Update From Lindsborg

Traditional Swedish welcome message adorns the old river bridge entrance to Lindsborg.

Four weeks ago we closed the deal for our house in Lindsborg; it’s been four weeks since I’ve posted here. Coincidence? I think not, given all that’s happened in the past month and considering that I am making this posting from Lindsborg.

We closed on Tuesday, the 21st. An ABF U-pack trailer arrived Friday evening, and we spent two back-breaking days loading it full of our belongings. Monday we finished loading the odds and ends, and finally put our mattress on board Tuesday morning.

The truck left Tuesday evening and we left early Friday afternoon. Since the trailer was scheduled to arrive in Lindsborg on Tuesday we took the scenic route home. Our first night was spent in one of our favorite eastern Sierra towns, Bridgeport. The next day our route took us through Las Vegas, Nevada and over Hoover Dam on the way to Arizona. Pushing things a little, we ended the day in Gallup, New Mexico. We spent the night at the El Rancho hotel, eating first at the attached restaurant where we’ve stopped many times before. The green chile was as good or better than ever, but the less said about Sheryl’s meal the better.

From Gallup we made it (despite Sheryl’s protests, though she felt fine by evening) to Dodge City, Kansas on Sunday. We arrived in Lindsborg on Monday the 27th. Our trailer arrived the next day; we had it emptied by evening thanks to help from my brother and some folks from the church.

The two weeks since then have been a blur of activity: besides work, we’ve been shopping for household necessities that we didn’t bring with us, buying furniture to replace what we didn’t bring and so on. One of the most important items was setting up my home office. It took visits to almost a half-dozen stores but eventually we found the exact right piece, a nice oak corner desk with plenty of storage.

So, after 2 weeks, at this point my office is set up pretty much the way I like it, we’ve unpacked about 2/3 of the boxes and most of our furniture has been delivered. We’ve taken care of our driver’s licenses and have registered to vote. Most of the mechanics of moving have been dealt with; most of the anticipated realities of having moved are yet to come.

Take a deep breath, I think we’ve pulled off the first step in the latest chapter of our long, strange trip together.

And now, here’s a classic view from Coronado Heights, with the grain elevators of Lindsborg visible in the distance: