Welcome to Bend

I sat with our confused dogs on the front porch while the movers loaded our things onto this bobtail truck.  The driveway was too steep with a sharp bend to permit the truck to come down to the house.

The semi-truck backed all the way down Fetlock at the juncture with Quarterhorse to our driveway.  It took them several trips before everything was transferred, part of the reason this move is so expensive.  

I had to leave for a visit with my neurosurgeon.  It's been two years since I broke my neck and so I was very pleased with a normal neurological exam and subsequent release.  As we were saying goodbye I commented that I was pretty luck.  He made a wry face and said "You were VERY lucky."  

We spent the night at Carol and Harry's.  And so Tuesday morning, the 29th, two years later to the day from my accident, I drove into town at 7:30 to pick Maddie up from the vet where she was being boarded.  I got back to Red Rock Road and Hwy 395 at 9:00 where Ian and I planned to meet up.  We had the truck overhauled a couple weeks ago and that 21-year-old truck performed splendidly.  He drove the lead so Buster had him all to himself.  I drove up with a bewildered Sammi, though once she realized that her cat was with her, she settled down.  As did the cat.  We had to made a few more stops than usual.  A dog' farts are a compelling reason to stop :)  Even so, we managed to arrive in Bend about 5:00.  

Our escrow in Reno closed today, and since we had sold our parcel a month ago, we are no longer tax payers in Nevada.  After 40 years in a state I had never planned to live in to begin with, I have moved on.

This is the sunrise that greeted us this morning.  The next stage of this adventure has begun.  Welcome to Bend!

Ready to Move On

Maddie knows something is up and being the skittish cat that she is, she was hiding for long stretches of time.  She came out of hiding on Saturday so we wrapped her in a towel and stuffed her in her crate.  She was most unaccommodating but is now at kitty camp.  It's been much easier to pack since we don't have to worry about leaving doors open.

Sunday was the last of our Red Rock valley farmers markets and the weather was perfect.  I have a loyal fan base here and it's going to take me a while after we move to find a sales outlet.  That actually might be a good thing since I will have time to build up my inventory.  

I took these photos with my iPhone and accessed them through the iCloud.  For some reason only the left half of the photo displays unless you click for big.  I'm still trying to work out how to take photos with iPhone and use them in Blogger.  It's difficult to get these two to work together, but the pictures from my phone are better than the pictures from my point-and-shoot. 

The kids cracked me up.  They made a complex game out of the stones around this old fire pit, assigning points to how many stones they could negotiate in a step and more.  They were very serious about the maneuvers and scores as I heard them evaluating their moves.  I thought - who needs an expensive climbing wall?!!

These two little guys found endless amusement sword fighting with sticks.  Nervous moms kept a watch on them though there seemed to be an equal amount of running involved.  Running with sticks is against all the safety rules!

This is the house we're buying in Oregon and where we should be living a month from now.  The people that Ian worked with in the Union are taking us to lunch today.  The movers will be here the next two days to pack up everything in the house though the moving van isn't coming until Monday.  We're still trying to figure out how we'll camp out here during those days.  We sign our papers on Friday at the title company and escrow closes next Wednesday.  It's been a whirlwind from start to finish, beginning June 20th and ending September 30th!

This is one of my favorite things about the yard, a reading area next to a water feature.  I have to drive in to Reno on Monday to see my neurosurgeon and we're staying with our friends Carol and Harry that night.  I'll drive in first thing the next morning to collect Maddie.

Tuesday, September 29th marks the second anniversary of my broken neck.  Two years later, on this 29th I will be driving to Bend with a cat and a dog in my car, ever thankful for the recovery I have experienced.   We had Ian's truck serviced and he'll have the other dog.  I'm ready for the next step in this adventure.

Getting Closer

I started this project last week and for the first three towels I used the lilac yarn which has been back ordered from Webs since May.  I've made "tidepools" until now with blue weft and like this for a change.

Meanwhile, this is the day for the last two inspections - well and septic.  The rest of the inspections were last Friday.  The place was swarming with inspectors.  Two different inspectors performing two different inspections were under the house at the same time.  They came scrambling out of the crawl space hole, laughing at their reaction to a gopher snake they had encountered.

The well guys were checking for volume and quality.  That report takes about a week to come back.  Meanwhile, we learned today that our house appraised "at sales value."  Another piece of the puzzle falls into place.

The septic company expected problems since we've never had it pumped and didn't know exactly where it is.  But the excavation went off without a hitch but the pumping truck wasn't scheduled until after 12:00 so they're waiting in their truck for the other truck since they're have to fill in the hole afterwards.

I had planned to pack while these inspections were going on but after four boxes I ran out of tape so wove off the towels instead.

I've learned that if I weave a half inch of plain weave and then tie the warp ends in an overhand knot, I don't have to zigzag across the end of prevent raveling.  Plus the zigzag edge gets pretty wonky in the wash and is hard to hem.  I'm washing these now so I can hem them tomorrow.  But for now, I just got a phone call from a neighbor who is coming over at 2:00 to buy towels.

Counting Down

I took a lot of photos in the studio today, hoping they will help me orient my equipment and help me create a new studio in the new house.  I won't have any more space than here, just different.

We have gone from no action to craziness.  I invited our buyers, Jennifer and Travis, to come out to the farmers market in our valley and they did just that this past Sunday.  I noticed a Blue Heeler mix on leash and commented on it when the woman said - actually, I think we're your buyer.  They took me completely off guard and I was so happy to see them, and I introduced them to as many people as I could.  They had to leave early but Jennifer said she is going to be out for the inspection this Friday so I told we'd talk more then.  I'm so happy to pass on the information I wish that someone had shared with us when we moved in.  She had no clue that none of the utilities come from Nevada - power is from a California cooperative and phone/DSL are out of Idaho.

Yesterday was my last book group meeting.  I have facilitated this group since the library opened in 2005, first as an employee and then after I retired, as a volunteer.  Friendships have grown through the books we've read and the conversations about them.  I am at a loss of words to express how much I will miss this group of ladies.  They make me see books in a different way and they make me laugh.  They gave me a wonderful send-off and a generous Kindle gift card!

Meanwhile, while I was in town for book club, both our Oregon mortgage banker Mike and real estate broker Ken called.  Mike is working to get us a 4.25% or less interest rate and Ken said our inspection is Monday, can one of the boys come by near the end.  I texted them and they've got it covered.

 I should be packing my studio but instead I put a warp on today because I really need weaving to help me settle down.  The back beam has to come off to move it so I'll weave as far as I get and then cut the rest off.  The movers will be here two weeks from tomorrow to pack up the house. The dogs will be fine but our kitty will not, so I'm going to drive up to Bend with her on the 22nd and put her in a kennel that Ian and I saw when we picked up cats with DIL Missy during our July visit - that is the first available date. That's what I mean - craziness.  Moving in not for sissies!!

Snap! Just like that.

I finished this commission and got it in the mail on Monday.  It turns out that is going to be the last thing I weave in this house.  I got a call from our realtor that day five minutes before lunchroom duty, letting me know that our contingent offer had received a full price, non-contingent offer on her house over the weekend and they would be sending us papers to sign.

 Let me go back and put this all in order.  We came home from visiting our kids in Bend, Oregon on June 5th.  After we got home, we decided to put our house on the market and move there ourselves.  My oldest son Josh moved there six years ago, his younger brother moved there two years and ago and now that he's married, he and his wife are thinking about starting a family.  We already have two grandsons there, and in spite of also having two grandkids here, we decided since we always take vacations in Oregon, it's time we become residents.

We listed our house and on the first day we had two showings, Jennifer in the morning and Pamela in the afternoon.  The next day Pamela made an offer contingent on the sale of her house.  The offer was good for 45 days and we ended up extending it to the end of August.  And then about a week ago Jennifer also made a contingent offer based on the sale of her house and increased the price by $5,000 which caused Pamela to withdraw her offer.  And now Jennifer's house is sold and we have to get a move on because escrow is set to close on or before September 30th.

Because I was anxious and needed something to do I accept this library sub job through the end of this week, and then extended it to the end of next week since they are interviewing next week and expect to hire by Friday.  The arm twisters were the kids themselves.  So many of them would plaintively ask me - Are you going to stay?  I've requested a substitute for next week.  Otherwise, I accepted those days and I will honor them.  I can't leave for Bend until after the 8th anyway so it's just three more days.  I need to buy a house and then come back and pack.

I'm looking forward to getting up there, locating a house and starting our new lives.  I wanted to be there before school started so I can finally see the boys' games and concerts.  We're one step closer.  Nothing, nothing, nothing was happening and then snap!  Just like that we're counting down the days.  I am counting down to no more 50 minute drives to everything.  I've lived in Reno for 40 years and am leaving behind a lot of friends and memories, and now I'm going to make new ones.