Another neighborhood thread

[Tipsy McStagger]

Ok, home with a proper keyboard. Everything went better than expected. Really hit it off with the property owners who are right around our age, and the area (Blue Heron Bay area in the SW corner of L.O.) was much prettier and flatter than I was expecting. Took me about 15 minutes door to door to my hotel downtown and discovered a "back route" to the airport down through West Linn and up 205. Avoids the bridges downtown. That's great. The area is much quieter than the otherwise similar area in which we now live. No jet noise, less freeway noise, etc. That is also great.

Had a couple beers while we solved life's problems. Just genuinely good people and not some crappy property management company. We were NOT looking forward to renting again at this point but this is a place where we could be comfortable for an extended period of time. Signed a year lease with a reasonable break lease clause in the event we find a home we want to buy prior to that. House couldn't be more well suited to us, unfortunately they have no interest in selling it anytime soon. Hands down better than anything we have seen on the market in our price range. In the interim, this will be a damn nice place to live. It checks all the boxes for us and that's no small thing. It's a place where, if things go well, we could easily rent for a couple three years and be perfectly satisfied. They put a tremendous amount of thought and sweat into the home...it was not intended as a rental and it shows in the details.

We are now set on an early October move and really looking forward to it.

Everything did work out for the best.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Leaving here Friday 10/4 and arriving in Lake Oswego 10/6 with our stuff being moved in the next morning. House goes on the market tomorrow. So that should be interesting. Will arrive just in time for the rain!

Sold the snowblower and threw in the roof rake to sweeten the deal. Second car is sold. I'm keeping the 48" snow pusher and the shovel because hey, you never know.

After all the bullcrap involved in getting a house ready for market, it will be a relief to just rent a nice pad for a while while we get our bearings.

We already have people coming out to visit before Thanksgiving. SIL and her boyfriend, and the MIL and her husband the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad.

On the plus side, we will need a vacation soonly and Alaska is cheap direct to Honolulu, and they mile share with Delta. On a similar note is a trip into eastern Oregon for the weekend a good idea with the dogs in mind and during winter?

[Tipsy McStagger]

Been here a couple weeks now and settling in nicely. Really enjoying ourselves and like where we are living in LO more than either of us thought we would. We do feel a bit isolated from the goings on in Portland but that was to be expected and the drive to things isn't bad at all. Prefer driving up 43 over the 5 even if it takes longer. Super friendly neighbors though they skew quite a bit older than us. They all love our dogs and we have some gorgeous running routes from the front door that are reasonably flat, and huge playing fields for the dogs at a school less than a mile away. Every day there is a group that meets there with their half dozen or so Border Collies and Aussie Shepherds and it seems to be an unspoken rule that dogs are allowed there off leash as we have seen many, especially on the weekend.

Have done three hikes with the dogs off leash at Forest Park in the 4-6 mile range which were excellent, and kept them on leash at Tryon both times. Ate at Roe tonight, Park House last weekend, Lucky Lab in Multnomah village with the doggies for dinner one night and their sandwich shop for lunch, Babica Hen in LO for lunch, lakefront in LO with the dogs at Stickman after walking around the little downtown area. Found a place on east Burnside called Meat for the dogs' raw food. I'm probably missing a couple restaurants and there was quite a bit of delivery food in the first few days.

Obviously we haven't hit the meaty part of the rainy season yet but so far it has been great. It's just drop dead gorgeous around here and even days like today with some good rain, we were able to squeeze in a 5.5 mile run before the sky opened up and probably could have even run a while after that. Seems like if you keep on top of the weather you should be able to get out many days without getting too wet and even then, not the end of the world. Heard a bit of thunder today, even! I guess there was a tornado somewhere. Just like home.

Our house is perfect for us which helps the transition though the dogs have whipped the back lawn into a mud pit already. Thankfully, half the yard is bark chips.

Now we have to do all the boring stuff like register the car, get drivers' and dog licenses, vote, etc.

Great place so far. Every time I hit the Safeway or Albertsons or Zupans or walk the dogs there are people striking up conversation out of nowhere.

[Winnyard Bletch]

Originally Posted by Tipsy McStagger

Every day there is a group that meets there with their half dozen or so Border Collies and Aussie Shepherds and it seems to be an unspoken rule that dogs are allowed there off leash as we have seen many, especially on the weekend.

Isnt it great to live in a place where being white and having a dog means you are above respecting basic rules designed to make public parks enjoyable for everyone?
Portland gets worse every day.

[Metlakatla]

Try Saint Honore Bakery in LO too.