Ahoy Friends,
Having a son or daughter in the U.S. military is a bit like living at an intersection of Honor Street and Hold Your Breath Avenue. I suppose that's true of life in general, isn't it? I'm truly honored to share with you an adventure involving our son Brian, a U.S. Navy Diver. I hope you'll join me in some head shaking, laughing and bits of wet-eyed moments as I share highlights from our son's last move as part of his 16-year career in the Navy. Please don't worry, there's a SUPER great, big deal, couldn't be better, happy ending. So, grab your cup of Joe (you just had to know this was going to be covered in Navy talk, right?) and let's cast off!
Multiple Moves Doesn't Mean Meager Movables.
Now before I go too far of course, I want to be sure you have the picture of military life just so you don't think our son is some sort of water vagabond with a deep-sea fear of attachment (wow, that was a delicate way to avoid using the word "flake"). He's NOT. Being in the military means moving many times. Despite the looming reality that things will have to be packed, moved and unpacked every so often, Brian, like all of us, still needs the things that keep a household in ship shape. And those things, as we all know, multiply behind our backs and in the middle of the night, right? Now at this point, you're probably wondering just how many of Brian's household moves I'll share but because they all contain the same ingenuous elements, I won't share more than the following one. Don't worry, just one of these will be enough to give you the idea of what happens when military dude meets self storage unit. Read on for the details.
Free to Move About the Countryside.
2018 was a great year for our fearless Brian. And despite some really tough moments for us as his parents, we couldn't be happier for him. Not only did he deploy successfully to the Middle East, he coordinated and executed a flawless move from San Diego, CA to Virginia, towing his new home accompanied by his trusty mates (aka his fiancé, Desiree, his 12-year-old dog, Thor). You see, Brian is nothing if not fearless and brilliant with the use of space. So true to character, he devised a plan where they would live in a 34-foot, 5th wheel trailer (saving money on high rent) and be free to move about as needed without the concern of giving notice, deposits, etc. The trade off would be living in tight quarters and constantly monitoring for that phenomenon mentioned earlier (where our things multiply behind our backs and in the middle of the night?). But if you read my forthcoming blog Self Storage Saves Sanity, you'll see that Brian had a few childhood years sharing tight quarters with three brothers, two adults, two large dogs and one very plump cat…in an 800 square foot house. So, proportionately speaking, living in the 34-foot, 5th wheel trailer with one other adult and one older dog is very doable for him.) The move went without a hitch (well that's not true because there had to be a hitch-that's the thing that attaches the trailer to the truck) and they settle in Virginia in a beautiful long-term campground situation. But of course, that's with stuff that starts growing like some off-season clothing, memorabilia that can never be left behind, a few tools to work on cars and a classic car. All of which have to be stored somewhere. So, here's what happens with that ever-growing stuff.
Navy Diver Meets Self Storage Unit.
Brian is no stranger to the use of self storage units as a perfect solution for short- and long-term storage. But his 2018 version of that use is certainly a first for him. Not long after their engagement, Brian's fiancé bought the car of her dreams-1964 convertible Ford Falcon. Now for any of us gear heads, we know those are often "project cars" but in this case, the thing was recently restored to a drool worthy state by its previous owner. It was in mint condition inside and out. But of course, to keep it that way, it can't just be left outdoors and can't be used as a daily driver because it'll fall into disrepair quickly. It was professional transported to Virginia and needed to be garaged. As a veteran of self storage, Brain knew the drill and secured a self storage unit that's designed for vehicle storage (along with everything else if you're a wise user of space…which everyone in the military usually is). Brian's years of experience maximizing storage space helped big time. After taking a few measurements and making a few trips to a building supply store, he had the unit lined with shelves big and small with room left over for car and all! Totes of off- season clothing and Christmas decorating gear, a LARGE case of tools for car and home (because you have to be able to build stuff even in small-space living) along with boxes of items too precious to be left behind are now carefully organized in their self storage unit along with one classy and sassy 1964, red convertible Ford Falcon. That's it. That's the latest and by far, the greatest of Brian's use of self storage as part of his career in the Navy. Needless to say, we're proud of all his accomplishments and look forward to seeing what's on the horizon for he and his little family as they continue their journey together.
Make Self Storage a Part of Your Journey.
Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and something too good to pass up comes along. It may be a collection of books or even a classic car. Who knows? That's where we at Rocklin's Stanford Ranch Self Storage can help you sail into the perfect solution for storing your treasures. We're happy to work with you to maximize your usage of space by helping you find the right size for what you need to store. We take care that you're not getting more space than you need and we love to share creative ideas for organization, should you need some tips for that. We pride ourselves at customer satisfaction! We're looking forward to the opening of our Rocklin facility very soon and hope you'll come by to see what we have to offer. We're sure you'll find it's always smooth sailing with us.
Bon Voyage!
P.S. To our son and all military service members, thank you for your service!
