Wow, where to start.
We put our house on the market in Pierre on Valentines day and my last day at work was on March 2nd. We were supposed to start loading the truck on March 2nd but a major blizzard hit and I couldn't even get the truck. I got the truck the next day but it was cold and snowy and I ended up taking out the neighbors mailbox sliding around in a 26' truck with a 10' trailer on the back. It took us until March 6th to get the truck loaded and the house all cleaned up. When we left Pierre it was 20ยบ and snowy. We made it to Omaha the first night where I managed to get the truck stuck in the mud. I pulled up to see if there were rooms available at a hotel. The hotel was full and I thought I would circle the truck around the hotel and pull out the back way as it is nearly impossible to back that big of a truck with a trailer on back, up. When I got to the far side of the hotel the parking lot was even narrower and there was no way out. There was a 20' stretch of grass and then the parking lot for a Home Depot. I decided to drive across the grass rather than try to back out. The grass was muddy and the heavy truck sank right in. An hour and $60 later we were unstuck. I was in the truck with the two youngest boys. Richard, my oldest was driving the pick-up truck with Robert, my second oldest and the goldfish keeping Richard company. Sue and Amy were in the Van with the dog. We had walkie talkies that we used to talk back and forth with. March 7th we left Omaha and drove straight through to Dallas. After a few hours, we found a hotel where we could park the truck and bring the dog in. (That was a Wednesday) Thursday, March 8th and Friday, the 9th we looked at rental houses. The rental market was pretty bleak. To get a house big enough for all of us would have cost us $1500 to $2000 a month. The agent that was working with us said he knew a banker that would give us a loan on a house even though we still had a house in South Dakota. So Saturday, March 10th we started looking at houses to buy. Amazingly, we found a house we liked, could afford, was empty and the owner was willing to let us rent it until we closed. I was getting worried as we were paying $300 a night to say at the hotel, Uhaul was angry and wanted their truck back, and I was supposed to start work on Monday, March 12. Our offer on the house was accepted Sunday afternoon. I left for work from the Hotel and came home to our new house. Sue and the kids got the keys from the realtor, checked out of the hotel and started unpacking. That first week was a long one. Lots to learn at work, lots to do at home. We closed on the house on March 24th and are now making two house payments.
Everyone seems to love Texas. Right now the weather is perfect, it has been in the 60's, 70's and 80's so far. They tell us that summers here are hell. Summers were very warm in South Dakota so I am not overly concerned about that. We will see how it goes as we get further into the summer.
We put our house on the market in Pierre on Valentines day and my last day at work was on March 2nd. We were supposed to start loading the truck on March 2nd but a major blizzard hit and I couldn't even get the truck. I got the truck the next day but it was cold and snowy and I ended up taking out the neighbors mailbox sliding around in a 26' truck with a 10' trailer on the back. It took us until March 6th to get the truck loaded and the house all cleaned up. When we left Pierre it was 20ยบ and snowy. We made it to Omaha the first night where I managed to get the truck stuck in the mud. I pulled up to see if there were rooms available at a hotel. The hotel was full and I thought I would circle the truck around the hotel and pull out the back way as it is nearly impossible to back that big of a truck with a trailer on back, up. When I got to the far side of the hotel the parking lot was even narrower and there was no way out. There was a 20' stretch of grass and then the parking lot for a Home Depot. I decided to drive across the grass rather than try to back out. The grass was muddy and the heavy truck sank right in. An hour and $60 later we were unstuck. I was in the truck with the two youngest boys. Richard, my oldest was driving the pick-up truck with Robert, my second oldest and the goldfish keeping Richard company. Sue and Amy were in the Van with the dog. We had walkie talkies that we used to talk back and forth with. March 7th we left Omaha and drove straight through to Dallas. After a few hours, we found a hotel where we could park the truck and bring the dog in. (That was a Wednesday) Thursday, March 8th and Friday, the 9th we looked at rental houses. The rental market was pretty bleak. To get a house big enough for all of us would have cost us $1500 to $2000 a month. The agent that was working with us said he knew a banker that would give us a loan on a house even though we still had a house in South Dakota. So Saturday, March 10th we started looking at houses to buy. Amazingly, we found a house we liked, could afford, was empty and the owner was willing to let us rent it until we closed. I was getting worried as we were paying $300 a night to say at the hotel, Uhaul was angry and wanted their truck back, and I was supposed to start work on Monday, March 12. Our offer on the house was accepted Sunday afternoon. I left for work from the Hotel and came home to our new house. Sue and the kids got the keys from the realtor, checked out of the hotel and started unpacking. That first week was a long one. Lots to learn at work, lots to do at home. We closed on the house on March 24th and are now making two house payments.
Everyone seems to love Texas. Right now the weather is perfect, it has been in the 60's, 70's and 80's so far. They tell us that summers here are hell. Summers were very warm in South Dakota so I am not overly concerned about that. We will see how it goes as we get further into the summer.
