BodesWell

Character

Posted on August 15, 2009 by angela13 Comments

Your know your car has character when it plays practical jokes on you.  Today was the day we finally moved out of our house and literally the first time I have ever ridden in this bus.  We made it about, oh, 20 miles or so before the horn came on… and stayed on.  We had to pull over and disconnect the wire to the horn.  Classy.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

-Red Beard

We’re not really the honking type, so we probably don’t need it anyway.  One interesting observation:  At first, the people around us turned to look at us in disgust… assuming we were an impatient jackass blaring their horn at a little old lady.  Once they realized it was coming from the old red bus, they all just shrugged it off – like it was either expected or excused coming from an old VW.  When I was in high school I inherited my grandfather’s old truck.  It would honk whenever I turned left… that’s character.

Anyway, getting that far down the road was a feat in itself.

Now would be the time when we thank our new tenants.  We appreciate their patience while attempting to move their beloved possessions into their new home, but waiting for their new idiot landlords to get their heap packed and out of the driveway.  Did I mention Jason has a PhD in something really impressive?  You would never guess if you were to judge by today’s display.  Think Beverly Hillbillies.

Aside from the frantic last-minute packing and shoving-off, we will be floating around the Bay Area for a few more days until we sell one last car.  It’s a bit of an anticlimactic start, but we see it as a blessing.  We’re now relaxing at the home of a generous friend and hope to take a few days to ease into our new life, run some more errands, re-pack under less stress, and maybe do some local sightseeing before heading out.

Speaking of generous friends… thanks to all the people who have helped us get it all together in the past few weeks. There are old friends like Doug who helped play Tetris with our furniture in our storage room, Breean who not only helped clean up the house but also dyed my hair in the front yard (the house was already cleaned out!), and Sarah, Jennifer and Julie for feeding Bode sorbet and keeping him entertained while we packed everything up.  There are also new friends like VW guru Kris who has come over at least 4 times to help tweak up the bus, donate parts and bent over backwards to help ensure we could leave successfully (note: inspect the horn next time!)

We were most surprised by new friends and some complete strangers who were interested enough to come find us and share their well-wishes and experiences.  These are the types of people we hope to continue to meet along the way…