WHAT WAS I THINKING????

As we suspected, after unloading the bananas, we were told to stay at the Fred Meyer DC in Puyallup, WA and await a load which would take us into Spokane. This gave us plenty of time to think about the options we had once we made it into the company yard after unloading. You see, a few days earlier, I saw an opportunity to apply for a government job in Newport, WA, which is about 15 miles from where we live in Usk. The job intrigued me, and I liked the idea of being able to contribute again to our monthly income, at least until my retirement starts in 2012.
So around 2pm, with a very heavy trailer loaded with general merchandise for a Fred Meyer store in Spokane, we took off for an 8pm delivery. Thankfully, the pacific northwest has had a reprieve from the month of storms which bombarded it, and the roads were clear, and with only having to do battle with some fog, we unloaded and were in the company yard by 9:30pm Wednesday night.

The truck needed to be serviced while we were there, so Craig and I ventured over to our pick up Thursday morning, where we had last seen it buried in snow. We were happy to see that virtually all the snow was gone and we were able to hop in, de-ice the windows and go have a nice hot breakfast where we went over our plan for me to go home for a couple of weeks until Craig came back for home time.

After doing a few more errands, I loaded up the pickup with my belongings, and took off down the road. Now I was torn between my love of our life on the road, and a longing to settle down in our house while I drove the 50 miles to Usk. Although there were piles of snow lining the streets going through town, the roads were clear and relatively dry. That is until I took the final turn off to get back to our property.

The small lane was nothing but ice and compacted snow. Hearing Craig's voice in my head, I took it nice and slow and wound my way towards our house. As I rounded the corner I saw that some of the plowed road had been pushed into our driveway, on top of the snow that had already been there. These very large boulders of solid ice would prove to be difficult to move, but I was determined to make a go of it, even if all I had was a plastic snow shovel to do battle with.

I unloaded all my stuff onto the porch by raising it high above my head and then carefully dropping it onto the porch. With that done, I trudged through almost thigh high snow to get to our steps to enter the house. This is where I ran into a major conflict. With the door unlocked, I pull outward to open it and it goes no further than about 1 inch, and I hear it bang against something. Looking down, I see that the door can not clear the decking, as either the house had settled down under the moist conditions, or the decking and door had swelled.

"Oh great"... now what. I see that there is a metal flange on the door that I could possibly remove, "if" I had any tools to work with, which I didn't. At this point I am thinking to myself, "Do I really want to deal with this by myself, let alone, have to drive in snowy conditions, when I really don't have to"? WHAT WAS I THINKING????

I guess it would be one thing, if like my husband, who grew up living in the snow, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but I am a "living in the snow virgin", and I just couldn't at this point, without any assistance, deal with it. Also, since we haven't been there since the massive storms, no one has been able to keep up the snow maintenance. So, I trudged back through the snow to the porch, I somehow managed to raise my stuff back up and over the railing, and loaded the truck back up. With Craig's support, I headed back to the yard where I would get back on the truck.

We will make another attempt at going home the first week of February, where we can deal with these issues together, and be better prepared. Although it was a noble thought of going back to work, I think......no strike that...... I know, I love the way our lives are now, with the opportunity for me to get off the truck and visit our parents, my friends, and yes, even our house, but on my terms and when ever and for how ever long I want. So, my friends, you'll have me around awhile longer, reporting happily, about our life, from my passenger seat in the truck, but I'm still wondering......"What was I thinking"?