The Great Northwest Move Part 3: Settling In and Checking Out Some of the Local Color

 

So, I'm here on Whidbey Island---but my stuff is not. What to do? What to do? Actually, there has been a LOT to do. First and foremost though, I've taken the 'down time' and put it to good use, starting on my Christmas cards. There will be well over 100 cards written and sent by yours truly during this holiday season. (Oh the joy... UGH!)

I've also been going through and unpacking (what I can) some of the stuff I brought up here beforehand or when I actually made the final move up in the car. A lot of it has no where to go yet. But some of it I can find homes for.

The garbage and recycling programs are different here, which is why there is a large pile of recycling near the refrigerator in the photo below. Most of the booze below in the foreground has been unpacked and put away.

The dining room is largely empty. I have a long folding table in the house to use for Thanksgiving or, if the movers arrive before Turkey Day, the space can be used to unload my trillions of boxes.

The house is nice, but it has issues. My mom was originally planning on making it an Air B&B home, but before she finished working on it, the town of Coupeville outlawed Air B&Bs within the city limits -- unless permits for such a venture were taken out before the rule went into effect. So, instead of an Air B&B, it became a storage facility of sorts for my mom (who has been hauling around stuff from an old business,  my grandmother's stuff, stuff of my brother's, etc in addition to the Air B&B stuff). So, in addition to the house not being fully repaired and ready to go (which is fine), it also had a lot of stuff in it when I moved in. (Which is also fine.) For example, the photo below is the door that goes out to the garage. Notice there is a red cloth jammed in to where there should be a door knob.

In the living room, we have a variety of lamps, chairs, seat cushions and framed pictures. I'm dealing with it. Erich's placed the cushions in an upstairs closet. Mom took home all of the old pictures. Slowly but surely it will come together.

The garage, as you can see, is also full of stuff that is not mine. But that is okay. I'm not in any rush to have access to it. 

What we are doing is trying to get used to the house. A brand new toaster oven, for example, that my mom left for us (which she picked up at a thrift store amazingly) was infuriating the heck out of Erich. He couldn't get it to change function or temperature...and then he realized the display sticker has still stuck to it. Ha!

The Baptist church down the block from me rings pre-recorded church bells every hour from 8 am until 8 pm. There's also this weird musical interlude (also pre-recorded) at noon and again at 6 pm.  So much for sleeping in the first few mornings. Now, I don't always hear it.

On my first full day here, the sun was shining (after two long days of driving in the rain). Erich decided to go on a walk. (The island is great for hiking.) So I decided to swing by downtown and say 'Hello.'

Nothing had changed much. It was still the same ol' Coupeville more or less. (It is the 2nd oldest town in Washington, by the way.)

I still walked about anyway. (I knew I'd need photos for this blog--if nothing else. Ha!)

Although you can't tell here, I was amazed that in the off season, the downtown area was still full of tourists. Yes, it was a Sunday--but it was cold! That didn't seem to be keeping anyone away...

I did a little shopping, noticing that my favorite store, Out Of This World, was gone. Replacing it, one building over, was the similar, yet smaller (and not nearly as good--but what are you going to do?) Laughing Admiral. 

I stopped by Kapaw's Iskreme. It was the last day of the season they were open. I was hoping I'd make it before they closed for the winter.

Kapaw's makes all of their own ice cream. All that was left was orange sherbet. That's okay. I was thrilled to get it. The place reopens March 1st and I am looking forward to going back.

Although I am two doors down from the town's library, there's a little honor system free library downtown where anyone can borrow a book to read or leave a book. Very cute.

Previously I mentioned how the town goes all out for Halloween. Christmas is also a big holiday, of course. The annual Christmas Parade is coming December 4th. It goes right in front of my brother's house and right near mine. However, this year I won't be able to see it as I will hopefully be in the town of Leavenworth for Krampus Nacht! Ha!

The post office here is... odd. I would say it is slow or disorganized---but I want to give it a chance. I will say that I've had things show up in tracking as being delivered or that I picked them up...when neither is the case. The first mail I got was amazingly delivered on a Sunday (!?!). This last Sunday, I also had a delivery.  I've even had two mail deliveries on one day once. Letter-sized mail seems to be the slowest at getting delivered, but packages seem to get through (a day or two later than they are supposed to arrive). There have been a couple of times when the packages have looked like they were opened and then re-taped shut again. Hmm.

While my mom has given me this house to use (I'll be paying towards the mortgage, of course, as soon as I sell my house in California.)--and it's a nice big house--my room is in the addition on the right side. Directly below my room is a studio apartment that mom also rents out to generate income.

I've not met the lady renter below yet, although I know her name is Pam. She moved her from Utah or Montana--someplace like that--and is, I believe, an ultrasound technician. You can see my bedroom windows are directly above the deck and entrance to her apartment. It's weird having someone below me. I am really super self conscious of it all. I can hear her TV and phone conversations and flushing the toilet. The sounds are muffled, but they still travel up. I worry about her being bothered by my snoring, phone calls, walking about, and even peeing. The first night I was here, I got up to pee and realized how loud my urine falling into the toilet bowl is. Now, if I have to go, I sit and go in order to be quiet and I leave it until morning before I flush. During the day, I use the little bathroom off of the hall near the door so I'm not so noisy.

I have not met her yet, but I know she is away from her family. So, through Mom, I've invited her for Thanksgiving. How could I not? I did catch a quick glimpse of her as she was returning from taking out her garbage. 

We will see how Thanksgiving goes. I have a very bad feeling that my stuff--all of the boxes and furniture--will arrive the day before Thanksgiving and we will be overwhelmed with my crap. I hope it won't be the case...but with my luck, it will be.

There are deer everywhere here. They are not afraid at all, although they are watchful.

I know I am in the minority here. Most people find them a nuisance. I find them fascinating and sweet. Yes, they eat everything (and keep breeding). I feed them, sort of. Apple cores or persimmons that have gotten too ripe and other produce refuse I leave in the yard for them. It always seems to disappear. Since they do not have green recycling here on the island, this is my own version.

But the deer just freely roam around, crossing the streets whenever and wherever they like. Here they are in the street in front of the library, not far from my house.

Oak Harbor is the nearest town. It's 10 miles to the north, but it doesn't seem that far at all. The drive is pleasant--except when there is traffic. Oak Harbor is the largest town on the island and not very pretty. There is a naval air force base there, and the town has grown to cater to the base with strip malls, fast food joints, and the like. 

When we were here for that one day in October, we stopped to check out the new Used Food Store (my name for the Grocery Outlet), which had just opened up. As we were walking in, I heard someone behind me shouting "Outta my way!" I turned to see this rather large woman with magenta hair and matching muumuu slamming her hand down on the hood of a car that was entering the parking lot, as if she were able to stop it with superhuman strength. "I gotta go to the bathroom!" She then came charging up towards the door.

I didn't know what to do. She was behind me and clearly in a hurry. Should I pull over and let her pass or hurry on in through the door? She saw me and let me hobble on through the entrance before she entered and tore off to the left where the public restrooms are (clearly being familiar with them already, despite the newness of the store.)

She was in there quite a long time (and, while I'm not sure, I wouldn't be surprised if a hazmat team might have needed to be called in afterwards). We went through the entire store, row by row. We got to the wine section and decided to purchase this one wine we liked and were delightfully surprised to have come across. However, I had forgotten to bring in shopping bags. Erich went out to get them. When he returned, he said he saw her just coming out of the bathrooms. 

Erich and I were just beside ourselves in amusement by the random weirdness of the scene in the parking lot with this bizarre woman. (She really looked like something straight out of Gary Larson's "Far Side" comic strip.) We were laughing and somehow she was dubbed Oak Harbor Sally, the name taken from the beauty supply store across the street. We still joke about her and have been keeping an eye out for her ever since. This alone always makes an excursion to Oak Harbor an adventure.

As the local metropolis, Oak Harbor may not be much. However, we have found a few good places to eat. One place near the local movie theater, Esteban's, turned out to be a surprisingly good take on Mexican food. There is another, more popular (and nicer looking) Mexican eatery in town that is so sub par. But the two times we've eaten at Esteban's (in the two weeks that I've been here), both times have been delicious. 

The food was plentiful and tasty. Some dishes were, of course, better than others. But by and large we were impressed and knew we had found a good place. (Hooray! Because I love Mexican food.)

The only criticism was in the flavored margaritas. The first time we went, I had a huckleberry margarita. Sounds fabulous, right? Eh... It was just some too-sweet, flavored syrup. I drank it, but the next one I had was the plain, ol', original, which was just fine.

Another surprise gem we happened upon (and have also dined at twice) is the Mai Thai. We drove by it on a very cold night. Erich was wanting soup and I, Mr. Tiki fan, liked the clever word play on the name of the place. We ended up stopping and had a yummy dinner (complete with a coconut milk and shrimp soup). 

The second visit was also good. We had a different shrimp dish this time. In both instances, they were very generous with them.

The only problem with the place we had is that on both visits, they seemed to not understand what "family style" dining was. We had to ask for extra bowls and plates so we could both eat and share the various dishes that we had ordered.

In the land of Oak Harbor Sally, there are sure to be other things that amuse us or strike our funny bones. After a particularly awful day, I decided to take Erich to Applebee's for dinner. (I had a gift card for it I had come across in the move...) While we were pulling in, we realized we were behind a stretch limousine. At Applebee's? Too funny. We parked and spotted it pulling around the front of the building. Was it prom night? Winter formal? A marriage proposal night or someone's birthday? Before long, this dumpy, heavyset couple came out. The guy had on a sweatshirt pulled over his potbelly and board shorts. The woman wasn't dressed much different. High glamour and a night on the town...

Another spot that always makes me smile when I see it is the Roller Barn. Ha! Of course, I do have to say that there is an annual haunted house at the Roller Barn that is quite well done. I had the opportunity to go a few years ago and it was great. I missed it this last Halloween, but look forward to maybe visiting it again next season.

Of course, just because we are on an island does not mean we are limited by what is in Coupeville, Oak Harbor or any of the other other island communities. We can go (Gasp!) off island if we want or need to. It just takes soooo long to get anywhere. 

We went to Burlington, which is the closest town of size to the north side of the island (which has a bridge). It takes about an hour to get there. In Burlington, there's a Costco, a 14-screen cinema, and a Fred Meyer (at which I am now a card-carrying member). We went shopping in Fred Meyer's (which is a major grocery store as well as a large department store. It's like a Target on steroids, I suppose.) men's department. I need to figure out warm clothes. It was nothing but a sea of flannel and more flannel. I just could NOT do it. Me? FLANNEL? Blah! Here it was, a very cold and rainy day. I was wearing a heavy coat, but underneath it all I had on was a thin Hawaiian shirt. It's hard/painful for me to put on pullover shirts. But really, there must be an alternative to flannel. I'll figure out the clothes thing sooner or later...or freeze in the process. God, whoever thought I might seriously one day be considering long johns? It's not happening yet--but who knows what may happen down the road.

On another occasion, a former co-worker of mine, Kristen, was in the area and wanted to meet up. I suggested this (new to me) tiki bar (of course) in Edmonds, not too far from where she was visiting her parents in Lynnwood. 

I told her I'd leave early to have plenty of time to get there. She said her parents told her that it is only a half hour to Whidbey Island. No, I corrected her. It's only a half hour to the ferry. Then you have to wait for your turn to board, make the crossing, and then you have the long 30-45 minute drive north to Coupeville. Coming and going, it took me nearly 2 hours each way. 

As for me personally, I think moving here may have been a mistake. While it is great being near my family (Well, my brother hasn't bothered with me yet.), I don't think physically this is the best fit for me with my health issues. The reason I came here was in case I need help down the road getting around because of my neuro-muscular disease. Well, the bone-chilling cold really seems to have aggravated my condition. I am always wearing my heavy coat and gloves--and even then I am still so cold. The cold and the damp have really swollen my joints. My hands, knees, shoulders, elbows and hips always hurt. I was in constant pain before--but here I seem to be in two or three times the amount of pain. My knees are the worst. Sitting down or, especially, getting up out of a chair or a car has gotten so much harder for me. And there's something weird going on with my left knee. It seems to be catching on something as I walk and the pain is just horrible. 

I'm sticking it out though, for this winter at least--but I may have to copy my cousin Michael and his wife Annette in Spokane and become a "snow bird" in the winters to come, spending the colder season in a warmer climate.

But at the end of the day, this is my new home. For better or worse, I am trying to get used to it.

Next: Shirley's Ordeal and the Huge Storm.