PART 1 LOADING THE PLANTS.

You didn't think I was going to leave all my plants behind, did you? It would be far too traumatic to leave everything. After all I am leaving my friends, house, garden, city and way of life for 27 years. I'm taking my potted plants with me and as you may have discovered the movers will not take plants. We have to take them ourselves and in a week's time we will be back for the real move. So this morning David pulled a U Haul into the apartment complex, reversing it into a spot just as close to the pathway to our door as possible.

I am going to take this advert on the side of the trailer as a good omen. Yes, we are setting out on a big adventure.

I have been busy all week packing the plants into boxes, But first of all I made sure there were no hitch-hikers. I examined everything closely for signs of scale and mealy bugs, giving them a spray of 70% alcohol. These little bottles you can pick up at the drug store are very handy for the job. 

Some plants got the festive treatment. This seedling Philippine violet, which sprouted after days of freezing temperatures and ice last year, may not survive the summer in Tucson but I will give it my best shot.

Some of the plants went side-on in the box and I needed to secure the gravel in the top of the pot.

We are on the ground floor. You might guess that after weeks of clear blue skies today it is raining, so between showers David began the job of loading the first group of plants. We are on a tight schedule as tomorrow we go over to my old neighbor's house to pick up the last of the plants and a couple of pots. 

I'm the one who read the instructions on the U Haul which say pack 60% to back and 40% to front. I fretted on the side line about getting that right as some of those boxes are very heavy. David assures me it will be. The test will be the open road. For the first time we will not take I 10 because we are tired of the truck traffic on that road. Instead we will go via New Mexico stopping the night in Carlsbad, which is exactly half way. We have driven that way before towing the Airstream so it shouldn't be a problem. Slow and steady will be our motto. 

At breakfast this morning I reminded David that there has only been one other time we pulled a U Haul and that was in March1969 when we relocated from Austin to Brockville, Ontario, with all our worldly goods. Our towing vehicle was our 1953 Chevrolet which had no heat and no AC. I was in the early stages of pregnancy and not feeling too well. We had been living in a furnished rental apartment so had no furniture. Just a small TV, record player, a portable tape deck, my sewing machine, a stack of records, two little tables we picked up at a garage sale, a few dishes and cooking pots and bedding. No plants.

 When we got into New York State we were stopped by the police because the U Haul sticker was out of date! 

Please note that David is wearing a suit!

So here we have the first U Haul trip and hopefully the last. Wish us luck.