Northwest Girl in the Desert

I never thought  that I would move to the desert.  It just was never a place that I saw myself.  But a series of unexpected events has lead me here, and I'm making the most of it.  Nine months ago I fell head over heals in love, and we were blissfully living our lives in Portland when an opportunity in Phoenix came along.  After some discussion as to whether we could stand to live in a place like Phoenix (it was determined in about 2 seconds that no one was going anywhere without the other) we decided to give it a shot.  Luckily I had several months to process the idea of the move.  Due to school commitments, I stayed behind in Portland for a few weeks while he forged ahead to start our new life in Arizona.

We drove the 1400 mile drive to get here.  Twice.  The first time on our way to get him set up and started at his new job.  Then I flew back to Oregon.  The second time we drove my car, along with our 2 cats.  Surprisingly, not as much of a nightmare as it sounds.  The cats were troopers, and by the end of the second day they were traveling professionals.

 We swung by the California Coast on our way down.  Just a quick 150 miles out of our way.  We thought.

 Driving through a wind farm.  I have a thing for wind power.

Welcome to AZ!

He's a desert cat now.

In the few weeks he had been in AZ before I arrived, he had found a nice place for us to live, and so we arrived late on a hot Sunday night to our new condo.  The cats liked the cool tile floors.

Going from living in the middle of a small city to the suburbs of a huge city is going to take some getting used to.  The shear distance can be daunting.  We drove 20 miles this weekend to check out a hot brunch spot - which turned out to be a huge disappointment.  We are almost-but-not-quite foodies - and Portland has an endless supply of delicious, local restaurants.  In Phoenix, especially the part where we live, it has been a challenge.  Most places are either national chains, or local places that are just slightly...off.  I have been yelping up a storm, but I have found that the AZ yelpers and I do not always see eye to eye.  But I have some hope, as we have found a few gems. 

Some other things that will take some getting used to:  The Heat: Holy Shit.  The Water: Gross.  The Drivers:  Frightening.

Things that are new and fun:  Grilling on our new Weber in the driveway.  Night-swimming in our pool after dark (too hot to swim during the day).  And did you know Arizona has a Monsoon season?  That's new...

Our First Dust Storm.