We've hit a standstill in our working on the place. A week ago Southern Illinois was hit with one of the nastiest ice storms in history. I have NEVER seen ice like that. In Goreville it looked like a tornado had gone through, there were so many trees and branches down.
Of course with so many trees breaking from the ice pretty much everyone down here lost power. The first couple days we were doing OK, it would go off and then back on again. A couple times the temperature in the house would go into the low 50s but then the power would come back on. Luckily it tended to happen at night so we were plenty warm until it was time to get out from under the covers. Then on Thursday, when the bad weather was over and the ice started to melt, our power went out for good. It didn't come back on that time until Saturday night. When the temp in the house got into the 40s we decided it was time to bail. Jim and Kathy had finally got their power back but still didn't have water, but we decided to spend Friday night there. Of course in the middle of this Directv finally showed up to install the satellite. The power literally went off as the tech was pulling into the driveway. He went ahead and installed everything and just had to come back when the power came back on to activate it.
Then Ray started having trouble with a tooth and we had to find a dentist who would get him in. It meant a drive all the way to Metropolis but by then it was sunny (still cold, though). So he's been out of commission the past couple days, between the pain med and the antibiotic he's not feeling really great.
Hopefully we will be able to go back north soon to get the rest of our stuff. Pretty soon I'm just going to buy new garden tools to be able to start working outside!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Some days are best not remembered
Ray had already asked my brother John if we could borrow a trailer. John has an older 22 foot car hauler that he uses mostly for storage these days. He said no problem, just give him some notice before we needed it so he could get it cleared out.
Jim called Ray one night and said he could borrow two trailers and go with us to get our stuff. We thought this would probably be a good idea, because it would mean just one trip up and back. Even with paying for the gas for Jim's truck, it would be less because he gets much better gas mileage than the Suburban does. Little did we know what the trip had in store for us.
Half way down Ray noticed that one of the tires on Jim's trailer was flat. Luckily both trailers were double axle so it was still drivable. Ray called Jim and they decided to pull over in Arcola. Gotta love those cell phones! We needed to eat anyway. Jim asked the waitress for the name of the nearest tire place and off we went after lunch to get the tire fixed. That lost us about an hour.
We got up there too late to do the running to the banks and post office we needed to do to close out the bank accounts and post office box. We did manage to take the flat tire my car had off and get it to Farm and Fleet. The guy there said there was nothing wrong with the tire but the rim had rusted. Ray asked him what could be done and he said, I can clean it up and put new bead sealant on it. OK, fine.
The next day we got up and discovered the snow that was supposed to start falling that evening was already falling! We went to Aurora to pick up Ray's recliner that his brother Bob had recovered. It was beautiful and goes with the living room furniture wonderfully. Jim met us there and off we went back to Sandwich. Ray dropped me off to get my car, they went to the storage place and I started running around to the banks and post office. By the time I got to the storage place they had Jim's trailer half loaded. We finished loading his trailer, then I went for a coffee run while they moved that one out of the way and got the 16 footer in place. We loaded that one, tied everthing down, and headed to Shayna's house to get our stuff from there. We managed to cram everything onto the trailers and into the vehicles, and covered the trailers as best we could with tarps and tied every thing down as securely as we could. Destiny gets home from school around 3 so we did get to say goodbye to her, and took off.
The roads were HORRIBLE. Jim wanted to go the way he usually does, avoiding the interstates for the first part of the trip by going south on IL 47 to US 24 in Forest, then getting on I-57 from there. MISTAKE. 47 wasn't too bad but 24 was completely snow covered. We stopped to eat supper at a Subway at the intersection of US 24 and I-57, then got on the interstate.
It was slow going. There were times we were going less than 30 mph, on the interstate! Every time a semi would go by the trailers would shake. Finally, a semi passed Jim just as he was on a slick spot on an overpass and he lost it. Thank God there was so little traffic, he spun out but didn't hit anything but the guard rail. It dented his truck and bent the trailer somewhat but Jim is OK and the truck was drivable. Finally, around 10:30 Jim decided he's had enough and pulled over. We spent the night in a Motel 8 in Matoon.
The next day (Friday) we got up and saw it was still snowing. Luckily it stopped shortly thereafter and we got back on the road. We got home about 1pm that afternoon.
Today Ray went to take the trailers back. The 16 foot one had fallen off it's block, they picked it up and got in on his hitch but forgot to crank the stand up so it got bent. Now we have TWO trailers that we have to pay to fix or replace. Wonderful.
Jim called Ray one night and said he could borrow two trailers and go with us to get our stuff. We thought this would probably be a good idea, because it would mean just one trip up and back. Even with paying for the gas for Jim's truck, it would be less because he gets much better gas mileage than the Suburban does. Little did we know what the trip had in store for us.
Half way down Ray noticed that one of the tires on Jim's trailer was flat. Luckily both trailers were double axle so it was still drivable. Ray called Jim and they decided to pull over in Arcola. Gotta love those cell phones! We needed to eat anyway. Jim asked the waitress for the name of the nearest tire place and off we went after lunch to get the tire fixed. That lost us about an hour.
We got up there too late to do the running to the banks and post office we needed to do to close out the bank accounts and post office box. We did manage to take the flat tire my car had off and get it to Farm and Fleet. The guy there said there was nothing wrong with the tire but the rim had rusted. Ray asked him what could be done and he said, I can clean it up and put new bead sealant on it. OK, fine.
The next day we got up and discovered the snow that was supposed to start falling that evening was already falling! We went to Aurora to pick up Ray's recliner that his brother Bob had recovered. It was beautiful and goes with the living room furniture wonderfully. Jim met us there and off we went back to Sandwich. Ray dropped me off to get my car, they went to the storage place and I started running around to the banks and post office. By the time I got to the storage place they had Jim's trailer half loaded. We finished loading his trailer, then I went for a coffee run while they moved that one out of the way and got the 16 footer in place. We loaded that one, tied everthing down, and headed to Shayna's house to get our stuff from there. We managed to cram everything onto the trailers and into the vehicles, and covered the trailers as best we could with tarps and tied every thing down as securely as we could. Destiny gets home from school around 3 so we did get to say goodbye to her, and took off.
The roads were HORRIBLE. Jim wanted to go the way he usually does, avoiding the interstates for the first part of the trip by going south on IL 47 to US 24 in Forest, then getting on I-57 from there. MISTAKE. 47 wasn't too bad but 24 was completely snow covered. We stopped to eat supper at a Subway at the intersection of US 24 and I-57, then got on the interstate.
It was slow going. There were times we were going less than 30 mph, on the interstate! Every time a semi would go by the trailers would shake. Finally, a semi passed Jim just as he was on a slick spot on an overpass and he lost it. Thank God there was so little traffic, he spun out but didn't hit anything but the guard rail. It dented his truck and bent the trailer somewhat but Jim is OK and the truck was drivable. Finally, around 10:30 Jim decided he's had enough and pulled over. We spent the night in a Motel 8 in Matoon.
The next day (Friday) we got up and saw it was still snowing. Luckily it stopped shortly thereafter and we got back on the road. We got home about 1pm that afternoon.
Today Ray went to take the trailers back. The 16 foot one had fallen off it's block, they picked it up and got in on his hitch but forgot to crank the stand up so it got bent. Now we have TWO trailers that we have to pay to fix or replace. Wonderful.
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