Our house closed two weeks ago today - the time has flown by as I was on an 11-day international trip for much of that time since then (triple Paris layovers). We moved into our new, temporary one-bedroom apartment (all 550 square feet!) in downtown St. Paul the previous Saturday, June 4th. Well, actually it was more like Thursday through Monday, but we moved the big stuff via U-Haul truck on Saturday. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning I filled up our Nissan Xterra with one load of boxes to our storage unit and one load of boxes to the apartment. We are on the sixth floor of the historic Pioneer building; the building is down to one elevator right now, making moving a challenge. You park curbside in a no-parking zone, unload everything to the curb, bring it all inside through two double doors, move the car to the parking garage, bring everything up to the sixth floor one elevator load at a time - waiting up to 10 minutes for the lone elevator - and then move it down the hall to the apartment. Quite the process. By comparison, moving the fewer pieces of bigger furniture was pretty easy, with Dawn's help. Even after that we still had quite a few things left in the house and garage, which we took care of on Sunday and then Monday morning. It's really amazing how much stuff a house will hold. We've only lived there five years, and lived in another one-bedroom apartment prior to that (having downsized from a 3-BR house once before). How did we accumulate all that junk? We actually sold or donated a large portion of it before moving, and it still seems like we have a ton of stuff. Very little of it is coming on the boat; some will go the storage unit, and for the rest I'm sure we'll have another round of winnowing before our next move in October or thereabouts.
Because I had a 5pm report time on that Monday, I presigned for the closing in Chaska, and then Dawn attended the final closing in Plymouth the next morning. I never met the buyers but she reports they're a very nice young couple. Although I'm very excited to buy a boat and go cruising for the next few years, I do already miss our house and I'm sure I'll continue to miss it. It was a great place at the top of a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. It suited us well. Giving that up was a worthy sacrifice, I think, but a sacrifice nonetheless.
I think Piper particularly misses the house - it's been a slow transition warming him to the apartment. He likes the apartment itself, but is extremely skittish outside with all the traffic, noise, and people. He hates being on a leash instead of being free to run as fast as his legs can carry him (which is pretty darn fast - he's a runner). At least there's a nearby dog park where he can run and socialize with other dogs, which he also loves and has adapted well to. I do worry a little about how he'll adapt to the boat, but he'll probably be fine - there have been many boat dogs before him. We'll just have to get him to the beach once or twice a day when we're not on passage to let him run his energy out a bit.
Incidentally Piper and I are living the bachelor life at the moment as Dawn is on the west coast attending a one-week liveaboard sailing course in the beautiful San Juan Islands of Washington State. She reports that she's having a great time and it sounds like she's learning a ton; I'm sure she'll have a post about that when she returns.
Because I had a 5pm report time on that Monday, I presigned for the closing in Chaska, and then Dawn attended the final closing in Plymouth the next morning. I never met the buyers but she reports they're a very nice young couple. Although I'm very excited to buy a boat and go cruising for the next few years, I do already miss our house and I'm sure I'll continue to miss it. It was a great place at the top of a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. It suited us well. Giving that up was a worthy sacrifice, I think, but a sacrifice nonetheless.
I think Piper particularly misses the house - it's been a slow transition warming him to the apartment. He likes the apartment itself, but is extremely skittish outside with all the traffic, noise, and people. He hates being on a leash instead of being free to run as fast as his legs can carry him (which is pretty darn fast - he's a runner). At least there's a nearby dog park where he can run and socialize with other dogs, which he also loves and has adapted well to. I do worry a little about how he'll adapt to the boat, but he'll probably be fine - there have been many boat dogs before him. We'll just have to get him to the beach once or twice a day when we're not on passage to let him run his energy out a bit.
Incidentally Piper and I are living the bachelor life at the moment as Dawn is on the west coast attending a one-week liveaboard sailing course in the beautiful San Juan Islands of Washington State. She reports that she's having a great time and it sounds like she's learning a ton; I'm sure she'll have a post about that when she returns.
Hi, I ran across your blog tonight while looking at cockpit enclosures for our newly purchased KP-44. My wife and I, and our 2 youngest children, appear to be doing much the same as the two of you. In fact, we considered purchasing the KP-46 you visited in Green Cove. Our ultimate goal is to sail the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Good luck in your search for the "perfect boat!" (Ours isn't perfect, but we like it anyway)
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