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| Gus definitely doesn't want to go into storage! |
Yes, that's right, we have succumbed to it. We are renting storage, and not just parking our enclosed trailers, we are now the proud(?) owners of an actual indoor, self storage unit, with an overhead metal locking door. How did that happen.... ?
Bill beat me to announcing our storage facility with his last post,
Thoughts of Spring. "Hey buster! That was the topic of the next Friday Funny! Knock off stealing my ideas!"
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| I forgot where I put the X. |
Short version: We brought two enclosed trailers to Wrangell, which are full of boat stuff, ATV/hunting stuff, personal stuff, tools stuff, and possible new cabin stuff. (We purchased four acres on Wrangell Island 3 years ago, and at the moment it is only accessible by boat.) Our trailers have been parked in the front yard of someone who rents out parking space for boats, trailers, and vehicles, at a reasonable monthly fee. The problem starts when we try to access anything in the trailers due to us packing them wall to wall, front to back, floor to ceiling, with all our worldly goods in rubbermaid tubs. No can find anything in there!
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| I can't find anything, even with proper labeling. |
My anxiety level plummeted low when I realized I could actually see what we owned again, and then spiked high when I saw how we were going to have to get the trailers to the facility. Keep in mind, that it is only MY stress level here, Bill is competently calm, and knows it is no problem. You may recall the photo, of him backing the truck/trailer down the ramp at the ferry dock in Haines. The brakes were complaining loudly at the heavy load, but Bill put the truck/trailer into it's spot (expertly) on the first try. The ferry workers complimented him on the job, "Well done, couldn't have been done any better."
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| The wagon-train is squeezed into it's assigned spot on the ferry. |
This is the driveway down to the storage unit.
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| This is actually a slight downhill from the main highway. |
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| Then around this corner, note the large rock next to the tree. Seems sacrilegious to use this view for a storage facility. |
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| Our storage unit is second from the end. |
Since the ground was still frozen, and we knew more winter storms were on the way, we got right into moving trailers immediately. We relocated the black trailer first, I don't have any photos of that, because I couldn't manage the camera, and help direct the 27ft trailer, on an extended hitch, with the camper on the truck impeding line of sight for Bill. Oh, and did I mention that on the left side of the driveway that parallels the facility, before you get around the corner, is a total drop off cliff!? It shows in the photos as another lower road, and it leads to more outdoor storage.
Okay, great, with Bill at the wheel, and me, behind the "wagon train", using our new bluetooth, wireless headsets to help communicate, I direct, a bit of see-sawing, and we get the first trailer into place. I feel a little better, one down, one to go. The next day Bill decided to take the camper off of the truck, because that will help with visibility, and then he took off the extension on the hitch, making our "wagon train" a bit shorter. It has snowed an inch, so we got going, because we knew more snow was on the way.
This time, I knew storage was the subject of the next blogpost, so I paused to take photos occasionally.
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| We're hooking up to the trailer. Unavoidably we dragged the hitch, and the backend of both trailers getting out of the yard and onto the road. |
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| At the storage site, backing down the hill, the cliff is on the left of the driveway. You have to hug the building. |
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| Coming around the corner, and missing the rock. (Also keeping the left front wheel from going over the drop off.) |
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| Safely in place, the Wakefield Wagon/Denali Rose Storage Compound. |
We had assumed the wheel hubs were locked in place for 4wheel drive, so we didn't check, and they weren't. Again, sorry, no pictures of some of the sliding mishaps.... (
Melissa, you would have been proud,
I told Amy G Dala (Demon Princess of Anxiety), to shut up quite frequently!)
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| Empty for a moment. |
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| Bill is building shelves to stack our "stuff" |
Now the fun begins, kayaks, bicycles, ATVs, and whatever else went into the trailers. Bill wrote about our upcoming boat haul-out, so finding appropriate tools, boat parts, and supplies will be on the top of the list of items to find. I know the haul-out will provide fodder for another post, because this will be my first bottom-job, and I don't really know what to expect.
Now that the hard part of storage is over, at least until we repack the trailers, and pull them out of there. (Breathe Donna, breathe, don't get ahead of yourself.((Amy shut up!))
This is my kind of storage.
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| My scarves, mittens, and hats are in the O'Bistro pillow cover, and my sweaters are in the shark fabric box. |
- Are you renting a storage facility?
- Do you know how to back a trailer?
- What should I expect with doing a bottom job myself?
Let us know the answers to my burning questions in the comments here, or on our Facebook page, Denali Rose Sailboat.
