This week, we opened the house we rent at the Jersey Shore known as the "Shack". This will be our 6th year renting the shack. It's a 4 room 600sqft bungalow with a screened in front porch. All but one year we have shared the space with an other couple and this year we will again share with Michelle and Tom d'Arcy. This will be our second year with the d'Arcys and will probably be our last year in the shack.
This opening was a little different than previous years. We are actually moving in full-time instead of just for weekends. We are very close to closing on the sale of our house in 2 weeks. This last week we signed contracts for septic repair, removing mold from the attic, and we have a date for the town fire inspector to inspect the fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguisher. All of this work should happen next week. Also, the buyer is expected to have their bank commitment this week as well. Even with out a firm commitment of the closing on the 22nd of May, we need to move as if it is happening due to the short time.
Our plan is to make 2 moves, the first move is with the stuff for the shack that includes most of our summer clothes and the stuff we feel will be part of the RV life. Also included in this first move is the remaining stuff that will get sold at a garage sale our friends are having next Saturday near the shack. The second move will be with all of the remaining furniture, mostly heavy stuff, that will go to my son's house in Indiana.
Last week was our week to make the first of the 2 moves. So, after returning from Florida on Saturday, we began on Sunday to pack and move stuff to the garage for the first move. We had three areas in the garage, one for the RV, one for the garage sale, and one for the shack. Patty's son, Chas, and his friend/roommate, Chris, came over Tuesday to pick the stuff they would want for their apartment. My son, Tony and our 5-year old granddaughter, Livy, came out from Indiana on Wednesday to help make the first move. They also came out so we could visit and to pick out added small stuff they would want :)
On Wednesday morning we picked up a 10 foot moving truck. What a piece of s**t truck! Patty and I moved most of the shack stuff in first as it would be the last stuff out.
Then at 12:30 we went to the airport in Newark to pick up Tony and Livy. We moved most of the remaining stuff to the truck and called it a day and went out to eat at Pub 199 in Mt. Arlington. Tony ordered steamed clams and, to our surprise, Livy ate some and liked them!
Up at 7am Thursday to get started on the "move" part of the move.
Dad and Daughter had a long day
The last things we needed to pack on the truck were the food items, mainly the perishable stuff. We didn't have enough cooler space for all of the frozen items so we will get those next week when we come back for the fire inspection and contracted work that needs to be done. About 8:30 am Livy was up and hungry so we stopped and went to have breakfast at a local diner. Livy had chocolate pancakes which she ate all of! Now back to packing the truck.
Dad trying to get Livy's loooong hair brushed
We finished packing the truck and were on the move by 10:30 am.
Of course, I started the move with the truck loading door open! Patty alerted me to this by blowing the horn after I pulled out of the driveway. Patty, Tony, and Livy were going to follow me on the 72 mile trip to our first stop at our friends, Cindy and Rob, in Keyport, NJ. Cindy and Rob were so kind as to allow us to store our future RV stuff with them. They gave us a space in their basement that was 2 times what we needed. We finished at Cindy and Rob's and were back on our way to the shack by 12:30.
At the shack, Tony and I unloaded everything from the truck while Patty put away the refrigerated food and some of the rest of the food. We decided that we would just get the stuff put away as best we could and stop so were could just spend relaxed time with Livy and Tony. We have lots of time in the coming days to put stuff away. We finished up around 4 pm and went out to eat at The Original Oyster.
Friday, Tony and Livy return home on a flight at 5 pm, so we will leave the shack at 2:30 to make it on time. We were hoping for a nice warm sunny day to take Livy to the ocean for her first time. It was cloudy and 62 at the beach with a good wind coming off the ocean, so it was chilly. The ocean temperature this time of year is 58 so that is pretty cold. That didn't stop Livy from going in with her feet, though. At one point she fell in and got mostly wet from head to toe. Tony, at this point, thought we should go and get her dry. However, Livy didn't want to leave, so Tony let her go in up to her ankles once more and then, we left.
Grandma, Grandpa, and Livy
Livy making hearts in the sand.
Livy after falling in the ocean
We took a walk around noon to have pizza at a really good place down the street about 3/4 mile. About half way Livy's feet were hurting from the new shoes she had on. So now grandpa gets to carry her on his shoulders :)
We got to the pizza place and it didn't open till 4:30 :( We turned around and then walked about 1/2 mile to another restaurant, the Inlet Cafe, which is on the bay. Livy had fried clams which Tony and Grandpa helped eat. The waitress gave Livy these waxed bendable sticks to play with. We all had fun with them.
Love this picture! Tony's sunglasses with the wax sticks around the lenses.
On the way back to the shack we remembered the plane departing time. We all had forgotten about the time and then had to hurry and leave quickly. We made it with about 1.5 hours to go before the departure time. We said our goodbyes and that was the end of the "1st move".
More next week. Stay tuned.
