Preface

Ok, it's been in the works now for much longer than I can even remember, countless hurdles and struggles to get us here, but here we are at last, in the home stretch of our move out west. Plans have changed several times but I think we managed to come up with the best possible scenario for us at the moment.

We just said goodbye to all of our earthly possessions, all 250 cubic feet/1500 lbs worth of them picked, up by a small fl based moving company by the name of Sky moving and storage. So far the experience with them had been good, their office staff was really nice to work with, gave us a really reasonable estimate over the phone and scheduled the pick up within two days of my calling her. The pick up crew, while late by an hour after the scheduled window, made sure to notify us at the last hour mark that they were still on their way. The guys were all really courteous, the main one was a little bit of a slick talker but we did all of our research ahead of time and were able to ask all the right questions to make sure we didn't get taken for a ride. The final price for the move was 300 more than the phone estimate but to be fair, we did end up having slightly more belongings than we'd originally estimated and they had to add in the fuel charge which seemed reasonable to me based on the distance they are going. We filled out and signed tons of paperwork and now have lots of documentation on had to make sure the company who's actually delivering our items sticks to the plan. We did so much research before choosing a company, and let me tell you, I had no idea how many movers out there were scammers. We tried our best to pick a company that seemed realistic and didn't break the budget. Stay tuned to find out the condition of our belongings upon delivery.


Our plane is scheduled to land at the pdx airport wednsday, oct 27th at 12am. and we will probably be renting a hotel the first night so we can meet our new landlord to sign our lease the next day. We will be renting a car from the airport to get us around for a week, and during that time our first line of business will be buying a new vehicle. After that comes furnishing the new place then is all fun and exploration from there.

You may be wondering where we ended up choosing for our new home town..... We had our sights set on the portland oregon area, and we found a place within an hour drive, but on the washington side of the border. In fact, its right on the columbia river. the only thing between us and the water is a little two lane road. the view from the house is mountains and river... and kiteboarders too! apparently our new home town of stevenson wa is the home of the best beginner kiteboarding in the usa. Our house is a cute little two bedroom on a hill with a killer sunroom with huge windows that overlook the columbia gorge. there is a nice yard with raised beds that we will be using to grow our veggies. within a short bike/walk distance (right down the road) is a sweet little shopping district with a stellar looking coffee shop, some restraunts, a bank, gas station, and grocery store. stevenson has everything we could ask for in a cute little town, with the exception of a movie theater but there is one in a close by town called hood river oregon. there are 96 restaurants within a 25 mile radius of our new house so our taste buds won't get bored any time soon. There are quite a few organic farms in the area too and I hope to get set up with a csa co-op so we can get more veggie varieties than we would be able to grow. there are also quite a few mycology clubs in the area that host wild mushroom picking forays so we can have a year round supply of fresh morels, porcini, lobster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, truffles, chicken of the woods, shaggy mane, honey mushroom, puffballs, matsutake, chanterelles, and more. for me, thats heaven in a hand basket.

A major draw for us to this adorable little town is its proximity to portland, but more so than that is its proximity to tons of beautiful natural surroundings and outdoor recreation. Stevenson washington is located in skamania county, a place rich with natural beauty. Dog mountain is 15 minutes away with some of the best rated hiking trails in southern washington. There are several rivers close by with amazing whitewater rafting opportunities. Lets not forget too the kayaking, kite boarding, paddle boarding, and wind sailing practically in our front yard! When we tire of water sport, we can just drive down to mount hood for year round skiing, rock climbing and cave hiking, drive up to mount st helens to hike up an active volcano, or drive right over to the coast for some whale watching or tide pool exploration.

Here are some links you can check out to get a little sneak peek of our new environment:

http://www.skamania.org/
http://www.flickriver.com/places/weVCjOOYA5m3kz_UwQ/
http://www.bahmacoffee.com/
http://adamschneider.net/photos/2007-05-dm/



We are beyond ecstatic to start our new life together in arguably one of the most beautiful places in the USA, if not the world. We want to share our adventures with everyone back in FL so we will be heavily documenting our experiences in text, video, and photos and posting them here! Keep your eyes peeled for blurbs from both ash and I as we really want to document each of our individual experiences in addition to our combined ones.

~kris