And we’re here…

It is official we are in Nebraska.  Our stuff is not.  It has been quite a little adventure.  Let’s see where to start.  Tom stayed in St. Iggy to finish up packing, finish his job, and supervise the movers.  In the meantime the kids and I went down to my mom’s house in Idaho for a little vacation.  I got to finally hang out with my best friend and her two kids that are about the same age and Bear and Mia.  We had a lot of fun letting the kids play at parks, consignment store shopping and so on.  Toward the end of the week Tom caught up with us in Idaho and spent some time with us there.  Then it was off on our adventure.  We took a route through Wyoming that neither of us had ever gone before.  The pass, which I know I can’t spell the name of so will be nameless, was under construction for about 30 miles so it was some slow going at first.  We spent the night in Casper which is where things started to get interesting. 

I took Buddy out to pee at about midnight and could see all sorts of cops and other folks standing around the bridge (we were right on the North Platte) talking and taking pictures.  I couldn’t tell what was going on but it kinda was like someone had jumped.  Come to find out the next morning someone had.  Nice part of town I guess (I so need a sarcasm font for stuff like this).  After our stay in Casper we continued on our journey.  As we were pulling in Guernsey, WY I was looking for the speed limit sign and instead found a cop that pulled me over for speeding.  Luckily I didn’t get a ticket but poor Bear was worried we wouldn’t make it to Nebraska.

We did finally make it to Nebraska and got checked into a hotel.  We got all settled and then noticed that everything in the room and on doorways etc. said NO PETS.  Uh-oh.  We of course had Buddy with us.  Come to find out the internet booking system had said pets allowed and even had us down as a special request for a pet and the owners hadn’t caught it.  So Buddy was allowed rather reluctantly.  Good thing he is a good dog.  We got our lease all lined out and then went to move into the house.

Next adventure: The previous renter wasn’t out yet.  Not too big a deal other than it was hot, the kids needed naps, the dog needed out of the car, my house plants were seriously wilted, and I was done being in motels and cars.  She finally got out and we walked in to find the cat pee stench so bad we just about lost our lunch.  Oh boy.  And now we can’t get ahold of the landlord.  I’ve been by their house and I think they are out of town.  We took matters into our own hands and shampooed the carpets ourselves.  Better but still not great.  We are going to try to have the dining room carpet replaced with tile or linoleum and the back entry way carpet and back bathroom carpet has cat pee and mildew smell to it and needs replaced.  The main bathroom toilet is sinking into the floor due to rotted floor boards.  Not a pretty picture is it?  Once those main things get fixed the house will be a great place to live albeit probably not one we’ll buy. 

There are a few things I love about the house though.  I get a loft office/sewing room and a full walk-in closet.  The closet is more like a whole room.  There are linen closets, a fire place, a huge master suite, closets in every room, a basement, a laundry room, and it sits on 3 acres.  There is a patio area for BBQs and a chicken coop that needs cleaned up.  There is a two car shop/garage and a single garage.  There is a tree where we set up a swing and a trapeze bar for the kids and there were clothes line poles.  The yard needs some serious TLC and the outbuildings are in kinda sad shape but I think if we can get the cat pee, mildew, and rotten floor taken care of we’ll be in good shape.

I do really like the area though.  It is almost badlands but not quite.  It reminds me a lot of the Steptoe, WA area; almost rolling hills and almost desert but not quite either one.  We ended up at the county fair yesterday.  It was a fun little fair.  Quiet, hot, windy, and dusty.