'Bye Sun City West

After 15 years living in Sun City West, my Mom is now living in Oregon. For the next two weeks, she'll be staying with us and then she'll move to her apartment in Wilsonville, when all her things arrive.

Tom and I flew out two weeks ago Wednesday to help her pack and clean up. We rented the smallest moving container from Door-to-Door which arrived on schedule on Thursday. Over the course of the ensuing four days, we proceeded to pack boxes, sort out donations, fold clothes, fill bags, fill and paint, and clean.

On Friday, Ginny and George from What Goes Around arrived to start loading up the furniture, lamps, pictures, appliances, and little decorative goodies for consignment. Ginny was a pleasure to work with and we thank her and George for taking all the large items off our hands for consignment. It made it much easier for us to concentrate on what was coming to Oregon, instead of worrying about the disposition of those things that were not. It was a two-day project for George, and helper Bob - getting everything loaded into their trailer, but by the end of the day on Saturday the house was empty.

It was thanks the hard work of Parke and Jennifer Heffern, that this all happened. It was their marketing of the house, and understanding of how to work with the residents of the Sun Cities, that got my mom's house sold. There were times when we were sure my mom was going to change her mind, but Parke and Jennifer seemed to keep her on track, we got an offer after only three months (quick for that market) and my mom is now in Oregon.

So, my point is this: if you or someone you know is planning to move from the NW Phoenix area - Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand, Sun City Festival, Corte Bella et, al, we highly recommend working with Parke and Jennifer, and Ginny and George. Though we haven't received my mom's moving container (it takes a week to 10 days), based on the experiences we've had with Door-to-Door (and their pricing structure), they are a good moving container company to work with if you're planning to move yourself, but don't want to rent and drive a truck (and with gas prices where they are, who would?)

A funny note
In packing, we filled the small container, shipped two 3 cu ft boxes via UPS and filled my mom's Honda Civic, allowing just enough room for Tom to see out as he drove it from Sun City West to West Linn. When entering the state of California by car, you have to stop at Agricultural Inspection stations. Their job is to prevent potentially diseased produce from entering the state and compromising their crops.

Inspector: "Do you have any food?"
Tom: "Some energy bars and a bologna sandwich."
Inspector: "Is there any lettuce or tomatoes on your sandwich?"
Tom: "Yes, a very small piece of iceberg lettuce."
Inspector: "You'll have to eat the lettuce."

So Tom ate the 4x4 inch piece of lettuce so he could enter the state of California on his trip home.

The rest of the drive was boring by comparison, but he did make it all the way to Redding on day one and was home before we arrived.