Hello, Lodge of the Pines

The last time I rented an apartment was 1972 at 1700 Wirt Road in Houston, Texas. It was close to Drake's first office where he counted milk. (His first job was with the Milk Market Administration, an arm of the Department of Agriculture - and boy, were we glad he got it.) It was such a typical apartment. There were very few windows. The rooms were small. The kitchen was a slot. Oh, and as an added bonus all the appliances were turquoise. Yep, turquoise. Perhaps that explains why we bought a house a year and a half later.

Back to the present. When the house we were sitting sold, we were in the ticklish position of having to find a short term lease - very short term - 7 weeks. The first thing we discovered is that rental property in Austin doesn't really exist for that short of a lease. We fooled around for a day looking on-line for something. We had Kit (boyfriend's mother), who's a real estate agent, looking for us. Finally, we resorted to Craigslist. That is an amazing website for any of you who haven't used it. You can probably find your great grandmother's teeth if you searched it correctly. Anyway, we found an apartment in Bastrop advertised on Craigslist which seemed to be willing to take short termers.



Another plus for us was to get out of Bee Caves. This is a very upscale neighborhood out amidst the hills of the Hill Country. It's a robust 30 minutes into downtown (Sarah's house) when the traffic is at it's lowest. In addition, there were very few choices of places to eat or shop. The washateria was 5 miles from the house. Then, there was the premium added to every purchase since you got your item at Bee Caves. What I was really missing was the convenience of day to day living in Hurst. Bee Caves made living in Bastrop look really attractive. It's 27 miles from the heart of downtown Austin, which makes it about the same drive to Sarah's house. Another Bastrop attraction was two nice golf courses with small town green fee prices.

The Bastrop brown stucco apartment complex, The Lodge in the Pines, was big without being gargantuan, and seemed well kept. We liked the model apartment. The first thing I learned is that apartments have changed. Now, I knew that Sarah and Jay have a spectacular apartment with super windows everywhere, and island kitchen and stainless steel appliances (turquoise has gone by the wayside - can't imagine why), but they live in downtown Austin - the high rent district. I didn't expect this Bastrop apartment to be any different than the tiny, dark Wirt Road apartment. I didn't expect 9 foot ceilings and one entire wall of the living room/dining room to be a window wall. I didn't expect two large bathrooms, and while the kitchen is still a slot, it's a wide slot, so it doesn't have that closed in feeling of being inside a toothpaste box.

Being favorably impressed as well as realizing we certainly weren't going to find anybody else to lease us a place for seven weeks, we settled down to review the lease. Actually, I reviewed the lease cracking jokes all the way. I got so out of control that Drake got nervous, afraid we might be viewed by the assistant manager (Charlotte) as terrorists. All because I told him he couldn't bring his explosives with us when we moved in. Now that's one thing that hasn't changed a bit: the lease is all in the favor of the landlord. If the tenants sneeze too loud, they can be evicted and forced to pay damages for the pain and suffering of the apartment building. Of course, it's not QUITE that unfair - but close. In the end, the apartment management really cut us a good deal. As an added bonus, we get to park our trailer in our 'other' parking slot, thus eliminating the need to rent trailer storage space. I would be deleriously happy if we could replicate this deal in Bellingham.

What has really impressed me though was the immaculate condition of our actual apartment when we arrived. It had been completely painted - correctly. They laid all new carpet and linoleum. All the appliances (white, thank God) were pristine as well as all the fixtures. Nothing leaks. Nothing is discolored or dingy. The complex's laundry room was equally clean and everything in it works! Another pleasant surprise were the number of electrical outlets in the apartment - one on each wall, sometimes two. That's a real benefit with two laptop computers in the family which constantly need recharging, not to mention the two cell phones.

We learned some things moving in. With Jay and Sarah's help, the move in was quick and smooth. We definitely needed the help which we'll hire when we get to Bellingham. It took the moving day itself for us to get set up to eat, sleep and get clean. It took half of a second day to decorate. We brought the right amount of furniture. The only thing I'm really missing is one bedside table. I'll probably buy that along with a desk when we move to Bellingham - off Craigslist - and then resell them when we leave. I'm glad I brought art for the walls. I could even use a few more pictures. I've devised an "entertainment center" out of tubs and a trunk for the TV, the DVR and the DVD player. I'm off to Austin tomorrow to buy a tablecloth to cover it and make it look better. The tubs (these are our Rubbermaid moving tubs that hold our stuff in the trailer) are stackable and surprisingly usable. For instance, I stacked 3 in my bedroom, and now I have a place to put my jewelry that's easily accessible as I change out necklaces every day.

Another surprise has been the food. Every restaurant we've eaten at has been excellent. We have discovered that Bastrophians are expected to eat lunch before 2 p.m. It's apparently nap time after that because 90% of the restaurants close their doors at 2 p.m. We went downtown to eat yesterday since my mission was to get a library card and the library is on the edge of downtown. We got there about 2:15 p.m and discovered that the Mexican restaurant we wanted to try had just closed. Surveying up and down the street, we finally had to resort to the few tables attached to the downtown sports bar. The menu was limited to say the least: a set of poorboys, a variety of burgers, chicken tenders and wings. We tried the tenders, and they turned out to be the best ones I've ever eaten. The batter was handmade and the tenders were handbreaded and fried up when ordered. Added bonus: Got to see the end of the NASCAR race at Texas Speedway and witness the big crash. Well, you take your entertainment where you can find it.

We're headed to Austin tomorrow just for fun, and to take our friend Cody to dinner. I'm really looking forward to seeing him.

Finally, I do have a personal mailing address for the next 6 weeks (until June 1st). Here it is:
3950 Highway 71 East #816, Bastrop, Texas 78602. You can just keep those cards and letters coming - after all, I'm writing you!