Matilda Arrived!

So, after much stress and going to plans B, C, and D, Matilda finally arrived. Chad, kind and generous soul, said he would wait for her to arrive on Thursday and make sure she was safely deposited into her new spot in the garage. Hoping there would be no further delays, we loaded our suitcases into the trunk of our car, Simone into the backseat, and left Corvallis for points south at 5:50 a.m yesterday morning.

We spent a lot of time fretting on our way down I-5, watching the northbound lane for signs of Matlida. We figured chances were good that we would pass her somewhere along the way. We called Rudy (who was driving Matlida up from LA) around 9:00 a.m. and he said he was in Jacksonville, north of Ashland, delivering a car and we were next. He said he anticipated being in Corvallis at 1:00 p.m and would call us again after he left Jacksonville with his GPS calculated ETA. Unfortunately, 1:00 p.m. was about the only time that Chad could not be at our house to receive Matilda. So, we hoped that it would take Rudy longer than he expected to get back on the road and waited to hear back from him.

We got into Ashland around 10:00 a.m. and hit the Safeway to get sandwiches and take a stretch break. Rudy called and let us know that he had adjusted his schedule and would be at our house at 2:30 p.m., which was perfect, because that was when Chad was able to get there.

We took a deep breath knowing that Chad would be able to be there when she arrived, but we continued to fret and watch the clock. When we hit Susanville a little after 2:30 p.m., Chad called to let us know that Matilda was indeed there and in the garage. Chad reported that she is a little rustier than we could see in the pictures, but the engine and interior are both in great shape. We resolved to pursue the Creswell car with a little more rigor since it didn’t have the rust issue and between the two vehicles, we will be able to create one perfect Matilda. It's going to be quite a project, but at least we're going into it with our eyes open!

Watch for the next installment next week, when we get to see Matilda (part 1 or 2, depending on how you view it) up close and personal!