Update in pictures

It has been a very busy summer. I realized it had been a while since I uploaded photos from my camera, and I still hadn't taken any pictures of our new home. So I remedied that this morning.

First of all, back in early June it was finally warm enough to go camping in Wyoming. Our first trip was not far from Casper, to Pathfinder Reservoir. We watched the water spilling over the dam (about as much as last year), did some fishing, then camped nearby and made a dutch oven supper. The next morning we hiked up Independence Rock (a first for me — glad I finally did that before we moved).

After my last day of work in Casper (June 24), there were many days of packing and cleaning, plus reading and other work to finish my class June 30. Great timing, right? But I got it all done, and my apartment looked pretty amazing when I left.

On July 1 we set off to Montana, with me driving the 17-foot Uhaul, towing my car on a trailer behind. Wes drove his truck, towing our pop-up camper.

Just 3 miles north of Casper, a tire blew on the Uhaul trailer. We waited almost 2 hours for a guy to come from Casper to fix it, which he did in the middle of a thunderstorm that conveniently hovered directly above us. Luckily we had backgammon to entertain us. I wish I had taken a picture of the tire (well, what was left of it), but once it started pouring, I just watched the repair from the truck.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, with great weather.

For our first few days in Kalispell, we camped at an RV park with this view:

Since we arrived on the Fourth of July weekend, we weren't able to look at rentals right away. Again, great timing, right? But on July 5, we looked at several houses, and were feeling a bit disillusioned with the somewhat scuzzy options when we remembered to drive by a house we had called about the day before. It was empty, so the landlord said we could peek in the windows and call him if we were still interested. I called him while we were standing in the driveway. We stopped by his house to pick up an application, went back to the campground to get online and get our credit reports, stopped by Office Max to print them out, then met up with the landlord at the rental to give him the paperwork. He was noticeably shocked that we paid our bills on time and had the money for a deposit, so he gave us the keys right then. Compared to the other rentals we looked at, this is a great price — and it's much newer and in better shape. With three bedrooms and two bathrooms, it's just the right size. Plus the kitchen and living room are huge.

The next morning, July 6, we unloaded the Uhaul in just 3 hours (the time it had taken four people to load it). We then repaired to the campground to drink beer and pretend we didn't have a house full of boxes and doggy-smelling carpet to deal with.

July 7 I started my new job, which was a bit overwhelming at first, but is becoming more fun as the days go by and I figure out what I'm doing. One of my main responsibilities is purchasing adult fiction for the library system (a main library plus three branches). I also work at the reference/information desk, manage the volunteers, and take care of calendars and some marketing. It's a nice variety. Also, the people are pretty cool.

After my first couple days of work, we started to tackle the mountain of boxes and got rid of the doggy smell in the carpets. After two weeks, it's looking more and more like home. The first week, our refrigerator stopped working, but the landlord got us a new one. Then we found mold in the master bathroom, but this week he took care of that too.

The first weekend, Wes planted vegetable and herb seeds (pumpkin, radish, pepper, basil, cilantro, parsley), and we bought a small tomato plant and a hanging strawberry plant. He built custom, regulation-size horseshoe pits, and when my parents visited last weekend, they brought us a lawnmower and other tools. They also bought and installed a used washer and dryer! This week I did about six loads of laundry that had been piling up since we left Casper. We even found a great used couch (see above) via craigslist that's pet-free and smoke-free, and really cheap too.

The yard isn't very big, but it's very private. And we have great plants: a wall of huge lilac bushes, a very large mock orange that's battling it out with a fearsome yellow rosebush, a crab apple tree, and two nanking cherry bushes outside the fence. I already have plans to make nanking cherry jelly and possibly crab apple jam. And I can't wait for the lilacs to bloom next spring.

Comments

[Leah]

Looks awesome! I hope it will work out for us to be able to drop by. I love the counterspace in your kitchen. I was going to lament the loss of the adorable Casper kitchen until I saw a pic of the new one. I can't wait to see how you put your personality stamp onto this new place.

[mums]

My gosh, how fast those nanking cherries turned red. Are the pics of the ones in front of your fence? I'm shock-ed! Great picture of you and Wes. Ah, to be young and energetic. xxoomums

[April]

Yes, the cherries are really going crazy! Soon I'll be able to pick a big batch and make juice or jelly. I wish I had more of that grape juice - dang it was good.

[mum]

Remember the retired pastor and his wife who lived adjacent to Lawrence and Margaret? The grapes are from 60 year old vines in their backyard. We still don't have grapes planted. We keep trying to start new plants from those old vines.