The Last Supper

Not everyone was able to make it out to camping. And I wanted to see everyone one last time before I left. I arranged for everyone to meet at Red Robin for a last dinner.

Believe it or not, there are 20 people in that picture. Felt so loved. 

It was a sad time. I know that I will see many of them again. I can hope all of them, but I know that life takes people different directions. 

When we were leaving, there was a hug line. Everyone lined up to give me one last hug. 

I'd be leaving the next day at 7am. 

Memorial Day Camping & Climbing

Our last opportunity for a group camping and rock climbing trip was Memorial Day weekend. I'm scheduled to leave the DC area on May 30th to head to Chicago.

Doug and I picked up Bianca from the dealership the night of the 22nd. She hadn't even been home 12 hours, and she was already loaded up with camping and climbing gear. What a great way to induct her into our family! 

We headed out the morning of the 23rd and arrived at the Elizabeth's Furnace campground in the George Washington National Forest that evening. To rain. So much rain that it flooded our campsite and we had to put the already-popped-up tent onto the roof of the car and seek out another campsite. We must have looked a sight, with a tent on top of the car, driving through a campground. 

We had the first night and most of the second day to ourselves. After having other people around for everything we do (we most often do group things, since we have so many friends and so little time to see them all), the chance to reconnect and enjoy each other's company without anything on our must-do list was more than I can put into words. I am very thankful for that time, and think of it fondly.

We drove all around the area, with nothing particular on our list, just seeing what we could find.

We found a tower to climb, and saw sweeping views of the valley.

 

We had breakfast in a small town at a place called "Hi Neighbor."

We got lost and ended up at an 1840s living history encampment. 

And we found a stairway to nowhere.

We ended up at an antique store for about 3 hours. This antique store took up an entire city block. It was enormous!! I got some vintage salt and pepper shakers, and Doug got a brooch for his mom. Our original endeavor of finding a Moka pot, or some other stovetop percolator, went unresolved.

The second evening, Chris and Sarah (our homesteading friends!) arrived. We had delicious red beans and rice with andoullie sausage, cooked over the campfire. 

We went climbing the next day (Saturday) at Talking Heads rock. The climbs ranged from too easy to too hard. 

Ian and Corinne landed at our campsite later that evening. We enjoyed ribs over the campfire with loaded baked (campfired?) potatoes and grilled veggies. 

On sunday, we were set to climb Buzzard Rock, but we had a 2 mile hike to the rock at the top of the mountain. Near the summit, there is an overlook that is absolutely wicked.

After the overlook, there's still a quite steep uphill portion to go until you get to the slabs where you'll climb. We made it in good time, and a hammock was set up while Doug rappelled down to the ground. Unfortunately, he ran out of rope, and by the time we realized this, it was too late to make alternate plans. Except of course, to hike down the mountain and get a margarita, which is what we did. 

That night, we enjoyed some delicious chicken fajitas and one last night of company before heading back home the next morning. 

Welcome, Bianca!

Please welcome Bianca!

Bianca is a 2006 Subaru Forester. No, she is not the $500 pickup truck that I'd written about earlier. She came about because the $500 pickup fell through (the family decided they did want it, after all), and my car was as good as sold. I needed something, because if I sold my car and nothing else came through, what would I be driving?

The interest in my car was shocking. Despite a lot of cosmetic damage on the front and rear bumpers, and a bit of cosmetic damage on the inside carpet, I still got damn near the blue book value and much more than I was originally asking. There was a bidding war!

I had a day of panic, during which I drove to all of the dealerships in the Lexington Park area. It was a sad, frustrating trip. We had a very low spending limit, and sedans/coupes were out of the question. After all, I already had a sedan...why would I just switch it out and have payments again? I'd rather just keep mine if that were the case. The sales guys kept asking me, "what about a mini van?" HELL NO. First, I don't have kids. Second, even if I *did* have kids, I STILL wouldn't drive a mom-mobile. Just. No.

So by the time I got to the last dealership in the area, I was frustrated, tired, sweaty, and ready to throw in the towel. I walked in, went through my (shortened due to frustration) spiel. "Looking for a small SUV, crossover, or pickup truck in the $6-7k range. I know it's a long shot."  We walked the lot, and nothing was in the price range. Just as I was heading out, he did a search of all of the other sister dealerships in the DC area. The very first thing that popped up was everything I've wanted for years. 

-A Subaru

-A Forester

-A moonroof

-Good gas mileage

It was $10k. Sadface.

He did some number crunching though, and was able to get the payments within range of what we were expecting. I brought Doug later that evening, and we applied for the loan. 

The next day, Bianca was in our possession!

The Moving Sale of the Century

Our flyer was distributed twice in the week before the moving sale. We posted it in libraries, post offices, restaurants, any place that had a bulletin board. In the neighborhood surrounding our moving sale spot, we posted the flyer on every multi-family mailbox we could find. I posted on craigsilst, on facebook, on yard sale websites. I advertised until I was blue in the face. 

But it paid off. We had three U-haul trailers full of stuff to sell. We had two other families with much less, but still a good amount, to sell. 

We battled rain, but the turnout was not really hampered. People REALLY wanted to see what this moving sale was about. I had a constant line at the cashier's desk. I gave out reusable shopping bags so people could shop without full hands. I made this the most epic moving sale ever.

We made much, much more than we expected, which was a huge help to our moving fund. 

We were so busy throughout the sale, and had so many early birds, that we couldn't even put everything out. At the end of the sale, I found many boxes and totes full of things that never even made it out. I was a bit bummed that we could have made so much more money, but I guess I shouldn't complain because we made out very well to begin with. 

During the sale, I actually contemplated that I'd like to do that for a living, or at least a part-time gig. I really enjoy organizing that kind of thing, and working out the logistics of it all. Maybe someday. Maybe when we're on the homestead. I'll specialize in teaching people to live with less and downsize their lives. 

For Sale

The Blueberry is for sale!

Doug came home today and said that one of his students, who works at an automobile shop, told him about a small truck the shop was trying to unload for $500. Apparently the owner brought it in to be painted, but that the owner had died before picking the truck up. The family signed over the truck, saying they didn't want it. 

For months before this conversation happened, we'd been lamenting over the tiny size of my car, and how I couldn't really fit anything into it. A truck would be a HUGE help to us, especially right before a move. 

Doug was going to talk to his student again and ask where we needed to go in order to test drive, etc. 

Suddenly I have more on my pre-moving plate. In addition to everything else, I need to find a buyer for my car! Thank you Wal-Mart for gigantic For Sale signs! 

Last night, an ad was posted to Craigslist and my car was parked in the parking lot of a closed-down bar on the side of a country road. 

Downsizing

One of the things I have been most concerned about with regard to homesteading is how to prepare. I'm not worried about gardening or milking cows or eating duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. I'm not worried about living off the grid.

What I'm worried about is STUFF.

With no disrespect to my boyfriend, he has borderline hoarder tendencies. Not the kind of hoarder tendencies you see on TV. He doesn't collect crap just to collect crap, doesn't let trash pile up, and doesn't have hoards of stuff that threatens the integrity of the building he's living in. When I say borderline hoarder tendencies, I am talking about his unwillingness to part with what he does have, his emotional ties to inanimate objects, and having a relationship with the items given to him by people he loves. 

For instance, a kitschy souvenir candle that he's never lit, and will never light, is just as important to him as the person who gave it to him. 

Since I moved in with him over a year ago, it has been a constant struggle to get rid of things that are not used, not needed, and make no sense to keep. Little by little, he has been working on it, but change is not Doug's strong point. I have lost my patience with him a few times, but with Doug, I have to have patience. And to his credit, he really, honestly tries to push himself beyond what's comfortable when it comes to paring down. 

Moving into our current place, a 3rd floor walkup, was a nightmare. We had movers for several hours, and still had to make our friends help for several more hours. Doug was so worn out his legs would not take him up and down the stairs even one more time. 

I think that nightmare was a wake-up call to him, that we have WAY too much stuff. When we move onto the homestead, we'll be living in a Tiny Home.

Tumbleweed Tiny Home

An enormous departure from "normal" living, going from 1200sqft to just over 160sqft of living space would be one of the biggest changes that will ever happen in our lives. With Doug's aversion to change, we've agreed that slowly stepping down in size over the next few years will be the best way to accomplish the paring down of our things. 

The first step starts now: we are going to have a moving sale on May 18 & 19! Anything not sold will be picked up by a local thrift store. It's not even coming back inside the house. It will hang out on the driveway until the thrift store truck comes. 

The goal is to pare down by 75%.

Wish us luck!