Moving Right Along

We got up ridiculously early on May 17 to haul the horses down to their boarding stables at Gibson
Ranch. The drive was long and mercifully uneventful, with one stop at the halfway point just north of Weed California to get the horses out for a walk and offer them food and water (fear not rest stop patrol: they were on leads and confined to the pet area). Needless to say the horses were very insecure  once they arrived. Everything smelled different, peacocks were flying about them and screaming, other horses were calling out. But oh, look at this, you have your own grassy pasture! That certainly helped but they spent the first forty eight hours tied at the hip and where one horse went the other was right there by their side.

We unloaded the horse gear and supplies from the trailer and truck and then drove to our hotel for the night, stopping at a suburban Indian restaurant for dinner along the way. They next morning we were back at Gibson Ranch to reassure Taylor and Topaz and feed them breakfast. Then we drove to our temporary apartment to complete the rental process. The place is rather nice and across the street from a large and pleasant park, which should make the time spent here relaxing. We squeezed the tuck into our tiny assigned covered parking space and unloaded the things we brought down to see us through until our belongings arrived.

 

Earlier in the week we had made an offer on a cute mid century modern bungalow built in 1940 and this was our first chance to see it in person and so we drove over to meet Mallori, our realtor, and tour the home. We could tell it needed some work but we really did like it and thought it would well suite our needs. It is located between downtown and midtown and is walking distance to many, many eateries, night spots and stores (an organic grocery store is walking distance). It is also about a half an hour drive from Gibson Ranch. We walked to restaurant and ate lunch with Mallori before heading up to the storage unit where we had planned to temporarily store our belongings.

 

Once again we drove over to the ranch and took Taylor and Topaz out for a short walk around the place, introducing them to the various animals kept at the petting zoo (alas, it was not an evil petting zoo) and along a stretch of Dry Creek Trail where they drank from the not so dry creek. One of the reasons we chose Gibson Ranch for boarding is because the horses would have full time access to a stall area, a paddock and flood irrigated pasture. They also have other horses on either side for company plus all of the other horses kept at the ranch. This strategy appears to have worked because by the next day both girls were a lot more comfortable in their new home.

Back in March we ate dinner at a wonderful Thai place in East Sac and so we returned there for a delicious meal and libations, although this time they were out of a number of dishes that Elayne particularly wanted to try. Another drive to the hotel and thus ended the day we shall always look back on as "The day with too many things to do and way too much driving."

For our final full day in town Elayne drove to Gibson Ranch on her own but without assistance from her phone, which she had left at the trailer the day before! The drive could have gone better, but more on driving in the suburbs of Sacramento later. Meanwhile I returned to the house to be present for the inspection, which went well, although it revealed a handful of items that prompted more detailed inspections by other contractors (these would be performed after we were back home). Elayne drove to the house afterward (taking a wrong turn on freeway with confusingly duplicate names and non-intuitive directional signs) and we ate lunch at a brew pub one block from our house -- we had beignets with Chantilly cream and yes we did eat them before our actual lunch.

Another stop at the apartment to get our internet set up (Verizon -- they were surprisingly easy to work with and their system was easy to set up). We then killed some time waiting in the apartment until late in the afternoon when we headed back over to the ranch to visit the horses one last time (and take them on another walk). But we were done with driving our very large truck for the week (and we had just snagged the perfect parking spot for it at the apartment) and so we splurged and took Lyft to the horses and then to midtown where we treated ourselves to multiple adult beverages (plus a little food) at The Jungle Bird: a tiki bar that is oodles of fun and the perfect place to unwind and relax. We took advantage of not needing to drive any more that day and indulged in a couple of flavorful and potent drinks while soaking in the magnificent pseudo south tropical environment. It was just what we needed to end what was a very busy and stressful few days. It is also dangerously close to the new house.

Saturday morning came far too early as we caught a flight back to Central Oregon for one final week of packing and preparing for the final move. On the following evening a group of friends from the local horseback riding community held a going away party for Elayne because she is exactly the sort of person whom you would miss dearly when they leave. It was a fun albeit emotional night.

It is now Thursday and yesterday the packers have came and put whatever we had not already packed into boxes and today they are loading the truck and hauling everything away. We will run the vacuum cleaner over the floors after they leave and then climb into the car for the final journey to our new home. Most likely we will leave late enough in the day so that we may spend the night somewhere en-route, but it is clear that Elayne misses the horses and the sooner we get down there the better.

A note on driving in Sacramento: Elayne drove all but one of our trips in Sacramento in our very large truck on often very narrow roads and parking in very narrow spaces. Normally the truck will only be used to haul the horses to trails or endurance rides, which is just as well because driving in the suburbs of Sacramento (probably like any city) was truly an awful experience. The apartment is in a suburb (Aden Arcade) and Gibson Ranch is just on the western edge of Antelope (another suburban community) and the stroads connecting these places are terrible places to drive. Fortunately trips from the house should minimize the amount of time spent on stroads, and using a small maneuverable car will be less of a hassle. Or so we hope.