The plan was to start out for Texas first for a conference Naomi and
David wanted to attend and to visit Dan's sister, continuing on to California from there. Naomi and David bought a little RV and Dan and I would take the truck and a homemade box trailer that we still had to build. This meant we would have to sell both my VW Beetle and Dan's Audi. We listed them on Craigslist and started packing and sorting all our things. It's amazing how much stuff you can collect over the years. We could only take what would fit in the truck and trailer so a lot had to go. We had a huge garage sale with Naomi and David and then another one at my moms. We had about four weeks until the departure date so we figured it would be enough time to get ready. We were wrong.
We didn't have much money, so selling the cars was key. They wouldn't sell. We advertised, and re-advertised, and answered emails and phone calls about them, but no one would come. It was beyond frustrating. Finally, after several weeks, I was able to sell my car. Dan's truck needed a new differential so that's where the money went. This was the week before we were supposed to leave. It took all week and we were beginning to think we wouldn't make the deadline. We were also beginning to doubt we would have enough money to make the trip. We finally got the truck back and the very next day the torque converter went out. That was a huge blow. We had to use a huge chunk of our travel money to get a new torque converter. We finally conceded to the fact that we wouldn't be making the trip to Texas. We still needed to buy tires for the truck and finish building the trailer. We needed the Audi to sell just to have enough money to go to California. Naomi and David left for Texas and we stayed behind.
That week we felt pretty hopeless. We still went through the motions of getting tires and finishing up the trailer. We had a few phone calls about the Audi that got our hopes up then let us down. We didn't know what we were going to do. Eventually, through the grace of family, we figured out a way to afford the trip while leaving the car behind. Finally, we were able to set off for California!
We didn't have much money, so selling the cars was key. They wouldn't sell. We advertised, and re-advertised, and answered emails and phone calls about them, but no one would come. It was beyond frustrating. Finally, after several weeks, I was able to sell my car. Dan's truck needed a new differential so that's where the money went. This was the week before we were supposed to leave. It took all week and we were beginning to think we wouldn't make the deadline. We were also beginning to doubt we would have enough money to make the trip. We finally got the truck back and the very next day the torque converter went out. That was a huge blow. We had to use a huge chunk of our travel money to get a new torque converter. We finally conceded to the fact that we wouldn't be making the trip to Texas. We still needed to buy tires for the truck and finish building the trailer. We needed the Audi to sell just to have enough money to go to California. Naomi and David left for Texas and we stayed behind.
That week we felt pretty hopeless. We still went through the motions of getting tires and finishing up the trailer. We had a few phone calls about the Audi that got our hopes up then let us down. We didn't know what we were going to do. Eventually, through the grace of family, we figured out a way to afford the trip while leaving the car behind. Finally, we were able to set off for California!
Maurissa, I'm so excited to learn more about you guy's adventures! We're praying for you guys and are inspired by you!
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