August 30

After the totally-exhausting day yesterday and a good night's sleep, we were surprized when Britt called. She said she'd stop before she went to work in the morning, and we thought for sure we'd be awake by then. But it was 8:30 and we were still in bed when she called. We threw on some shorts and met her down in the dining room with the other PJ-clad people that stayed over from yesterday's wedding party over at Nick's Place. We had a quiet breakfast, and Britt was off to work. We packed and got ready to leave. That is when we entered 'The Twilight Zone."

One of the members of the wedding party had a rental car with a dead battery. I offered use of my jumper cables and he got started. We finished packing the car, then went over to say our goodbyes to Mary Ann, Sarah, and Jessica. It was a perfect Edinboro morning ... 58 degrees and rain. Seemed fitting, somehow, for our last day in town. I'm sure this is one of the reasons we wanted to leave. But when we got in the car, we discovered OUR battery was dead! I got the jumper cables out and the groom, once again, drove over and gave me a jump. The other day, when I took the car to Wal-mart for an oil change, they made a note that my battery needed to be replaced, but we decided to drive for awhile and see if it charged up before we spent money on a possibly unneeded battery.

At the same time, I noticed my radio was acting up. I chalked it up to when I cleaned the touch screen off the day before. Maybe I sprayed too much windex on it and some water got behind the touch screen. The button at the lower left kept activating, changing the radio band over and over. So we just threw in some CDs and figured it would dry out eventually.

Heading west on 6N, we said goodbye to everything we passed. It was raining continuously even after we reached I90, on and off even as we headed down the express lanes on I271. This might just be the last socked-in lakeshore soaker we'd see for a long time. By the time we got on I71, there were some nice cloud layers with the sun breaking through. It seemed like we were in Columbus in no time at all. We switched drivers just outside there, and Peg drove until the other side of Indianapolis.

We had been eating all the snacks Peg had packed, including the delicious blueberry cobbler Joel's mother, Gail, made. But, by then, we thought it would be best to get a more substantial meal (if that's what you'd call Cracker Barrel) that would hold us over on the last leg to St. Louis. We wanted to see the arch -- possibly if were open at night, the sight would be spectacular -- and then travel on until we got tired later that evening.

When I gunned it getting on I70 leaving Cracker Barrel, I heard some noises under the front ... like something hitting the fenders. We had just driven on a road that was tarred and chipped, so I thought it was the stones coming loose from the tire. But just a way down the road, suddenly the cruise control and radio cut out. I looked at the guages (yes, I actually have guages instead of 'idiot lights') and saw that the battery was on discharge. I knew what that meant -- we only had a short amount of time before the battery would be dead, and we'd be sitting on the side of the road.

We got off at Cloverdale (wasn't there a sci-fi movie about Cloverdale?) and checked into the Super-8. It was Sunday night, and we just knew there wouldn't be anything open until Monday morning. The desk attendant gave us a name, so we'll be at Don's Garage first thing in the morning. I'm hoping it's only the belt, which shouldn't be a big thing and we can be on our way soon.

We just relaxed at the hotel. Did some laundry, took a dip in the pool, and watched "The Perfect Storm." Tomorrow is another day -- stay tuned!

August 29

Well, it's moving day.

The last 4 days have been spent painting, painting, painting ... fixing a few things, and painting! In between, we packed up the last remaining items in anticipation of the truck arriving this morning. I talked to the driver yesterday and he anticipated being here by 9 am, so we were up early and finishing up whatever needed to be done before he got there. He (Mike) called and said he was held up on the previous load and wouldn't be there till around noon. Actually, it was closer to 1 pm.

I met him up at Wal-Mart to lead him into town. Keep in mind, there was a college football game and move-in day for freshmen, so the whole way down the hill was bumper to bumper traffic. When we turned onto Shelhammer Dr., I looked back and that rig started to look awful big. I pulled over to the side of the road, and suggested to Mike that he ride with me to take a look at the streets -- after all, we live on a dead end, and there is no other way out. He said, "no problem," so away he went. He turned right on Pineview and backed down the street and cut the trailer in right in front of the house with no problem at all. It was a little unusual to see a 73-ft rig sitting out front. He came equipped with packing blankets and a nice long ramp.

We had plenty of help: Jack & Melissa, Joel, Tim Kubiak, my brother Jim and Mom. First thing on was Scott's motorcycle, which we sandwiched inbetween 2 box springs. Then the rest of mattresses went on top of that, then the couches. Other than that, our only other 'major' furniture was the bedroom dressers, and tons of boxes. They gave us 6 hours to load -- we finished in 5! But we were exhausted.

Talk about perfect timing ... the truck had just pulled out and the carpet cleaning people showed up. So, while they were cleaning, we ate supper at the Dinor ... Peg and I and Mom & Jim. By then the carpet people were done, and we did our last walk-through of 702, left the keys on the countertop, walked out and locked the door behind us. Bitter-sweet ... we left our home of 5 years, but yet we knew we were off to bigger and better things.

Essentially being homeless, we stayed at Seasons Inn (next to Nick's Place). Peg had seen Mary Ann Strand a while ago and she said she wanted us to stay there on our last night in town. She had saved a double room for us, and after an exhausting day, tried to get a good night's sleep, even though every muscle (even my eyelids) hurt!

Tomorrow, we would leave Edinboro.

August 7 - day one in AZ

The purpose of this trip was to find housing and move Scott in. I had spent months researching apartment communities (as they are called around here). We had narrowed them down to about 6 locations.

Originally we felt Mesa would be the place to settle -- lower cost of living, and close proximity to Mesa Community College, where Scott would be doing his pre-med, and ASU/Tempe, where he would graduate from his undergrad. We found a place called Genoa Lakes, with nicely landscaped grounds and lakes (actually, ponds). I even put a deposit down on a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit and was even approved -- stopping (thankfully) short of signing the lease.

Peg's brother Dan and sister Mary both live in Scottsdale. This area is a little more upscale and a lot of the apartments were out of our price range. But a couple weeks ago, I noticed the prices were coming down. So, today we set out to visit a few units I had picked out online.

San Marcos was our first choice. Very neat and clean, nice amenities, etc. What attracted us was the availability of garages. But when we got there, no garages were left, but I put a deposit on a unit with a nice view of Thunderbird Road. Dan (Malene) went with us. We met up with his boys for lunch, then went to see another complex nearby -- Scottsdale Meadows. This community wasn't too bad, but it was just off a busy road near a mall. We told Crystal, who gave us the tour, that we just weren't good with this. Then she told us about about where she, and a lot of other Equity Management staff members lived -- Crown Court. We stopped at Mission Springs, which was just up the road. No one was there, so we wandered around. It too, was a nice community, but the amenities were lacking, for the price. So we said, what the heck, and went over to Crown Court.

If you've ever stayed at a condo at a resort area, this is what the place is like. In fact, it's right next to Princess Resort (a well-known resort were celebs hang out), and the pro golf course where they play the PGA golf tournaments. We looked at several units and settled in on a second story 2 BR 2BA. I guess what appealed to us was that it had vaulted ceilings very similar to where we are living now. But as we took the tour, we were so impressed with the immense clubhouse with padded leather seating and an enormous stone fireplace. There was also a business center with computers, printer, and fax. But what blew us away was the movie theatre. They have a Redbox-type vending machine where you can rent dvds (or play your own) and show them on the big screen. Outside, there were several patio seating areas with BBQ grills, two pools, hot tubs, tennis courts ... also a dance room (where they give lessons & teach Yoga), and a fitness room (with tvs on every piece of equipment), plus the sauna and steam room.

We went through a grueling application process, which took almost all afternoon. At this point we are waiting to hear back. Later, we met up with Dan, Lori, Dominick and Lewis and went to Oreganos for pizza.

August 6 Trip to AZ

How surprising & gratifying at the same time, that Scott and I were able to get a flight from Erie with just a change of planes in Cleveland, then direct to Phoenix. I don't know how they figure it, but if we would have driven an hour and a half to Cleveland and paid for parking for a week, the price would have been higher. No wonder this country is in trouble!

Brittany dropped us off. We left at 4:30 and got in at Phoenix around 8PM. Mary picked us up. Of course, according to Scott, the first morsel of food that had to go into his mouth was from In and Out Burger, which was conveniently located just down the road from the airport!

It was about 105 degrees. This felt great, since it was cool when we left Edinboro, and looked like it was going to rain (why not ...?! That's all it's done all summer ... so glad to get away from this crappy weather!). Spent the rest of the night at Mary's house ... readying for the busy day tomorrow.

Relocation to Arizona

Well, the transformation has begun. Just five years after our disastrous house fire, we -- symbolically and literally -- rise from the ashes like the legendary Phoenix bird. And where better to do that than Phoenix, AZ?

My son Scott will be doing his pre-med studies there, my wife Peggi will keep working in the medical field, and I will continue with my free-lance consulting -- this time, without the "day job."

I've started this blog to chronicle and share this transition. Once we're packed, we will hit the road for a semi-leisurely trip. You'll be able to share my observations along the way. Also, I'll be blogging about projects I'm working on, in addition to how we are dealing with the transition.