So, it turns out that moving to a new city is a little overwhelming.
We spent the first few days in Eugene, Oregon driving around the town, writing down homes and apartments for rent, and calling and e-mailing the listings we found. Unfortunately, this was a holiday weekend, so of course no one answered. We finally got to set up appointments to see inside some potential apartments on Tuesday, but a lot of our options had already been rented. Just a little frustrated note to all you landlords out there: If the place is rented, take down the “For Rent” sign and remove the listing from your website. You are crushing dreams here, people.
We had an especially terrible day yesterday, as we viewed a place that smelled like someone had smoked in it and then ran through it with a wet dog. It was disgusting. Plus, the house that we were the most excited about got rented before our appointment to see it. Total bummer. But things are looking up. Hopefully I’ll have good news to report soon! We’ve already decided that when we officially move into an apartment, we will celebrate with ice cream. We took a trip to Fred Meyer (sort of the Kroger of the northwest, but so much better) and spotted this, which we will most likely eat straight out of the carton when the time comes:
Aside from the horror of house hunting, we’re enjoying Eugene. Eric’s school stuff doesn’t start until Monday, so we’ve had time to explore the city a bit, including a few trips to the park and the various shopping centers. There are a ton of parks in Eugene, so I’ve convinced Eric to go on 3 runs with me so far this week! He may have to suffer through being my running partner until we make some friends here. This morning we ran in Alton Baker Park, which runs alongside the Willamette River. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’ll take pictures the next time we head that direction.
We went to check out the mall yesterday, which turned out to be pretty hilarious. If you are familiar with Fayette Mall in Lexington, Kentucky, you know that getting from one end to the other can take about 15 minutes. We went into one end of the mall here, looked at the directory and saw that the store we wanted was on the other end of the mall. Bummer, right? Wrong. It literally took us 5 minutes to walk across the entire mall.
We’re learning that Eugene is much, much smaller than Lexington. The population is about half the size. I’m not really sure how big either city is mile-wise, but I’d say it takes a good 20-30 minutes to get anywhere in Lexington. We’re currently staying outside of the Eugene city limits, and it takes about 8 minutes to get to the center of downtown. Crazy. I keep laughing at the lack of traffic. And every time we have an appointment to view an apartment, we leave 15-20 minutes before we’re supposed to get there, and we end up arriving 5-10 minutes early. It’s crazy.
For those of you who have been concerned about us sun-loving southerners in the damp, dark northwest, you can put your worries aside for now. There has not been a cloud in the sky since we got here, and the temperatures have been in the 80’s. Of course, the lack of humidity makes 75 degrees feel pretty darn chilly. During our first few days here, our host family was wearing shorts and t-shirts. I was wearing jeans and a fleece. But we’re digging the warmer temperatures and have settled into our summer clothes again (which is good, as we have a very limited wardrobe right now, due to the majority of our clothing living in a pod somewhere).
Eric got his University of Oregon student ID the other day, so he’s officially a Duck (although, foremost a Kentucky Wildcat). We’re hoping that the weather stays nice long enough for him to enjoy the beautiful campus for a little while before the rain sets in. We’ll see…
For now, we really appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers as we traveled and continue to search for a home! We miss you all!
-Ally
Shelly says
1. We miss you guys too.
2. Love that picture of Eric.
3. We will run together when Dustin and I visit next summer! 🙂
Kim Niemczyk says
Check out the Tillamook Cheese Factory! They of course also have the ice cream there too (free samples at the end of the tour I believe…) and I remember it being a fun day trip. Although I was probably 10 at the time. Hope you find the perfect home soon!