The Mormon Trail

We made it! We survived our cross-country, mid-Winter migration with some stress but minimal damage.   Icy roads and nasty viruses (I discovered you can develop Asthma late in life, given the right conditions), but I reckon that’s nothing compared to what the first Mormon’s dealt with when they migrated West. 

We stopped in MN to visit Zach, Tiffany,  and co-workers.  Z&T had the house in great shape, transforming the living room into a great computer/study area:

Mac and Cheese love the back yard, but they haven’t figured out MN cold and snow yet.  Zach plows them highways, but they sometimes overextend themselves and only make it part way back before their poor shivering bodies quit.    Zach then grabs his trusty slippers and dashes out on rescue missions:

Tiffany's slippers were smart slippers, choosing a sensible owner.  Zach’s slippers are ready for spring:

When it gets cold enough (in this case 20 below, before wind chill), Zach will just skip the slippers all together.  He loaded and started our car for us, as I was still a barely functioning wheezing Asthmatic:

Next stop was MT for a nice visit with Mom and Dad, and lots of fun visitors:

We joined the daily dog walk, here by the Yellowstone:

And I went to Kiwanis, where Dad did his weekly Medical tip:

Finally, we got to Salt Lake the night before we closed on the house.   The next morning, I did one billion signatures at the title company, then we got our first on site tour.   Turns out to be a really nice place, just like what we saw in the photos and videos:

The loan was processed by the next day, just as  the mover got there.   We set up our computer desks next to the windows, Helen’s a bit more adventurously close than mine:

The views of the city at night are just as amazing as the views of the mountains in the day:

We did this move at the peak of a busy IBM project I’ve been working on.    So I was happy to get the cable guy to get us our Internet fix right away:

As time permits, I’ve been having fun being a handyman again, fixing some minor electrical issues, replacing broken washer valves after waking up to a wet garage, and here sawing off the fridge door handle (it was loose, but wouldn’t come off like it should … I found a new one on the internets):

Helen’s parents came for a visit last weekend and decided right away to buy a small (1400 sq foot) bungalow about 15 minutes from our house:

They will be back next month to close.   They have their lake house in NH up for sale and just contacted a local downsizing specialist to help them sell stuff.   Helen decided to try renting her lake house:

  http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p370638

Within one week she has it booked for 5 weeks this summer!  

Bruce