24' Casita

[Galileo]

On 7/3/2026 at 12:14 PM, jd1923 said:

Summer of 2005, I towed a 26' cargo trailer to move our home from VA to AZ. It wasn't fun. The only positive was selling the trailer at a profit vs. renting a U-Haul! 🤣

I wish I had the time and forethought to do that. 

I did the U-Haul a few years back to close up our Chicago home and take a few items to Texas. Little did I know that the prices for the one-way vs local rentals are astronomically higher! 

[jd1923]

10 minutes ago, Galileo said:

I wish I had the time and forethought to do that.

And we both started from Chicago! 😎 It was a great city, back in the day.

In 1999, a company move got us from IL to Northern VA. The big 51' moving trailer full. They even transported a couple of horses and a classic car! 🤣 The only time in my life we used a moving company in more than a dozen moves (only because the company paid)!

VA to AZ in the 26' trailer mentioned above. Moved a classic '59 Chrysler 300E from TX to AZ on a HD car hauler. Moved AZ to TX to FL in the 16' box, 19' trailer we had for years. Lastly moved back to AZ from FL in 2018 after purchasing a new 18' box cargo trailer. I had every SF of this trailer packed. You can't see it but there are 3 motorcycles and a ton of tools in the front of the box! The red cargo trailer was the only one purchased new. Bought and sold 5 trailers all at a profit from buying well. Made a $700 profit on this last trailer which was breakeven for the diesel fuel spent on the move! 😎

Sorry for the thread drift, but we were done talking Casitas, right? 

[Galileo]

6 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

47 minutes ago, Galileo said:

 

And we both started from Chicago! 😎 It was a great city, back in the day.

It still is a great city! Great for food and culture. I’m not into sports - but some people like that. 

(Oh, and REAL Chicago Pizza is THIN crust, tavern-cut. Yeah - I like a good debate.)

9 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

The only time in my life we used a moving company in more than a dozen moves (only because the company paid)!

I hate moving. My parents were renters - so we moved A LOT when I was young. Every time I’d move, I’d say “I’m never moving again unless they carry me out feet first!” I think we accomplished the “last” move because we no longer have a house or apartment. (Now if I could JUST empty out that 10x20 storage unit full of stuff that’s too good to throw away, but nobody wants to buy…) I just have to get a bit less sentimental and we can pare down the “must keep” stuff to fit in the same storage unit where we keep the Oliver when we’re out of the country. 

[jd1923]

3 minutes ago, Galileo said:

It still is a great city! Great for food and culture. I’m not into sports - but some people like that. 

(Oh, and REAL Chicago Pizza is THIN crust, tavern-cut. Yeah - I like a good debate.)

It' just not the same and after 44 years of the hard city life, it was time to move on! Chris still has one sister and her oldest son there, goes back annually. For me, I go back rarely, but for weddings and funerals.

We all miss the food! No better food in the world than all the ethnic variety of Chicago! Chris makes awesome Italian Beef sandwiches, far better than Vienna package foods and as good as any Chicago Ma & PA shop makes in the city!  She makes decent pizza too, as we do NOT eat pizza out anymore. Only in Chicago do they make the right dough, thin or thick, and Italian sausage!

She likes thin, I like both. But the only place we go when in Chicagoland is Freddy's Pizza in Cicero IL (SW side). The best Italian pizza/deli market in town! 😎

[Galileo]

22 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Chris makes awesome Italian Beef sandwiches, far better than Vienna package foods and as good as any Chicago Ma & PA shop makes in the city!

Would LOVE to be able to make great Italian beef (sandwiches - dipped!) but have t tried my hand at that. I found Mariano’s deli has the meat and au jus - not bad. 

Unfortunately, “Greek Town” on Halstead street is a shadow of its former self (perhaps not quite as decimated as Maxwell street.) but condos have taken over all but two of the dozen Greek (and Cypriot) restaurants that were there ten or fifteen years ago. 

Yeah - I spent 50 years there and EVERY February I swore I’d had my last Chicago winter. Yeah - the traffic’s a pain - but so is Dallas. Seems like they’re always tearing up the interstate and clogging up the works. 

We needed to pick a place to officially call “home” - so no state income tax, and about half as much to put tags (plates) on our vehicles mean Texas beat Illinois. Also not fond of Illinois’ gun laws.