Head Start for “The Shed” while we are still working hard

Man! This weekend was manic, we had so much to do and so little time to do it in. I thought it would not be possible to get it all done but we did it all and its mainly down to calling upon, and receiving loads of help from family and friends.

First part of the weekend was to finally pack "the shed" up ready for export to Canada. It was very odd sticking stuff into the panniers knowing that the next time we see all this would be under Canadian skies….. I was to be proven very wrong on this over sentimental thought. We packed all sorts for camping, toiletries, medication, spare parts, and the mountain of shoes, even a couple of camping chairs. Press the video link to see it on you tube.

The next step was to take "the shed" out of the garage for the trip to Heathrow airport. Very heavy now indeed, maybe too much gear I am thinking.

The journey was uneventful with a planned 10 minute stop at Fleet services on the M3 to …. well to er…. have a chat! Sandra followed in our car so we had transport back. Sandra knowing full well we had set off too early and saw through my so called planning.

We have chosen James Cargo to send the bike to Vancouver , what a nice experience it all was, unhurried with plenty of chat and advice. Other people exporting bikes too which led to a natural camaraderie that travellers see all the time, and we haven't even left England yet.

"The Shed" will be stuck in a create and sent off. Mind you we had to remove all the dangerous goods in order to be safe. I was completely unaware that a small tube of rubber solution could cause so much fuss. I admitted to having a mattress patching kit with a small amount of glue in it and a small tube of loc tight. Both glues have very small words on them "dangerous substance" so rather than causing issues in customs and causing a delay it was safer to remove them. Both where at the very bottom of the panniers so I got to see all our careful packing undone and everything was just stuffed back in.

The next part of the weekend was moving all our worldly goods into storage, This involved hiring a truck, packing up and travelling nearly 300 miles to drop off the stuff in families garages and lofts.

This impossible task was only possible with help from my son who, on his 18th birthday, volunteered to carry out this boring task. Similarly it was a few days earlier explaining the issues to my best friend Richard, who without a moment's hesitation drove some 100 miles to help out. Thanks lads this could not have been done without you.

Thanks as well to all the family and friends who helped when we arrived up north, Lucy, Dave and a big thanks to Patrick too.

Back Home the reality bites, Our house is empty and we will be leaving it soon. Both Sandra and I are a little sad about this as we have had a great 2 years in it and have loads of very good memories. Will it be the same when we return? Will we be the same?

What's left to do? Sandra is working hard getting all the work done around the house in preparation for new tenants. I am still at work trying to earn a few extra quid for the trip. Tickets are booked, passports renewed, insurance obtained, things seem to be in order.
In a few days time all will be done, then its time (almost) to relax a little. We have a couple of parties to attend in our honour, All of which are back up in the north of England, (Middlesbrough and Preston), In between we can chill. No bike to rebuild, no house to prepare, no work to go to, just chilling. We plan to spend a few days in the old city of York which will hopefully be sufficient to hit the big red stress reset button.

Its real now and I can't wait. I can't wait to spend all that time with Sandra enjoying everything around us, meeting people seeing landscapes, solving problems and riding our bike……… I'm ready let's go!