Sacramento

After much ado (missing our connection in Atlanta and heading to SL instead), we finally arrived in Sacramento on Monday at noon. My friend Erik Larson picked us up from the airport. He started in our car, then called us and told us it was beeping and making strange grinding noises. I was a little worried that would throw off our plans--no way to go get the trailer--and more so that all the money we saved by "do-it-yourself" Subaru trailer pulling would be overshadowed by the price of a new transmission.

Once I had a chance to evaluate it myself I quickly recognized that the beeping was easily silenced by fastening the ghost passenger's seat belt, and the grinding was reminiscent of other times we have let our car sit for extended periods of time. It soon went away.

We had super spicy Mexican food with Erik, got the apartment keys, picked up the trailer and hung out with Emily a bit, and dragged the bed into the house at 11 pm just in time to crash. Kate has come down with something and has been feeling miserable during the entire process.

Yesterday we finally emptied the first box, and used our handy trailer to pick up a leather couch and chair (a steal), and then today a dining table with chairs. We're quite happy with them. The trailer has also come in handy because there's not enough room to store all the boxes while we unpack.

On entering the apartment, we made a few discoveries: Sal's closet is big enough for a pack n play (read: is worth its weight in gold), we do in fact have central air, the yard is 99% shaded by three beautiful trees including an orange tree, the bedrooms are not actually that small, the floors don't creak, and all the windows are nice and new. The main feature missing is any type of dining area, so the living room will have to share duties.

We're about a minute from the freeway and super close to the med center. Trader Joes is a five minute drive away, and there is a park with a duck pond within walking distance. Yesterday was over 100 degrees but that is really disguised by our shade and the evenings are, well, delectable. Sacramento in general is loaded with trees. We were fond of a lot about Cleveland but we already feel like this fits us better. If only we could drag our friends along.

I met the other PM&R intern, Brian, and he seems like a great guy. He rotated here and loves the sports program--he says they're pushing hard to move ahead with musculoskeletal ultrasound. So there is a Brian and and Erik, and my neighbor is named Becky. Not a bad start.

I'm looking forward to riding the river trail when we settle in a bit. Hopefully the plastic kiddie pool will keep Milo happy enough for me to slip away. Come on down and visit--I'll try to find the sprinkler box so we can tent in the yard without getting soaked.