Last days in The Dalles

Our route to Austin, via Salem and Eugene

We pushed our departure date forward a couple days, and will drive away from The Dalles for the last time on Saturday, August 27th!

The Floorplan

Earlier this week our application was approved for an apartment, which we’ve rented sight-unseen! It’s a risk, but it’s not easy to rent a place from 2,000 miles away. This place is near South Congress, in the “Musicians Aplenty” area. Since we’re signing a ten-month lease, we’ll spend that time deciding which part of the city is the best fit for us, and look for a little house more suited to our tastes to rent in June.

Also this week I had a third (Skype) interview for a job; it went really well, and I have a great feeling about the company (more details if they make me an offer). There will be a final interview in person once we land in Austin.

We’re finishing up our packing—there’s still lot’s to do, and cleaning besides, but we’re trying to think of our last days here in The Dalles as “vacation,” and are taking our time and enjoying the process!

Andrew Anderson, as you may or may not be aware, is moving to Austin too! In fact, he’s already on his way, and we’re looking forward to reuniting in Texas. Having him in the same city will help make it feel like home that much sooner.

—Danielle

We’re not Hoarders!

Yard Sale Stuff (but not my orchids!)

We’ve been packing and sorting through our stuff, trying to figure out what we want to bring to Texas with us. It turns out we have a lot of stuff.

The question I keep asking is, “What will it cost to replace?” Most of our possessions are replaceable, so we’ve been selling books on Amazon, other stuff on eBay (I’ve let go of SIX bottles of perfume! Including a Serge Lutens!), and we had our first yard sale on Saturday: It was great success! In a little over two hours, we made about $200; we’ll use the cash as “lunch money” on our big drive.

We certainly aren’t travelling light, but we’re travelling much lighter than we have before! Besides, it will be fun to get new stuff in Texas

—Danielle

Hi-ho, hi-ho… to Texas we will go!

In just four short weeks, we’ll be packing up a U-Haul, and heading off to Texas!

Matt and I came to The Dalles with a short term plan: stay two years while saving up our money while we decide where we really want to live. We looked at a map, and asked ourselves, what city has great weather, a great music scene, and a university with a graduate program I want to pursue? Austin Texas answers all of our wants.

Yeah, it gets hot in Texas (we know, we know!) but 70F in February can’t be argued with. The South by Southwest festival is something Matt has been talking about, and wanting to attend for years, and Austin brags the highest concentration of musicians per capita of any city in the USA (Translation: lots of cool used gear in thrift shops–musicians gotta eat). And, the University of Texas at Austin offers a PhD. in Epidemiology, and looks to have an awesome School of Public Health.

It’s a big move, and while Matt’s business can go anywhere, I don’t yet have a job lined up. Or a house. But, big risks can have big payoffs, and we’ve been planning for this for a long time. We’ll drive from The Dalles, stopping in Salem and Eugene to say our farewells, and our next stop (not including what will probably be a Motel 6) will be the Redwood Forrest in Northern California, where we’ll camp for a few days. We plan to make other such stops on the journey, taking advantage of an opportunity we may not have again for a long time.

Wish us luck!

—Danielle