And the results are.....

Actually after 2 days of aching suspense, we will let you know when we arrive on the 14th. Good thing is we will be long gone so we wont have to put up with grief we would otherwise get for the ensuing cliffhanger! Nah, I'll tell you. It was wild man! I think we all wanted to believe in our minds and hearts that everything would comfortably fit. But that was not to be, as the 'good fit fairy' refused to grant us safe passage to the land of 'good fit'. Don and Teresa beared witness to the quandary and ensuing rant to a very unstable situation. Everything went just fine from start at 7:30AM until around 3:00PM or so. Then the ball fell....hard. We all realized at that point that things just weren't gonna make it. We tried, oh we tried, but it just wouldn't all fit. Fortunately, we did have a working contingency plan in our heads in the event of such a situation. After feeling a painful defeat and kicking ourselves for a half an hour, our clan re-grouped and put our contingency into action. Although it went further than any of us could have imagined. We decided to leave behind 2 large pieces of furniture (that of the least importance obviously) out in order to fit many smaller and more important items. Ouch baby...that hurts! The problem was that these 2 sacrifices lie buried 12 feet back into the packed bowels of the cargo hold. Yep, we had to unload back 12 feet. : ( Good thing is as a rule of thumb it is always easier to unload than to load. We did re-pack and in fact fit alot more in, that we really wanted. Overall we did have to make some individual decisions on items that just couldn't go, even with our new found space. Ultimately my long time com padre and hero, Paul, loaded his truck with giveaways, yard sale items of which we will eventually prosper from, and stuff long not used and meant to degrade in the county landfill. And a few things in my garage that I really would have liked to take that I knew going in probably wouldn't fit, lost the battle. Phil, those smaller cabinets work great with casters for rolling units! ; ) We have to really extend acknowledgement and gratitude to Paul and Scott (and when school let out later in the day, my awesome son John) for all the patience, muscle and thought process that was involved in this task. Couldn't have done it without you guys. Well after 2 long days, and it has taken 2 with a few more hours to wind it up, we are bushed. Thank you so, so much Scott and Phyllis for giving us your cabin to crash in. We know you would have rather been here this weekend, and cant tell you enough how nice it is to have this for a couple days of much needed R/R. We will hit it tommorrow at 8:30AM to clean it and wrap it up. Have a great Saturday and think of us...we are finally finishing phase 2 of our journey home. We sign off tired, but happy and satisfied with all we accomplished. Oh, we did mange to find time today to sign the final docs for the log home and are good to go there. Thanks to Fed Ex... right on Lou... our docs are on their way back to Alaska awaiting my arrival on June 13th. Good night to all....and to all a good night!