as we unloaded the truck; we had to sort into 3 sections: One section for storage, one section for Joel and Renee (we gave them some stuff we didn't need any longer—families with growing kids always need more shelves!), one to take over to the cabins.

Once that was done, we had to organize the storage and make it all fit! You don't realize how much stuff you have until you have to move it and store it! We got rid of a lot before we moved, but we still have a lot! It all fit, and is accessible, if necessary. But, Joel and Renee don't have much space left in that ¼ of their basement!

By the time we got all that done, it was too late to take the stuff over to the cabin. Instead, we went over to the cabin with some little stuff and did some analysis...

Travel day

Again, the events in this post were one week ago...

We were intending to leave on Thursday at 8:00 AM EDT. Leaving then allows you to get to Chicago just after rush hour and before lunch. As Dan at work says, if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans! We still had to clean and take care of all the last minute stuff. And, more neighbors came by to say good-bye. Hands down, people are more important than plans. No exceptions. So, we praised the Lord for the additional time with people and for the changes in plans.

Last minute details always take far longer than you expect... We finally left around 3:00 PM. Just in time to hit Chicago traffic :( We debated leaving on Friday morning instead, but felt that God was telling us to leave on Thursday.

The trip to Grand Marais is about 13 hours in a car—much longer in a truck! We planned to travel separately; Debbie had the I-Pass so she could fly through the tollway. I paid at each booth. It's much easier to travel separately. We both had cell phones, so we could call each other if necessary.

We agreed that if we got too tired, we would stop and sleep. I made it to just north of Eau Claire before giving out around midnight. So, I pulled off and slept for about an hour. Debbie called me from Superior and warned about the detours from the storms there a week earlier. She was planning to keep going.

I couldn't get back to sleep, so I drove for another hour, slept for a bit, drove a bit more, slept some more. Debbie got to Grand Marais OK, just as Joel was getting up for work. He told her it was OK to go in and kiss the kids. Only Rachel woke up, but went right back to sleep. Later that morning, Rachel woke up and told Renee that she had dreamed that Neenah (that's what they call Debbie) had kissed her! When Renee told her it wasn't a dream, she was thrilled!

Meanwhile, I was driving...It was beautiful watching the sun come up over the trees. I love northern Wisconsin; every valley has a lake—sometimes its more swamp than lake! But it is fun to drive. I got to Duluth-Superior just in time for “rush hour” which just meant there were more cars than normal :)

Joel had warned us that there was a detour on 61 because of the storms, so I just took the scenic route from the start. I stopped a few times along the way at pullouts; had breakfast from the cooler at one of them. I wasn't fully believing that it was happening. I finally pulled in to Grand Marais around 10:00 AM.

Moving!

As I said yesterday, the things in this post happened exactly one week ago...

Wednesday, we loaded the truck. On Tuesday, I had gotten an e-mail notice from U-Haul that I was to pick up the truck at a different location than I had requested. My plan had been to ride my bike to the place and pick it up. It was only about a 3-4 mile ride. But the new place was about 10 miles away. Now, I love a bike ride, but this wasn't quite what I needed before loading a truck. I spent probably ½ hour on Tuesday working things out—trying to get it transferred to the closer place. In the end, the further place agreed to come and pick me up.

Marti was listening to my frustrations with U-Haul and reminded me that we had trouble with U-Haul coming down to Indiana. I had reserved a truck for Saturday; had a crew of helpers lined up; everything was set. Except that U-Haul had rented out all their trucks. No where in the entire Minneapolis-St. Paul area had a truck. I couldn't get a truck until Monday morning—and then I had to drive to Stillwater to get it! Stillwater is on the northeast side of the Metro area; we lived on the southwest side. And, I was supposed to start at Eisenbrauns on that Monday!

She said it would be poetic justice if we had to stay an extra few days in Indiana because of U-Haul to make up for the few days we lost moving there. It didn't work out that way, though. I got picked up and collected the truck without a problem. Jim Eisenbraun had offered to assist me in loading the truck, so we had a good time together loading and talking.

Later in the afternoon, Jim and Shannon came over. They brought a meal to share and we had some bittersweet fellowship together. Jim and I finished putting the odds and ends on the truck.

While Jim and Shannon were there, Kathleen, one of our neighbors, came over; she and Debbie had a good time of fellowship. Later, after Jim and Shannon left, we went over to Kathleen's house and had some more time. It was getting late, and we still had to clean the place, so we left. As we were starting to clean, another neighbor (who doesn't know the Lord) came out. She and Debbie talked for a long time about Jesus. It was an answer to prayer. They are new to the neighborhood and we had been praying for a chance to share Jesus with them.

By then, it was too late to clean, so we went to bed...

Last day

The last week has been a blur. I finally had a chance yesterday to put down in writing what has been happening; the next few days the posts will be exactly one week after the events in them occurred...

Last Tuesday was my last day on premises working for Eisenbrauns. It was a day of mixed emotions. I am sad to be leaving Warsaw/Winona Lake after nearly nine years. But, I am excited about what God is going to do in Grand Marais, MN. The day was a flurry of last minute things that needed to get done—or at least handed over to someone else to do.

At noon, we had a lunch in the park as a company. Debbie was invited and Merna (Jim's wife—a delightful person!) was there, as well. Bev sat down beside me and said that this was not a happy day, but a sad one. I had to agree that it was sad, but it was happy as well. I have enjoyed working with all the people at Eisenbrauns over the years; they are a great bunch of people. It's more than a work place; it's almost family. People carry each other's burdens and are concerned for each other.

After lunch, it was more rush and try to get stuff done. But, lest you think it was all about stuff, it was a time of saying good-bye to people on a one-on-one basis. Some of us did a better job than others of holding in the tears. I wasn't afraid to shed tears; they are healthy.

The sadness was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I will continue to work for Eisenbrauns on a part-time, remote access basis for at least a while. My primary responsibilities will be e-mail marketing and distribution relations. But, with a new system going live today and a new web site sometime soon, there are other responsibilities as well. We're feeling our way along on how this will work.