Steve W is getting ready to drive his car across the country. He’s excited about the trip, although this is the longest distance he’s driven by himself. Thankfully, the iPod will keep him occupied during the long trip.

Yesterday, he drove the car to Louisville for a checkup and fix to the convertible top (the auto-cover wasn’t opening properly to allow the soft top to go into its nest). The trip went smoothly, and he was home just about 9 hours after he left. Unfortunately, the road construction on I64 reminded him of the perils of long drives – those pockets of construction where you get stuck behind a bigrig going 30mph and no passing lanes. He’ll have to do some research on where the construction is so that he can plan for it.

He has already booked his two overnight stays on the trip, finding a cool tool on the Wyndham Rewards website where you can look for hotels along your route. Way cool. You pick hotels based on the distance from your starting point, and in the list of hotels you see the starting price for a room. Steve found some great bargains, and was able to get the first two days planned out so that the third day will be relatively short, and he can get to his parent’s house at a decent hour.

Another week of preparation, and he will be ready to go!

P. S. A special shout-out to Jen who took time out from her busy workday to have lunch with Steve in Louisville. It was a great visit, and hopefully we will be able to meet up one more time before the big move!

I’ve been remiss in updating this missive because of all that’s going on here in Hooterville. It continues to be a fun time here.

We started downsizing. We’ve sold a couple end tables on Craigslist and still have an audio tower posted for sale there. We put our dining room table (with 10, count ’em, 10) chairs), pie safe (if you don’t know what that is, you’re not from around here), and buffet cabinet up for sale at one of the local auction houses. We have sold a number of items (mostly small, but getting bigger) on eBay. We are raising money to help pay for the move, once the house sells.

Oh, yeah, the house is on the market. We’ve had one open house and one other showing, but so far, no nibbles. The house looks really good, if we do say so ourselves, and all the feedback has been positive. No complaints about the price, either. Hopefully the right people will find it soon.

We are also selling our pontoon boat that we keep down at the lake house. If we are only using the lake property in the spring and fall, it doesn’t make much sense to keep the boat. It is a 20-foot Bennington with a 50hp four-stroke engine. Not super-speedy, but it can pull a tube and is great for a romantic, sunset cruise.

Steve W will be traveling to California beginning on June 23rd. He is going to drive his car out and leave it at his parent’s house in Sacramento. He will fly back after July 4th. Steve G is retiring from his job at the Postal Service. His last official day is July 31, but with accrued vacation time, his last work day will be July 3. When Steve W returns home, we can survive on just one car. We hope.

In the meantime, there is more to sell on eBay. New items will be posted soon.