Surprise?!?!?

I had planned on saying "surprise!! We moved to Portland Oregon!!"

 but right now we're kind of in limbo and actually in Vancouver Washinton! I suppose no move ever goes smoothly, but I tell you what, I am a little worn out. We decided to rent a U-Haul because it was $13,000 to $15,000 to have a moving company move us. We could do it with U-Haul for a third. I called the U-Haul place the day before and asked if she was going to be there at 8 - my reservation time - or 9 - when they open. She said she would be there at 8. We got there at 8 and she wasn't there - when she did show up 20 minutes later - after I called her - she said " I don't know why they booked you for 8 - I don't open until 9"  All I could do was keep my mouth shut to keep from yelling at her that I had called her just for this reason and I had movers at my house that I was paying .....grrrrrr. So we rented a 26 foot U-Haul and we hired some  guys to come out and load the truck for us. Half way through the day they decided that we needed a second truck. Trying to find a U-Haul on a Thursday at 2 o'clock in the afternoon to go all the way to Oregon is a little bit of a trick. First I called U-Haul and they said they had no trucks available - busiest moving weekend of the year. I called Budget and they said they had a truck available so we jumped in the car and we drove 40 minutes to pick it up. We got to the office and the man said he would not honor a recent reservations. I was so mad!! So we took a chance and went to the U-Haul down the street and they said they had a 20 foot we could use!! When we got back I started cleaning and Scott started painting (we had patched all the holes from all my pictures). 

We didn't get out of there until late. We took one of the trucks and stayed at a hotel. The next day we had to be out of the house by 12 so that the new owners could do a final walk-through  - we got out of there at 11:53!!The signing went smoothly. We stayed at a hotel that night and left for Oregon the next day. The first three states went fine.

 We stayed in Omaha the first night, Cheyenne the next. The trip took longer than mapping told us it would because we were in two big trucks!  We drove through two bad storms - one I couldn't see Scott in front of me and the other we had to pull over because the wind was too strong!!

When we got to Cheyenne Wyoming my mom, Scott's mom and dad, nephew Avery and his aunt Tina came out to meet us!!!

We had coffee and pie and then Scott's family left and went back to Colorado. My mom stayed at the hotel we were at - we got to have breakfast with her the next day before heading out.  It was great to see everyone!! We got all the way across Wyoming only stopping twice for gas and both times I had rude people at the gas station. One guy called me a bitch - no kidding -  because I put gas in my U-Haul and I started to walk to the front of it and his crazy wife behind me start yelling at me to move my vehicle. Seriously - yelling - who does that?  I don't know about you, but having someone yell at me makes me less inclined to do their bidding so I went in - got a drink - went to the restroom and when I came back out he mouthed it at me in my side view mirror. Then the next place we stopped for gas some guy comes in to the gas station and and says "Do you know who owns these U-Hauls? They need to move them I need a gas pump." When I get gas I sit there and patiently wait and if it's taking too long I'll move to a different pump. I never would think to harass people. What a miserable bunch of jerks. I won't even get into how badly people drive - cutting us off even through we stayed in the slow lane. So we got into Utah and I had a blowout on my U-Haul.

 It was scary and it happened on a downhill portion where all the semis were getting into the lane closest to us because they had to go through the Port of Entry to be weighed. We moved down to the Port of Entry, called U-Haul and they had somebody come out and fix it. It wasn't that big of a deal, just a little scary. The scariest part of Utah the last hill into Salt Lake City - it's a 6% grade for more than 10 miles - with other cars speeding around you. I couldn't see anything because it was dark  - it was terrifying!!! We got to my favorite restaurant in Utah 4 minutes before they stopped seating. The Red Iguana mmmm. The next day we drove to Boise. We had a little extra down time at this hotel which we all needed.

Snake River in Idaho

 We got to Vancouver Washington the next evening. We booked an extended stay hotel so we could look for housing. The housing here is like nothing I have ever seen!! We went to look at a couple houses - I couldn't figure out why the property management places were not very receptive to showing houses.  It is because it's a waste of time. By the time you have gotten in to see it - it's already been leased.  You have to fill out applications at all the management companies - at $50 a person - so that when a property that you have seen on their website comes available that you like you can put your application "on that one" if you are lucky enough to be first then they start the process but so far we have not been first on any of them. One family in the hotel we're staying in has been here since January. CRAZY!!  Once we figured out that it was going to take longer than a week to find a place to live we had to find a storage unit for our stuff and take the U-Hauls back (which is when we found out that the guys we paid to load didn't know how to load a truck - yay) and then we had to move from the more expensive one room hotel room to a studio. It is still $100 a night - yikes!! The damn cat - he did fine in the truck

 I didn't even really need to drug him I think I drugged him 3 out of the 5 days we were on the road. The problem is once we get to hotel he starts freaking out. The first night he meowed all night so nobody slept. The next night I put him in the carrier and he was quiet. The next night he stayed in the truck. One night I snuck him into the hotel and at 2:30 am I was in my pajamas sneaking him back out to the truck because he would not shut up. Our first night in the studio he paced all night - absolutely annoying.

 Last night he finally was ok - good thing because I'm ready to throw him out. Especially since he makes more than half of the houses we look at unavailable and the ones that will accept a cat want $700 to $1000 extra plus $25 a month rent. grrr. So far we love the area. The weather is actually pretty nice and on the few days it's been in the nineties (which is not typical for this area) it's a dry heat - it's nothing like the wet heat of Indiana. The rest of days it's been nice and cool, a couple of days it's been a little drizzly and I really love that. I also love that it is beautiful and it smells good. We have eaten out a lot and the food has been really good at every one of them. It is more expensive though. Like Salt and Straw ice cream - crazy flavors like pear and blue cheese - Scott and Ryder loved that one!

Vivi's Vietnamese or any of the food truck courts!!   Por Que No tacos and aqua fresca - coconut cucumber mmmmm

We hit two diners since we left Indiana - one I won't even talk about because it was so disgusting. The other we ended up by accident and it was delicious. The Tin Shed Garden Cafe

We even went to Voodoo Doughnuts 

 One thing you learn here is how to wait in line - so many people.  We did go out to the ocean last Saturday - LOVE that!!! We are about an hour and a half from it!!

We ate halibut at the Old Oregon Smokehouse in Tillamook OR (no website). So tasty!!

I haven't had much time to stitch. I thought I was going to be riding in a U-Haul for a week. I've stopped the rotation that I had going and just worked on one project at a time because it's just easier that way. I will get back to it - maybe this week. I did manage to finish Pleasant Unity by Stoney Creek and it's cute.

surprising what a difference backstitch makes

Glad it's done - after 13 years in the WIP box. The only things in the WIP box now - two Teresa Wentzlers!!  Now I am working on Tiramisu by Glendon place. I did have a happy stitchy mail day!!  I bought fabric for two of my birthday gifts and a magazine. A friend - Monica - sent me a pattern YAY! Thank you Monica!!

Well, I better go surf my house sites so I don't miss any good ones!! I hope you are all enjoying the last days of summer. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest!!