After putting in our earnest money and taking a drive by the house we’d just bought, we headed to Murfreesboro, a town about 30 minutes away to check in to our Airbnb. The lifestyle here is indeed different from the Bay Area. Franklin, the place of our first and second choice houses, is ridiculously nice….
Author: cjbickford
We Bought a House
On Friday morning, we found out that our offer on a 3200 square foot house on an acre of land in Franklin had been accepted. We have an inspection on Sunday, and if that goes well, we could pay for it and move in as soon as this Friday. For the last two days, we…
On Having Made It to Franklin
There comes a time when one tires of being on the road. Austin and Dallas were great, but as we pulled out, I also understood the satiric commentary in the Austin Lounge Lizard’s “Stupid Texas Song.” (You must look it up online — it is hilarious, particularly if you have been in Texas.) We met…
Dallas Cures Homesickness
It started to sink in that soon we’ll be in Tennessee, hoping that one of the houses we’ll be seeing soon will suit us and be in a friendly neighborhood. I awoke from a dream about our former house, still empty and bare as we left it, waiting to be filled with life again. I…
San Antonio Sucks But Austin Does Not
I really really wanted to like San Antonio. It is one of the hot places Californians are moving to, and second hand reports are positive. We were looking forward to strolling down the River Walk and stopping in at a pub for a late lunch. At a Starbucks just short of San Antonio, I looked…
New Mexico
The miles of road are blurring, as we’ve been driving east for a long time. Sometime before noon we crossed the Continental Divide. Around 2 pm Mountain Time we had run out of all sodas and we pulled in to Las Cruces for a late lunch and a break at Starbucks. While Peter worked on…
Tucson
We dallied out of the SLS, but I just realized to my horror that I left my entire make up kit behind. Eventually some phone calls located it and Chris mailed it to Peter’s parents. My cousin Tammy had given me 50 cents to bet on the slots, but we couldn’t find any slot machines…
Vegas, Baby
We got in to Las Vegas at 1:30 am and checked into the SLS Casino Hotel. Those who have lived in Las Vegas for a while would remember that it on the site of the old Sahara, which is now just a street name and old Vegas history. The SLS is either fashion forward or…
A Day in LA
After a good night’s rest and breakfast at Tammy’s we headed north to Los Angeles. Peter had made an appointment to see the studio of internet personality Bill Whittle, but it was like a scavenger hunt, in that we could not get the actual address until we were within 20 miles of the studio proper….
Sovang, UCLA and a family reunion
We woke up refreshed in our little Solvang hotel, and went out to try one of the many, many bakeries in the Danish village. Kelly (Scout) had never had a Napoleon pastry, so we took care to find one for her. Then we strolled past the shops. We found a Viking Cousin It scarecrow: And…