More photos from Nevada

Photos from the loneliest road in America

Our parents' wisdom

This posting is dedicated to Jeremy and Andrea, who warned us of the weather conditions of Donner Pass many moons ago.

Sometimes the wisdom of your parents is right, even though you don't want to admit it.

After a morning of ham and cheese omelets and holding Mylie, Benny and I headed out on leg two of the V-Team Farewell Tour. Before walking outside, I put on my green vest and blue San Fran hat.

"Dressing for the elements, I see," he said mocking my winter wear.

"Today we are going through Donner Pass. I want to be ready for the anything."

Jim told us that it was raining in Modesto, so it was probably snowing in the mountains. We called Chris to get the weather report. All was good. Jim offered us his snow chains. But we felt there was no reason to take them with us.

At a gas station on I-80, Benny looked at the cover of the Sacramento Bee. A snowstorm is coming. The guy at the counter asked where we were heading and reassured us that we will be fine. The snow isn't coming until tonight. Tammy said it is waiting for us. Only 100 miles to go.

Today was planned to be a short road trip day. Just four hours to Reno where we could hang out with Tammy, Chris, Mindy and Chad. Mindy and Chad flew in from Boise and were basically chilling at TeamGabel's apartment, until we arrived.

In the first hours of the drive, Benny and I talked about how happy we are to not be driving straight from California to Minnesota. We can stop and visit our friends at various cities along the way. We are so lucky to have friends, Benny said.

I would like to pause for a moment in this story to give some background. From the moment we proposed this route -- the notorious northern route -- our parents said this wasn't a wise choice. "You'll get stuck in the snow. You'll face the ice. You'll never make it."

My response:

"It will be fine. We are driving it at the end of February, that's practical March, which is basically spring. Plus we aren't on a tight schedule. If we get snowed in we will just have more time to have fun with our friends and family."

Plus the majority of our friends and family live on the northern route and both Benny and I have driven the southern route before. And I wanted to see southern Utah and the ski resorts of Colorado. The list of reasons why this route was a good idea goes on and on.

With that clarification behind us, let's continue the road trip to Reno.

We passed numerous stands selling snow chains. Should we stop? Nah, keep going, we are fine. We listened to the radio. The highway road department instructed drivers to carry chains, but it was not necessary to have them on the tires. At 5,200 feet elevation, we hit the snowstorm.

At that moment the radio weather report said that chains are required on all vehicles that don't have four-wheel drive. We stopped at the last gas station before the summit and bought them. The cost -- $70. We had no choice. If we didn't buy them, we couldn't cross the mountains.

We couldn't pay the $30 to have the chains put on by a roadside guy. Every ATM we stopped at between Merced and there didn't work. We had only $15 in cash between the two of us. We did have a large jar of change in the backseat of the car. Maybe we should have tried to pay chain gang with my piggy bank instead of installing the chains ourselves.

Benny put chains on his car for the first time. I know very little about putting chains on a car. I am no help.

We drove for a while. It sounded funny. We stopped again. This time we noticed there are directions for the chains stuffed in the bag they came in. Benny reviewed the pictures while I copy edited the text. Again, I am no help.

Instead I sent updates on our situations to Chris and Mindy. The text messages said something like "We are buying chains. We are putting on chains. We are driving in the snow. We are driving slow in the snow. Yes, we are still driving. 20 miles to go. 15 miles to go."

Neither Benny nor I have driven in a snowstorm since college. We have never driven in a snowstorm in the mountains. We decided to never again mock the weather reports of northern California.

We finally made it to the summit, 7,000 feet, where thankfully there was a rest stop with warm working bathrooms. Being our usual selves we stopped to use the facilities and take a quick photo. What better time than the present to document the memory, right?

We made it to Reno at 5:19 p.m. We left Merced at 11:30 a.m. It took us six hours to drive 243 miles. This was the shortest leg of the road trip.

I wonder what else is in store for us on this farewell tour.

Photos from Donner Pass

When Benny took the chains off the car, a lady doing the exact same thing, suggested that he crossed the interstate and sell them to those heading into the mountains. But we still have to cross Utah and Colorado, so for now these chains are ours.

Fortunately we didn't have to use my Donner Pass survival plan of eating M&M cookies for dinner and hosting a karaoke contest on our iPods to pass the time.

V-Team Farewell Tour Memories

The one mistake we made was not loading up on coffee at that last place we stopped at, Benny said.

I wanted to say, not going to the bathroom at the place we bought the chains -- that was our mistake.

Hanging with the Soppe family

Benny and Mylie

Mylie and I

An eassy on moving and packing

People not associated with the military (called "civilians" by militarians) often ask me "how can you pack up your entire house every two years?"

"It's easy," I reply. "I don't pack. The movers do it all."

I usually say this with a smile and it's usually during one of the years in between the moving years.

Days like today when I'm watching three men pack up every single household item in my beach bungalow is when I wonder "why the heck am I moving again?" This is crazy. "Why did I say that I enjoy moving?" This is awful.

It should be easy, right. Stressfree. The packers do all the hard work. I just have to devote two days to supervising them. Make sure that they don't break, steal or forget anything.

In theory, this is a latte-sipping dream. In reality, it's a caffeine-free nightmare.

It's a case of "now you see it, now you don't."

From the moment the moving company employees enter your home, you've lost all control of your prized possessions. Expect everything, and I mean everything, to be boxed in a matter of minutes.

I've heard horror stories of garbage, wet and dirty towels and a loaf of bread being packed for an overseas move. Today I want to avoid living any horror stories.

So you try to plan and organize as best you can prior to their entrance. At a minimum you label everything. Ideally you move everything you don't want packed into a closet or office and you lock the door. The movers are advised not to enter this room and therefore you aren't subject to cleaning your empty house without a mop.

I've learned to be prepared for questions such as "is this going?" and giving rapid fire responses, otherwise if I think about it too long and it's already in a box when I answer. There is one thing that movers don't like to do and that is unpack.

As you answer these questions you are watching the mover who isn't talking to you. You need to watch him so you can pull stuff out of his hand just as it is heading into a box. It is at this moment that you realized you need that item for the next week, but forgot to put it in the "safe" room. And it won't happen once. This scenario will occur several times in the course of the two-day packing experience.

Today's near emergency was catching a mover as he started to place two travel coffee mugs filled with freshly brewed coffee into a cardboard box. And an hour later, it was my car keys. I caught the mover as he was putting my car keys into a box. Can you imagine if I hadn't stopped him? Or worse yet, if I hadn't seen him pick up the keys?

Those were the success stories for today.

My misses for the day: our electric toothbrush charger. That was packed and gone before we noticed in the evening. Without it, our electric toothbrushes are worthless.

Why do I enjoy moving again?

Bye bye sofa

Today was the day. Our beloved sofa left us.

At exactly noon, two men showed up in a fitness equipment installation van. The money transaction took place. I pocketed the money. I turned my back for a second and the next thing I knew our sofa was no longer our sofa.

It is now the sofa of Bill and Julie of Moorpark. Who, I would like to point out, didn’t even sit on the sofa before buying it. Not once. Who buys a sofa without sitting on it??!!??

Sorry sofa.

Drum roll please

The dates and places of the much anticipated Benny and Michelle's Farewell Tour were announced today.

So here is the deal:

Benny and I are taking three weeks off of work to stop and visit friends and family before the overseas move to Okinawa, Japan. Since Benny is planning on selling his car in Minnesota, we are driving it back for one last road trip. And along the way we are doing a farewell tour so we can see a few friends along the way.

The following is the schedule of dates and locations for our farewell tour. Of course, theses dates are subject to change depending on snow, ice, flat tires, tired drivers and other acts of God.

Obviously there is a few more places and people we would have liked to seen before moving ie. Shelly in Key West, Lara in Wichita Falls and Sue in Chicago. But it’s not a nationwide tour, so that would be possible this time. Maybe next time.

Here is the schedule:

Feb. 22 Night in Merced, Calif. with Jim, Brooke and Mylie

Feb. 23 Reno with Tammy and Chris. Mindy and Chad will meet us there.
Feb. 24 Day 2 in Reno

Feb. 25 Staying in Moab, Utah

Feb. 26 Greeley, Colo. with the Western Willes, AKA Glenn, Heather, Evan and Quinn

Feb. 27 Kansas City Staying with Kati and Justin

Feb. 28 Kansas City Staying with Dani and Curt. Also want to see Brye and Geoff

Feb. 29 Brunch in Omaha with Dana. Dinner in Des Moines with Lee, Alan,
Jenny, Carson and London

March 1-6 Minneapolis. Sleeping arrangements and people to see is still
being finalized.

March 7-13 Iowa. Sleeping arrangements and people to see is still being
finalized.

March 14 Drive to Minnesota

March 15 Fly back to California on one-way flight