Moving from East to West

Over the past couple of months we’ve considered where we’d like to live in the US. I wanted to try the East coast before making a decision about which coast we’d prefer, since coastal life is our first choice. As much as we enjoyed Virginia Beach, VA and Wilmington, NC, recent family developments convinced us that California is for us, so we’re moving to Eureka, CA for now. (I’m going to be a grandma.)

We stopped in Wheaton, IL for a few days to pack and re-pack, getting items from our storage unit, and leaving other things behind. We stayed with our friend Peggy, and had a wonderful time for such a short stay. One evening was a book discussion with our Wheaton-Glen Ellyn AAUW non-fiction book group. We all read Code Breaker, by Walter Isaacson, about the 2020 Nobel prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and the development of CRISPR gene-editing. The next night was a the AAUW Spice Routes group dinner. Twice yearly, participants hold a themed potluck focusing on the cuisine of a particular region. Our theme was tapas, and we ate small plates from Spain and Portugal, from gravlax to anchovies, accompanied by flan and sangria. This was also a chance for me to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen for some time. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our impending move to new surroundings, though it reminds me how much we’ll miss our Wheaton friends.

Early on Saturday we headed to the airport. We flew to Denver, then to Eureka, and were in our new Airbnb by 1:30 pm (Pacific Time). It had been an early start, and by the time we unloaded our luggage, unpacked, and did a bit of shopping, the day was over and the time change had tired us out. It drizzled on and off all day, and we were reminded of how much warmer the weather had been in our previous locations.

Our new house is bright and comfortable, and we may be the first occupants after a recent renovation. We have an extra bedroom, a bit of outdoor space, and even a garage for our rental car. Airbnb owners often keep a home’s garage for personal storage, so it’s unusual to have one available.

Our house in Wilmington was full of plants, art, and household accumulation, and our Eureka house is just about the opposite, furnished, but with space to add some of our own things. Monday is Memorial Day, and everything is closed, but on Tuesday we begin the process of deciding whether to stay in this house indefinitely and looking at other housing options in the area.

Buy, rent? Thoughts, advice?