So as promised I am journaling our adventures these last few weeks. Well our little caravan left on Sunday, June 22nd and ended up unloading on Friday the 27th (or you could count the move start date as May 20th if you want to be specific). We re-loaded everything in the Penske attached the Jeep and the girl's and I followed in the Corolla. It's supposed to be just shy of 12 hours from Ogden to Palo Alto but well...we were travelling with kids. We made a stop by the Salt Flats and used it for a stretching photo op. I guess the land speed record was clocked out there.
After several more short stops we made it to Lake Tahoe. It's so beautiful! We couldn't quite manage the 8 foot limit with the Penske at our hotel so we parked it at a larger place down the street crossing over to the Nevada side. So there you have it, we parked in Nevada and slept in California. We found a great breakfast place and waded in the lake before we set out for our final destination.
We got up from our hotel in Fremont on Tuesday morning only to discover our 'dream' apartment was gone. So were our backups. I was truly heartbroken looking at the darling fenced toddler playground outside the patio. Ah well. So we drove around looking for balloons and the such to announce vacancies. We found another place only to have it not work out either.
My cousin Tyler and his wife Melanie came to cheer us up that evening with a list of 6 or so other leads. By 8 am the next day they were gone. All of them. We sort of listlessly drove to the area of the first and Nate caught sight of this beauty. We called and they even knocked the rent down $100 a month. When the landlord heard we were staying in a hotel she said we could move in earlier for free and not have to pay rent until the 1st. We were actually going to have a place to live--besides the hotel! It's amazing how life throws us trials that seem senseless only to see that something even better awaits at the end.
So that's our story. Oh and thanks Ty and Mel for unloading.
Once we got situated we realized things weren't quite ready for us. The oven wasn't working-oh wait the knobs were just reversed--oops. The stove was sitting inside the cabinets while the counter tops hardened. But the best part (or worst) was the re-painting/stuccoing of the entry balcony. The Bay Area had record level heat so our apartment has been a scorching 92 degrees inside. Yuck! We were creative with our makeshift swimming pool in the bathtub and grateful for our new friends, the Adamsons, that took us girls in for days and days. Our new A/C came in the mail today and in a few short hours we were basking in the cool air. Needless to say it was an interesting start here.
It's really not been TOO stressful. We BBQ'd at the Selway's/Cortese's from Baltimore house in Fremont for the 4th. They have an awesome pool and the girl's were so excited to see Timothy and Anthony. We were most impressed by Elizabeth's sisters. They were more than happy to hold our little ones while we relaxed. Thanks guys.
Last night we went to the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Palo Alto with Nate's co-residents. It was really nice to get to know them and their spouses. This area is so beautiful and charming, I can't help but fall in love.
