March 19, 2010

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law, who prefers to keep her real name private. Ali, we love you!

I got a message from my brother-in-law chastising me for not blogging when I said I would, so if others are similarly offended, I apologize. The best-laid plans and all that jazz...

We left Chinle last Saturday, nearer to afternoon than morning and already feeling rushed because we weren't sure what kind of time we could make with the rig Budd was driving. For those who aren't on Facebook, we had ordered a 5' x 8' trailer, but the local store only had 6' x 10'. Corporate called to tell us that the pickup wasn't adequate to haul the larger trailer, and recommended that we take a 10' truck with an auto dolly instead (same price). Then they called back to say the drive shaft would have to be disconnected to use the dolly, and I told them we had no place to do that, so they gave us an auto transport instead of the dolly. Difference is all four wheels on the trailer, instead of just the front two. But when Budd went to pick up the truck, the local store's 10' truck was stuck in the mud, so he had to take the 14'. Still the same price, but now we have a truck that was so big that all of our possessions barely covered one layer on the floor of the truck. It cost at least $100 more in gas to get us here, but oh, well.

Pulled into Camp Verde, AZ in the late afternoon as the truck/auto transport rig would only do about 60, and pushing it that hard guzzled gas like crazy. The place we stayed was called The Lodge at Castle Gate, so we pulled into the Castle Gate casino parking lot and parked the Uhaul rig, then Budd jumped in the car with me and we went to check in. Fortunately, we chose valet parking so we didn't lug the suitcases into the casino to find that the Lodge was actually a couple of blocks away and not accessible from the same parking lot. They told us it was ok to leave the Uhaul there, though, so we did. Budd said it should have been called the Lodge Near Castle Gate. Anyway, we found it, checked in, found several things wrong with the room including standing water on the bathroom floor, changed rooms, and went to the casino for dinner and to relax. By 10 p.m. we had played all the blackjack we cared to, listened to an ok live band, and found ourselves ready for bed.

The next day we headed out with plans to stop at the Avondale Costco to get my glasses repaired, over Budd's objections because of the awkwardness of his rig in town. Fortunately it was just a block off the freeway, unfortunately they couldn't repair my glasses or replace the frames. So we continued to Ajo.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is 37 miles south of Ajo. The motel where I had managed to secure a cottage with a full kitchen for a couple of weeks is the first building you come to as you come into Ajo from the north. I had inadvertently added 10 miles to Budd's commute, but it turned out ok. As we pulled in, we thought we might have registered at the Bates motel, but the cottage turned out to be really cute, though old and somewhat beat up. Let's just say the owners had done the best they possibly could with limited resources.

Monday Budd called his new boss and told her we needed to get some things settled, but he'd be in later in the day. She told him to take the whole day, with pay, to get a PO box for the mail and try to find a place to rent. We didn't have high hopes because of what the real estate agents and apartment house managers had been telling us, but we had seen a few FSBOs that seemed willing to rent instead of sell when we drove around on Sunday evening. After getting our PO box, we drove around the town square and happened to pass the library, so I begged to drop in for a library card. There our luck started to change for the better. The librarian made us a copy of the classified section of the previous week's newspaper, reasoning that the new one would be out the next day so there was no sense in our paying 35 cents for last week's, lol.

We made only three calls...the first two as it turned out were to a landlord and his assistant. We agreed to meet him at a 3 bedroom 'house', which turned out to be a flamingo-pink double-wide mobile home. It was very spacious, and furnished, but filthy! When we said it was too big, to avoid saying the real reason we didn't want it, he showed us a 2-bedroom single-wide that was even dirtier! He wanted $850 a month for the small one. I guess because the town is so full, he can expect to get it, but not from us!

The third call we made was to one of the FSBOs whose sign said 'or lease'. My first question was whether they would consider a short-term renter, and the immediate answer was yes. Driving up to the house, I was ecstatic, because the rent was the same as for that dreary, dirty little mobile home, and I was looking at a pristine white 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath rambler with a xeriscaped yard, double carport, orange, grapefruit and fig trees and two storage sheds. I fell in love with it, which may have been premature, but it's so much better than what we've been living in and what we expected that I'd buy it today if I were certain we'll be staying.

Only problem was that it isn't furnished. We hit a couple of thrift stores, but didn't see anything we liked except two easy chairs with a matching ottoman, which we bought without looking at them carefully enough and paid too much for. By that time it was dark, so we went to dinner and discussed driving to Phoenix this weekend for some kind of bed.

We both went to the park the next morning (Tuesday) to meet his new boss, who will be mine when the background check is finally done. I guess they are backed up and it could be longer than I thought, but that just gives me time to get the house in order. The other reason I went was that the park is providing Budd with a vehicle so they won't have to pay mileage for that 70+ mile commute each day. We have been blessed with a silver lining to the temporary job cloud--the parks pay for lodging plus a food and incidentals per diem in addition to his salary, adding substantially to our bottom line. Anyway, he had to get there in a vehicle that he wouldn't be driving home. I took the opportunity to check out the visitor's center very thoroughly and then came back to town. We were still staying in the motel because we had committed to a full week's minimum stay and because there was no furniture in the house.

Budd came back to the motel that night with surprising news--the park would pay for utilities and rental furniture in addition to the rent! The reasoning was that if we were staying, say, in that cottage, it would be $2400 a month. Paying for rent, all utilities including phone, the PO box, and a houseful of rental furniture is less than 3/4 of that, even when the temperature hits 120 degrees and we have to run the AC constantly. So, the next day (Wednesday) I spent putting kitchen stuff away in the house and arranging for living room, dining table and chairs, a computer desk, washer, dryer and bed to be delivered from the nearest Rent-a-Center. I want to stop right here and give them a huge recommendation. We got all of this for $469 per month, no delivery charge despite it being an hour and a half away, and the gentleman who delivered it also carried it in, placed it where I wanted it, and hooked up the laundry machines, all with a cheerful attitude. It arrived this morning, so tonight will be our first overnight in our new home-away-from-home.

Meanwhile, Budd's boss says that it shouldn't be at all difficult for him to get the permanent position because no one wants to come here (more about that another time). To say I'm excited would be like saying the desert is a little warm. More about that another time, too. Of course, once that happens we will need to go get our own furniture, because the park won't pay for everything any more, but that's ok! Medical benefits are nice, too.

Just finished arranging to get the Jazz games here. Who knew that the satellite signals were regional, not just by rule, but physically? We are out of range of our home network, so had to reluctantly go to local programming. Now Budd will have to re-point the satellite dish for the major network local affiliates, but we can at least get the Jazz game tonight.

Wow, thinking about everything we've accomplished in the last 5 days has made me tired! That and waking up at 6 am every morning. Guess I'll take a nap so I'll be able to stay awake for the game. Will be back to interesting stuff about the local area and the park next time.