Road tripping

Since I'm unwilling to part with any of my furniture, I decided to schlep it halfway across the country in a moving truck. The drive to School E took three days, although we could've easily done it in two if we had hurried up.

My dad drove with me so we decided to take it easy and turn this journey into a road trip instead of a straight-shot to City E. I am so glad we did because driving a 16' moving truck while towing a car turned out to be rather fun. I didn't want it to end.

My rides.

We hit a beautiful thunderstorm the first evening just as the sun was setting. It was preceded by this rainbow, which the picture just doesn't do justice.

The lightning storm resembled a light show. There were strikes all around us every few seconds even before we hit any rain. So we cruised along at full speed, mesmerized by the awesome forces of nature.

Then it started pouring and the cab of the truck started leaking, which made the storm a little less enjoyable but incredible nonetheless. We still had a lot of driving ahead of us that night since we'd left so late in the afternoon so the storm was a great way to wake up a little and enjoy the long slog into Texas.

Once we crossed the state line, we knew we were in Texas. The waffle machine at the hotel the next morning made sure to remind us just how great this state really is.

In Texas, even the waffles have state pride.

We were smack in the middle of nowhere at midday of Day 2 when the "Check Engine" light turned on. We had another 10 miles to the closest "town" so we slowed down to the recommended speed limit for the truck+trailer combo and hoped the truck wouldn't stall on us.

Penske has a great road-side assistance system so we called them asking for help. They tried locating us by town name to send someone out but we were so isolated that they had to trace the GPS on my phone because BFE, TX wasn't showing up on their maps.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing. The truck ran fine so they said to continue on to the next real city where they would have someone take a look at it. Since this was already going to be a short day (~7 hours driving) and we had left relatively early (10 am), we had plenty of time and very little stress about the whole situation.

For lunch we did the proper Texas thing and stopped at an incredible BBQ restaurant. Not only was the food delicious, cafeteria-style, and filled with real Texan cowboys, it also had ample parking for our truck+trailer+car monstrosity. By that I mean, we didn't have to reverse to get out of there.

The Branding Iron in Wichita Falls, TX. Go there!

After a slight detour to the Penske service station where they confirmed what the people over the phone had said regarding the "Check Engine" light (no biggie, keep driving), we made it to our hotel by 7 pm.

Then we noticed there was a rodeo going on next door at the Rodeo Capital of Texas. How can you not go? So my dad and I put on our most rodeo-like clothes (jeans and a t-shirt) and had a fantastic time!

The whole thing began with a prayer. It wasn't just any prayer, though. It was introduced as, "They have taken prayer out of our businesses and out of our schools, but by God they are not taking the prayer out of our rodeo!" A little girl sang the national anthem (of course) and then the rodeo began.

When your hotel just happens to be next door to the Rodeo Capital of Texas.

I'd never been to a rodeo before, but I had watched the PBR on TV a few times. The live version was at times better and more entertaining. For example, one horse just refused to buck. He exited the chutes and kind of stood there. He had one half-assed attempt at bucking but that was about it. Longest 8 seconds of the whole night.

They also had a few kids, ~11-13 years old, riding mini bulls (whatever the proper term may be). None of them lasted the whole time but it was crazy to see such young boys on these animals. The little kids riding sheep (mutton busting) was also hilarious mostly because it's just so weird.

Google image, but that's how it looked at our rodeo

The rest of the road trip was uneventful. We drove through some beautiful landscapes, listened to tunes, and talked. It was great to spend so much time on the road with my dad. We took a lot of road trips with my family growing up, but I haven't taken one alone with my dad in ages and it was so much fun. He and my mom are already planning a trip out here for Thanksgiving to drive around State E some more since there's so much left to see.

After the road trip was done, my dad stayed around to help me move in and explore a bit of City E. Mostly, he reassured me that the house I chose is much better than my old one even if I don't seem to think so. In fact, I hated this place so much when I walked in the door that I considered not even unpacking my boxes and immediately looking elsewhere for a place to live.

Needless to say, I'm still here and I don't see myself moving in the next 4 years. That's not because I like this house (it hasn't grown on me that much). I just really hate moving.

House hunting

A couple of weeks ago I went down to City E to look at apartments/houses to sign a lease for the next year. Boy, was it stressful! My current roommate and best friend (F) who's moving down there with me accompanied me on this trip.

We flew in Thursday night and spent all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday looking at places. We ended up touring 23 apartments, duplexes, and houses, and they ranged from nice properties to slum houses. We found most of the places on craigslist, hence the huge range in quality, but we also worked with a realtor to look at some others.

Our outlook about this whole process changed hourly. We were hopeful and happy thinking of all the awesome places we planned to see, only for them to have something terribly wrong (awful neighborhood, weird landlord, cockroaches, etc.). Up until Sunday morning, we had found a few places we would be okay living in but were not thrilled about. It was very discouraging.

Sunday turned out really well, though, by that night we narrowed our list down to three places we could see ourselves living, à la House Hunters style (my second favorite show on HGTV, right behind House Hunters International).

House 1 - Beautiful house, questionable neighborhood

I fell in love with this place as soon as I walked in. Bright and big rooms, tall ceilings, very open and airy. Lots of history. It was also in the more happening part of town where a lot of other med and grad students live, in an area that is more reminiscent of the character of City E and what it's known for.

However, a couple of blocks away was a questionable part of town and the current tenant said that every once in a while you hear of people getting mugged. The unit was the right half of this house as you're looking at the picture, so the ground floor had bars in the windows. Umm...no. I'm moving from six years in a bubble. I wasn't sure if I wanted to worry about putting my nice TV in the front room because someone might see it and want to break in. The house was AWESOME, though. Not perfect by any means because it was over 100-years-old, but great in the old-house-charm sort of way.


House 2 - Good neighborhood, awful layout

I really wanted to love this place because it was huge, kind of in our budget, and located in the "safe" part of City E (that is, as close to a suburb feel as you can get there). It was a 2-bedroom 1500 sq. ft. apartment occupying the second floor of a nice house, with ginormous bedrooms and an extra study space off one of them.

BUT (and this is a big one), the kitchen was tiny. It was so small that I couldn't figure out where we would put the microwave on the counter. On the other hand, it had a fairly large formal dining room off to the side of it, so the space was there. It was the planning that was off. Also, only two of the windows in the entire house opened, the stairs to the backyard led to the front of the house so you had to walk all the way around the property, and stuff like that. It was just weird and didn't feel natural.


House 3 - Good neighborhood, meh house

This place was just around the corner from House 2, so same neighborhood and similar style. Like House 2, it was the second floor unit with 2 bedrooms, but only 1000 square feet. Unlike House 2, it had a very open layout where the living room opened into the dining room, followed by the kitchen and stairs to the backyard. There were lots of windows (that opened!) and natural light everywhere, which is what I really loved about House 1 as well.

My beef with this place was that it was a step down from our current apartment, and I really wanted to improve my housing. The bedrooms were smaller, as was the backyard. There were window units, like I mentioned, instead of central air.* The neighborhood didn't have anything happening in it with regards to nature and trees and people. The lots in front and to the side of the house were empty and the neighbor on the other side used his home as a vacation house, so it seemed rather dead. It had a very suburban feel, which I don't like too much.

Mostly, I felt very claustrophobic when I was inside and didn't know where I would put my desk because I really like studying at home. When we were actually in the house, it didn't feel too bad, but I think I remember it much smaller than it actually is.

Lastly, the landlady was around our age and really fun to talk to so we'd have an immediate friend when we moved there. She seemed on top of everything and really cared about fixing up the place, telling us she'd replace the stairs leading to the backyard before we moved in, as well as building a fence in the backyard so we'd have our own space and she hers. I would've much rather had her install central air to replace the window units she currently had or update the appliances in the kitchen, but it's not my house so I don't make those decisions.

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So what'd we go with? House? Location? Layout?

We chose neighborhood over house, and picked the more suitable of our options: House 3.

The neighborhood is actually perfect for me, even though I'm still in denial about that. Here's why:

• 3 miles from two yacht clubs (hurray sailing!)
• 1 mile from City E's equivalent of Central Park
• 3 blocks from lots of restaurants and bars, blocks I feel safe walking through

I keep thinking that I should live in the center of all the hustle and bustle of City E because it's so awesome and I should really experience it during my time there. But then I remind myself that I like visiting cities instead of living in them and I'm 10 minutes from the center of City E. That's not far at all.

Most importantly, I really won't have that much time to experience and enjoy my neighborhood because I'll have my nose stuck in a book. So feeling safe and comfortable with where I'm living is the most important thing to consider.

The main source of my disappointment is that, like I mentioned in a previous post, I was really excited to move up in the world of housing and not live in a shit-hole anymore. Unfortunately, I believe House 3 in City E is a step-down in certain ways, a step-up in others, so on average I'm moving laterally and not up. I'm comforted by the fact that the lease is only for one year so I can move next July (although I was really hoping I wouldn't have to) and our landlady lives below us, is our age, and is generally awesome to hang out with.

All in all, it won't be too bad. I just have to suck it up for one more year and maybe find a better place next summer. Or I could end up falling in love with our house and staying there all four years of medical school. You never know.

Below are some pictures of the interior of House 3. It's actually pretty nice.

Looking from the front porch through the living and dining room, to the kitchen.

The kitchen. Entrance on the left leads to the dining room.

One of the bedrooms. It looks smaller than it is.

Edited to add:
I just looked over a post I wrote before going to City E to sign a lease which lists out my requirements for a new place. House 3 has met all of the must-haves and would-like-to-haves. Geez, I really am being a brat about this new place.

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*While my current housing situation has neither central air nor window units, all the places in City E have one or the other. I would prefer to have central air because it's nicer and quieter, and thus a step up in my HVAC experience. Oh well. You can't have everything, especially when you only have five days to look for a place to live in a city you don't know at all.

Prepping for the move

Now that we're nearly halfway through April, the reality of moving cross-country is beginning to set in. I've begun looking at craigslist to see what's out there and it's starting to stress me out. While City E (where School E is located) has a lower cost of living than my current locale, the renting market is just as tough and just as expensive.

I will have lived in my current house for six years and although it's not perfect, suffering through its imperfections is more appealing than contemplating a move. So I've stayed here despite the house being less than ideal. For example, the price can't be beat for its location, backyard, and layout. On the other hand, it's a glorified cardboard box: hot in the summers and cold in the winters. It has so little insulation that our candles flicker inside when there's wind outside, and during the annual cold snap we have half an inch of ice on the inside of our windows.

Our living room window a couple of years ago

Designs in the ice, on the inside of the window

So pretty, but so cold

Despite all these issues, I would love to find something similar to it in City E. I'm referring to its strengths: location, backyard, and layout. Insulation would be nice as well.

Long story short, there aren't that many places in City E within my current budget that also have all the things I want in a house. I've gotten to the point where I'd rather pay more and live comfortably (within reason) than continue living in a shithole. So the budget has increased to accommodate the things I can't be without.* Even so, listings are pretty sparse in City E.

This is why I'm stressed about finding a place. I'm only planning on being in City E for several days in June to sign a lease, so what are the chances of finding a semi-perfect house in that time? It's much easier to find something when I'm living in the city and can pounce on a craigslist posting as soon as a house becomes available.

I just really hope this all works out. The future roommate (a good friend who's moving to City E around the same time as I am) is not worried at all, as she's much more laid-back with regards to these things. Since I always have to have a Plan B, the other option is to move there with a month-to-month lease and continue looking for the first couple months of school for something better. I'd like to avoid that because I really hate moving (see evidence in photos above).

I'm so envious of the 22-24 year-old crowd that doesn't care where or with whom they live as long as they have a roof over their heads. I used to be there, but with age come standards and thus these kinds of dilemmas.

Moving cross-country and being old(er) suck!

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* My requirements for a house include the following:

• Relatively safe neighborhood (no need for bars in the windows)
• Patch of grass (front yard or backyard), doesn't need to be fenced
• 2+ bedrooms, average-sized
• Bathtub
• Decent-sized kitchen (two people can stand in it at one time)
• Dishwasher
• Ground floor, or higher but with an open and covered porch

Things that would be nice but not entirely necessary:

• Washer and dryer in the house, or at least W/D hookups
• Covered porch regardless of floor
• Walking distance to coffee shops and/or grocery stores
• Off-street parking