The DeWald's Move Into "Soli"

Well, the last week was almost like work!  Not the kind of work where you sit in a cubicle and stare at a computer screen, or where you stand in a bakery and bake cupcakes for 12 hours a day. But the kind of work where you carry boxes from a storage unit, load them into a truck, unload them into a camper, sort through said boxes, put stuff away in the camper and either donate or dispose of the rest of the stuff.  No, don’t worry, Betsy and I are NOT moving into another trailer.  Hopefully we don’t have to do that again for a while.  

But we did take advantage of our ability to be flexible and be of assistance to others by offering to help my sister Annette, and her husband, Mike officially move into their new “Home”.  Their new “Home” is a 2017 Grand Design Solitude 384GK-R, which is a spacious 40’7” fifth wheel which they recently purchased at Lazy Days in Tampa, FL.  The name they’ve chosen is “Soli”.  It’s not hard to see where they got that name from, but I have to admit it does have a nice ring to it.  Annette and Mike are also beginning their Full-Time RV adventure, so we were excited for them and anxious to impart our RV “wisdom” with them.  Yes, all three months of our so-called wisdom!  Actually, it wasn’t any of my wisdom they were looking for; it was Betsy’s superior packing and organizing skills that they were anxious to capture.  

So we arranged to meet them at Drummer Boy Camping Resort for a week and assist them in emptying their 10 x 10 storage unit into Soli.  Well, not just empty, but strategically maximize the space available in Soli to fit as much stuff as necessary into their new home.  Betsy, enter stage right!

Yes, it was several long days.  Ok, four days to be exact.  And it wasn’t just the physical process of moving things from a box into the trailer.  Annette and Mike moved out of a home they had lived in for 25+ years, and although they had already complete several purges of belongings, the last purge is sometimes the hardest.  It’s difficult because you are now staring at the space you have available in your new trailer and it becomes real that there is no possibility of building an addition, or putting stuff in the attic to look at later.

Well, at the end of the week I would definitely call it a success.  There will always be some ongoing sorting and tweaking, but everything was on board and Soli was looking downright homey.  They are now set up to relax; enjoy visiting family, and exploring new parts of the country.  Safe travels Annette and Mike.  We’ll see you on the road.  Ok, really soon, like in the site beside us at the Elizabethtown/Hershey KOA for Labor Day weekend.