Moving Progress Made

It might not look like we are making progress with our moving plans but the past few days things have been pretty busy and we have locked into dates where things are going to happen. Just like when I moved out here, everything is falling into place when it needs to happen. No hangups or conflicts. I am down to just waiting for the end of April to show up before my next thing on the 'to do' list.

Yes, I WILL miss this view every morning. No doubts about that, but it is what it is. There are times I tell myself I have made a huge mistake in my decision to sell and move but then I remember the reasons I am making this move, leaving a house and an area that I love. When I look at our next home and travel on google maps street view, finding the roads that I will ride my bike on ... I get excited about what lies ahead. It's a great town with everything I need plus more.

Word spread on a Facebook group last night that the local Aerostat had been inflated and was anchored at its normal spot, where you can see it out by Brown Canyon on the way to the ranch house. I might take a short drive out this morning to see if that is true or not. Just a few weeks ago we were told that program had been discontinued and would not return. I doubt if DC is listening to anyone from Cochise County about what they like or don't like about policy. Even if it is affecting people's lives that live near the border in a negative way. 

That is the moon you see, not the white Aerostat.

The hounds and the dog are still dogs and can come up with the most interesting decisions some time. I mentioned a few weeks ago the puppies decided they did not like the morning routine that had been going on for years, at least since Stella showed up in August 2015. It USED TO BE until a few weeks ago ... they go outside first thing in the morning while I poured the food into each dish. I sit those dishes in their spots every morning. Then after they were finished dumping their tanks after a night of sleep, I'd open the door and each would go to their dog food dish and start eating.

A very simple and efficient way of feeding multiple dogs.  But he past few weeks the puppies have gone on a hunger strike in the mornings. Eventually they will eat an hour or two later but never at the same time. It is not that they want the food of the other because Henry will lie down and watch Walter eat or Walter will stand and watch Henry eat. They do not eat at the same time with Stella.

Since I was up at "0-Dark Thirty" this morning I made coffee but didn't pour the food out until about 6am ... the camera caught Walter barking at me for breakfast. That did not mean he would eat with the others ... he wanted his food bowl outside with the door shut before he ate any kibble on the new patio extension.

I hope we get back to the normal routine soon.

The weather has been perfect but by noon the winds have picked up and it is really blowing across the high desert. Too windy to ride a bike. I have also noticed the daily group of riders that would pass by the house every morning is almost non existent now. I see on Strava that some are riding but not nearly as many riders as this time last year. Like my neighbor told me last night ... "I am afraid to go hiking anymore".

So, what has all the progress been. Well just 12 days ago around 7:50pm my friend in Indiana told me about a house for sale sign in the yard of a house in his neighborhood. He saw it as he was out doing his daily walk. He knew I had been looking for houses in different towns in Indiana, some in Arizona although he didn't believe I would ever move. He knows I look at houses just like I look at cars. Ha Ha.

Once I made the offer to buy the house I had sold mine with a phone call about a hour after I made the offer for the house I am buying. In today's market nationwide, I wanted to make sure I had a house to move to if I sold mine.

Just like that I was having to 'time' two different transactions hoping they would both close around the same day in May.  The puzzle would be deciding when and how to move my stuff. I was not selling out this time and would be moving everything I have. I also needed to know what date that could happen so I could have a cleaning company come in after I leave for a wall to wall clean for the new owner as well as having the tile and carpets steamed cleaned.

Yesterday turned out to be a very interesting day with some surprises. First on the schedule was a lady from the moving company stopping by to see how much stuff they would have to pack up and move. I am not doing that either this time, where before I packed my own boxes. No, this time I just want to sit and watch someone else do everything. I heard her say this would be "a simple move", "the guys are going to love it because it will be so easy" ... then she had a question after she looked in the computer room.

She had noticed my IU mousepad and some IU sports memorabilia on the bookshelves and asked "did you go to IU". When I replied I had she said she graduated from IU also. We had a common bond just like that which later turned into a great deal. Since it was going to be easy to pack everything and my garage had less stuff than any garage she had ever seen ... "I am not going to charge you for any labor to pack and all the packing material will be included in your estimate you received the other day." I was expecting to pay a lot of additional money for material and packing.

Of course the dog and the hounds always get excited when people stop by. Each puppy wanting more attention than the other. Stella will sit and wait to be petted and asked "who is this great dog"? I had planned on keeping them outside while the she came to look at the house as well as the guy coming after her appointment to give me an estimate for steam cleaning my floors after I leave. Both of them showed up 30 minutes earlier than planned so they had no choice to be heavily welcomed in the house by two very excited puppies.

Wouldn't you know my luck would continue. As he is measuring my rooms with his handheld laser measuring tool he brings up that he has a 1956 VW bug that he just finished customizing and having some work done at the same VW shop I have taken mine to. After he was finished measuring my house but before he gave me an estimate, I asked him if he wanted to see my two old VWs in the garage. As soon as I open the door he told me that he had seen both of them around town and wondered who owned them.

He tapped some photos on this phone then showed me his bug and then wanted to trade straight up, his lowered large engine bug for my lowered large engine vw pickup truck. When I turned him down I didn't expect what was coming next. "Here is the normal price but since you are a vw guy I will take this much off and here is your "VW Price". Another good deal where I was expecting to pay a little more than his normal price.

By 10am yesterday, I had a firm date for the movers to come and pack my house out. I had a confirmed scheduled date for the house cleaners and a firm date for the day after to hydro steam clean the carpets and tile. I thought my day was over until I get a call a little past noon. It's the appraiser for the couple buying my house, wanting to know if he could come over within 30 minutes. Luckily this time I had the time to get the hounds and the dog outside before he arrived so he could take photos of each room.

He loved dogs and had to see each one, then was mobbed as he stepped outside to take a few pictures of the back of the house and one of the mountain view. Unexpectedly he started a conversation about the recent changes he had been seeing in the area as he spends every day appraising multiple house per day. That is how many houses and how much land is being sold and bought daily. 

He has lived here since 2006 and mentioned he has not seen anything like the past 10 months in the housing market in this town. Without asking me my reasons for moving back to Indiana, he mentioned his biggest concern was water rights and water supply. There are some battles going on for the water rights and he feels the government will win their cases that are now in court. If that happens, everything changes.

With my Reds getting blown away after the first inning (6-0 Cardinals) on their opening day game of MLB, I turned off the tv and moved out to the patio to enjoy the view, the heat and the winds. The hounds and the dog decided it was time for a siesta since all of them had eaten their lunch. Not at the same time but within 30 minutes of each other. At least the hunger strike is over and they are eating something.

I did spend some time yesterday afternoon, late ... looking at houses for sale. Just to look, not to buy. My neighbor let me know last night that they were staying only until their two kids graduate from high school. He seems to think that property will continue to go up as well as our property tax and then they can still make a profit to move back east and buy house with land with their capital gains. Yet, he is concerned about what is going on currently in the growth of the town and border activity.

I see where residents in Benson are trying to get organized to protest what is being forced down their throats. The town of 4,000 people are not real enthused about what they learned at a town hall meet a week or two ago. The words "save our town" is the sentence I hear the most from people wanting to organize and protest the decisions by their mayor. 

Then to top it off and at times doubting my decision, our city mayor made an announcement that he would do everything possible to not only let the government know he would take as many illegal immigrants as they wanted to send here, but would also work with local families on housing them while they were processed in the system. I am not sure how many people know what he said unless they were on Facebook reading his interview. So far there has been no article in the local paper telling the citizens what their mayor wants to do.

I am not against immigration, I just like legal ... legal ... immigration. WHY should someone entering the country illegally get social security just because they are of age???? It will happen because that is what they want to do and so far this administration has done everything they said they would do just like I thought they would. Didn't everyone read the 110 page document on their website before the election about their plans??? I did.

I will definitely miss this view from the patio but at the same time I am told I will be able to see some amazing sunsets from the back of my house. The patio deck faces due west. I believe the trees across the street will block any sunrises. Which brings up the question. I never woke up at sunrise until I moved out here. That was only because the hounds (the dog was not around yet) would wake me up at sunrise. Did that mean they were stuck on Eastern time or was it because the sun was coming up?

After moving will we even get up at sunrise anymore or fall back into the same time we did when living there before. Who knows the two puppies growing up on Arizona time may automatically start waking up later on Eastern time. I guess we will find out.

It was pizza night the other night ... you know what that means.

Both are sound to sleep with Walter snoring.

That is about it for any updates. The hardest part is over and all there is to do is wait for time to pass. I will try to get as much hiking at San Pedro House area and bike riding in as much as possible. Since the pass is still open I'd like to get up there at least one more time but I will come back down the way I came up instead of driving the other 15 miles west to Parker Canyon Lake due to current activities and the warnings from my BP neighbor.

I have someone that wants to buy my VW truck and has offered an amount that I can't refuse. Or at least seriously consider. Time is running out for that decision since he is coming down from Phoenix tomorrow (Saturday) to look at it and possibly buy it on the spot. It is hard to let go of that one and it is very handy when I need to haul landscaping or any DYI material from Lowes or Home Depot. That will probably be my main thought process today ... sell or not to sell it. I know that if I take it out for some errands today, I will not want to sell it.

Bright and sunny this morning in the 'Wild West'.