My first attempt, a long one...

052311

So I’ve decided to start logging our adventures to share with those of you that are interested…

I flew into DIA on Saturday, May 14^th, where I met Bill, Dan’s dad, and picked up Dan’s van.  I only had a few minutes with Bill, but it was great to see him, as always.  From there I drove down to the Springs where I met George, Dan’s step-dad.  We had a great lunch together where we shared stories and got to know one another better. Then we went to tackle Dan’s storage unit.  The van was filled with items from Dan’s room in Portland and the storage unit was quite packed as well.  We pulled the “adjusting items” (desk, chair, a plastic bin filled with misc items, a shovel – that I, incorrectly, decided Dan might want) out of the unit and then started the move to get everything to fit.  George was great to work with, and in the end, we packed all of Dan’s stuff (including 3 bikes – btw, who needs 3 bikes?) into the one storage unit!  Success!

George had to get going up to their home in Breckenridge, and I was headed to Denver to meet Andy Nickel.  I made a quick pit stop at REI where I purchased a jacket and a pair of closed toed shoes (when leaving PHX, I didn’t see the need for these items, SO wrong).  I met Andy at a BBQ competition at his friend’s house in Englewood.  It was a slider competition and all of the food was phenomenal.  At the BBQ, I caught up with Brian Selvig, Rob O’Reagan and Andy.  We were given chips to vote for the best slider – everyone got 4 chips (blue – 1^st, red – 2^nd, green – 3^rd, and black – most original).  I didn’t think it would be right to give Andy ALL of my chips, so I gave him all except the red one, which was given to slider #10 (delicious Hawaiian slider)!  Andy gave me a bunch of crap for not giving him all of my votes, then tried to convince me to join them for a night out, then he stalled me from leaving by telling a bunch of pointless stories.  I decided it wouldn’t be the best idea to stay out late the night before a full day of driving, so I left to meet up with Lauren, Dan’s step-sister; the house that she is staying at is just a mile from where the BBQ was.  I met Lauren’s fiancé, Ben, as well as the couple who own the home, Amy and Steven.  They were all very kind and fun to hang with.  We enjoyed some time chatting and then relaxed and watched, “How to Train Your Dragon”; a great flick!  After that, it was bedtime!  I tossed and turned all night.  Not because the bed was uncomfortable (it wasn’t), not because I was in an unfamiliar place (it was very welcoming), but because I was excited to get going!

I woke up around 6 on Sunday morning, grabbed a cup of coffee, and was on my way.  It took me just under 10 hours to get to Des Moines, IA, where I stopped at my cousin Jill’s house for the night.  Not too much exciting happened on this leg – Nebraska isn’t the most interesting state, and I’ve been through it too many times to count.  The weather was overcast – perfect for driving.  When I arrived, we (Jill, Nick, Brett – 5 yrs old, Ashley – almost 2 yrs old, and I) walked to dinner at a cute little pub down the street from their house.  After dinner it was time to ‘ride bikes’.  Brett rode his bike for the FIRST time without training wheels and did GREAT (with dad’s help).  After a dozen or so times, he asked to have the training wheels put back on for a couple joy rides.  Then we played on the swing set in the backyard.  Nick’s one requirement for the swing set was that it had to be big enough for him to play on it (a requirement I plan on making as well – I’ll never be too old to swing).  When play time was over, Nick and I went for a 4+ mile run.  The weather was phenomenal and the path we ran along was gorgeous – basically a tunnel of green trees.  There were some bugs, as to be expected in IA, but it wasn’t too bad.  I did a load of laundry, put the kiddos to bed, caught up with Jill and Nick, and then crashed for the night.   I slept pretty well for a few hours, but woke up at 5 and was ready to get going. 

My original ‘plan’ was to stop in PA somewhere for night 2, but of course in the back of my head I was thinking I could probably just make it all the way to CT.  Iowa and Illinois were pretty uneventful, except for a traffic jam just outside of Chicago – an hour delay that was not fun, but with Dan’s help (and google), I pulled off the interstate and got around the traffic and back on my way. Indiana and Ohio had tolls – somewhere around $10 for IN and $20 for OH – crazy!  Ohio had more road construction than any of the previous states – I guess that’s what they are charging for?!?  Pennsylvania was a pretty state to drive though, but LONG.  When I pulled through the corner of NY, I felt excitement that I was getting so close and also VERY ready to be done!  After about 20 hours of driving, I pulled into the Candlewood Suites in Meriden, CT (around 12:45am, Monday).  I was overjoyed to see Dan and very thankful to be arriving safely.  Dan was still working when I got there, but after getting my stuff up to the room, we crashed.

Dan put me to work first thing Monday morning!  Our first appointment was at 8:30am.  We stopped by 7 homes throughout the day, and had subway, twice!  I drove (as if I hadn’t enough over the previous 2 days) (a rental truck, brand new dodge ram – very fun) from appt to appt while Dan worked on his laptop.  The job was pretty much what I was expecting, but there was still a LOT to take in. Dan is very knowledgeable, so I was just trying to soak up as much as I could.  We did some paperwork back at the hotel that night and then went to bed.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were filled with rain, appointment after appointment, learning, teaching, driving, and subway stops along the way. :)  In general, the claims were pretty small – drywall damage due to ice damming, some roof issues, nothing too crazy... EXCEPT for the random ‘vandalism’ claim we were sent to as our last appointment on Saturday, which I’ll come back to.  Over these first few days, I helped Dan with measuring rooms, writing notes, etc.  I got up on a few roofs with him, and enjoyed every second of learning! He taught me how to complete some of the monotonous paperwork required for the files, so I was finally beginning to feel somewhat useful.  On Wednesday, we decided it was time to start using the van that I had driven all the way across the country, so we said goodbye to the truck and got ‘Brooke’ ready.  Brooke is Dan’s navy blue, Chrysler, town and country.  The seats were left in the storage unit, so we set-up his ‘desk’ and chair in the back along with all of the other required adjusting items.  Our first day in the van was interesting... I was forced to learn some new driving habits.  Slow acceleration, slow breaking, slow around curves, start slowing WAY before I normally would, etc.  Basically I now need to drive like I’m 80+ years old so that Dan doesn’t fly around the back of the van.  I make quite a few people mad, and I’m very curious to know what they think when they finally see that it’s a 25 year old blonde chick driving. We went to the store on Tuesday or Wednesday night.  They have “Stop and Shops” here – never been to one before, but it’s similar to the grocery stores out west (Bashas, Safeway, Fry's); I would say that prices are slightly higher than what I’m used to. We met Thursday morning with computer issues.  The brand new Toshiba that Dan had bought had crashed.  We spent the morning on tech support and in Best Buy getting a new one. 

Ok, back to the vandalism claim… After 6 back to back appointments on Saturday, we pulled up to this home to meet the owner.  It was her rental home and her renters had completely trashed her place - pulled doors off the kitchen cabinets, broke drawers, punched holes in the walls, smashed eggs on the wood floors, left dirty diapers, trash, and an enormous amount of “stuff” all over the house.  We started in the kitchen where Dan said, “How do you eat an elephant?”.  (One bite at a time we both thought, but neither of us said aloud).  I cringed and struggled to get a measurement in the kitchen because I didn’t want to touch anything.  Dan bluntly told me to get over it.  I did.  We went room by room to assess the damage, which took just under 2 hours.  The owner was emotional (rightfully so); we gave her a hug and wished her well when we left.  That night we went to dinner and grabbed a much desired beer at an Italian place called Gianni’s near our hotel.  Our waitress said she had been working there for 30 years – she was intense.  I ended up with a calzone that I didn’t order, I think we got dessert for free, and we witnessed an interesting argument between her and another (pregnant) waitress, it was an interesting dinner.

On Sunday we got up and went for a run before we had to head back out to appointments.  It was chilly, but not terrible running weather.  We ran a few miles near the hotel – some hills, which was good for our Tough Mudder training!  We visited 4 homes throughout the day, then completed some paperwork at the hotel.  Dan decided that Sunday night was going to be ‘date night’, so I bought us movie tickets online and we headed out around 7:15.  We didn’t have time for a sit down dinner, so we planned on grabbing something quick before the show.  Our options were limited, so we ended up with a random bag full of items from Taco Bell (Dan did the ordering).  We saw Thor in 3D, which was great!  I enjoyed the ‘love story’, although Dan thought it was ridiculous that they were in love after just 1 day. ;)

Today is Monday, May 23^rd, the day I started writing.  We went to 5 claims today, then met Darrin and his wife (another adjusting team) at their hotel for dinner.  Since then we’ve been finishing up some computer work, closing files, and preparing for tomorrow’s line-up.  We’ll see how often I get to write about what we’re up to.. and whether or not anyone has any interest in reading… you all have to let me know!  Too much detail? Too little? Boring? :)