Arrival & Unloading

We arrived in Bismarck, ND on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009. We were welcomed at our new home by members from our new home church, Peace Lutheran. They had been doing some last minute cleaning and had lasagna in the oven for us to have our first meal in the house. They were very welcoming. We spent the first two nights in the new house sleeping on the floor and finally the moving trailers arrived on Thursday, Sept. 17^th.

Arrangements were made for the trailers to be delivered early on the 17^th. Well, the first one arrived around 9:30 a.m., BUT it was still locked!! As many of you know we used ABF for our move. Well, we locked the trailers (using their attached padlock) once we were done loading them and then they drove them from Ohio to North Dakota. Evidently, ABF does not come into ND so they have a contract with a trucking company in Fargo. So, ABF delivers the trailers to Fargo and then the other company transports them all over the state. When they arrive in Fargo, ABF is supposed to unlock their lock and then they seal the truck with a removable seal to be removed at the site delivery. Well, the truck arrived and ABF did not unlock their padlock. Just our luck.

After about an hour, the trucking company got permission from ABF to remove the lock with whatever measures needed. So, a gentleman from the office (which happened to have one in Bismarck) came up to the house and brought bolt cutters. Of course, that didn't work. Luckily he was thinking ahead and also brought a grinder – so they grinded the lock off.

YEAH!! The truck was finally unlocked. At that point, there were three guys that had been waiting to help unload, but just not yet. Of course, there had to be another obstacle. Well, when we were done loading the trucks, a bulk-head was put into place to hopefully keep the load from shifting.

When Jay opened the truck, it was apparent that the bulk-head was not fully stabilized when it was installed. It had come free in one corner and a portion of the load had shifted and was resting on the bulk-head, which made it difficult to get the bulk-head to release. So, Jay and Pastor Alan worked at it for a while. Cassie and I were inside and we heard a crashing sound.

Sure enough, a portion of the stuff on the truck came tumbling out. Cassie and I were like "that didn't sound good." I took a quick look outside and then returned to the inside of the house. There were a few things right off the bat that I know got broke, but a lot of the stuff that fell was our seasonal décor things for Fall/Halloween and Christmas. So, we really won't know for sure what all broke until we decorate.

Jay got some battle wounds from the shifting bulk-head.

We got the trailers unloaded in three days with the help of several from the church. We are very grateful to all their help and the great food they brought over the first few nights.