We're Here.... catch up post

We're sitting in Lexington Coffee catching up with our email and I'm finally getting the chance to write the news of the last five days.  I've enjoyed not having the distraction of a TV at the rental, but internet would be nice.  Maybe we'll (ie Joe) will have that figured out for our next trip up.

For the second day of the trip, we continued to cruise along at a whopping top speed of 70 mph.

So thanks speed governor on the Penske and frequent fuel fill-ups and bathroom breaks, the normally 15.5 hour trip took 19!

Here's the truck mingling with the big boys.....

We arrived in Lexington in the early evening on Friday PM and met Clark and Raeanna at the rental house.  Raeanna was in town visiting on her Mardi Gras break so it was a treat to see both of them.  I'm not sure what they're going to do about graduate and med schools but I hope they know that I love them and know that they can't make a "wrong" decision.

We hadn't seen the house in person yet, and so were relieved that our Craigslist find was perfect!  It's bright and cheerful and will be a nice place to roost for a while.  It's pretty new and is clean both inside and out,  the neighborhood seems great and there is plenty of space thanks to the cavernous basement and the big garage.   

We had packed a mattress and a few garbage bags with sheets, pillows etc at the back of the truck so with a minimum of fuss, Joe and Clark put a mattress on the floor of one of the bedrooms and we were set for the night.  

Dinner at the Palms with Clark and Raeanna and then we went back to the house and unpacked a few boxes before calling it a night.

The next morning, our reinforcements arrived!!!  

Eight pledges from Lambda Chi came out and within a quick two hours we had not only the truck unloaded but also one trip from the storage pod. 

We'd probably still be unloading if it hadn't been for their help!

Hopefully they liked this pledge requirement better than some of the drudge work that the older brothers find for them to do.  

We truly appreciated their good-natured cheerful help.  

The remainder of the day was spent unpacking and arranging furniture, but we called it quits that night with a nice dinner at the Bistro with Raeanna and Clark.... Raeanna was headed back to NO on an early flight from Charlottesville so we bid her goodbye at the restaurant.

We attended church on Sunday and met a few people whose names I hope I can remember next week!

On Monday, it was time to get some food in the house and since the Farmer's Market hasn't started up yet, we went by Donald's Meats where we were able to buy local beef, chicken, eggs, honey, milk and rolls.  Later in the day we drove out to the property and yes, I still love our piece of land.... it just "feels right" out there and already seems a bit like "home" in an odd sort of way.

Tuesday we went back to the land and met Tom (our builder), Danny Mc and a guy from VDOT re the driveway and excavation work.  Then it was off to Southern Inn for lunch with Tom where we got our preliminary bid on building the house.  Ouch!  We expected high, but not quite that high.  Not building it isn't really an option, but there will be some major cuts.  Major.  We're not talking amputation, but some serious cuts are in order.

Tuesday night we made the 10 minute jaunt in to W&L for an evening lecture presented through the Environmental Studies Department where we heard Ned Tillman speak about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and bought a copy of his book The Chesapeake Watershed:  A Sense of Place and a Call to Action.  We've said that we intend to stay busy, learn and be vital parts of the community so this was a good first step.

The bulk of our work is done.  The boxes are unpacked although we still need to organize the ones that will stay packed in basement and the garage a little better.  Biggs and Atta are getting plenty of walks so we're also getting a little more exercise than usual!

Still hopeful we can get the price of the house down to a doable number and we're forging ahead.  There was another showing on the Louisiana house yesterday, but no word from our realtor about what occurred.