A Week in Pierre

Today marks two weeks we've been here, but let's not get ahead of ourselves! We woke up Saturday morning in our new home, on air mattresses lent by a co-worker I had met over lunch in March and couldn't have put a face to her name! It was interesting sleeping on it--it squeaked a lot on the floor and made a lot of noise, and I thought we would never be able to sleep again. The cats were going crazy, so we found their food dishes and fed them, and once everyone was up and breakfast consumed by the humans, we decided to walk down to Capitol Lake and see the ducks. Pierre is the second smallest state capitol in the country, and the capitol complex itself is quite lovely. The Capitol building rises with its stately dome over a gorgeous little park with a small lake. Ducks, catfish, and turtles have made the lake home, and we enjoyed our first walk down there, pledging to come back with actual food for the ducks the next day. From our house to the lake is about four blocks, and we walk past the governor's mansion to get there, so we bid her good morning (from our side of the fence of course!) and sent her some subliminal messages as we walked past her place. (No, we did not actually see the Governor, just waved in the general direction we thought she might be in).

As soon as we were done, we optimistically piled into the car to go furniture shopping. We had sold or given away a great deal of the furniture we had in NY, as we didn't want to pay to move it, and so it was time to buy a dining room set, living room set, and bedroom set.  Pierre has two furniture shops in town as well as a couple of thrift shops, so we started at the thrift shops hoping we'd get lucky.  We didn't.  Now, we could furnish the house cheap and fast by doing yard sales, and in fact, I'm on a couple of yard sale sites, but we really want to actually decorate our house, so we had settled on cottage style before we got here.  We had looked at a bunch of furniture on line before we arrived, and we thought it would be fairly easy to just go pick things out.  So we set off for Ashley Furniture.

We walked around the store and came upon a dining room set we all three agreed was just right.  We had taken measurements of the dining room and measured the table and it seemed it would fit.  The only downside was that it came with a bench on one side instead of two chairs, but we talked to the salesman and he said we could certainly swap it out, so that's what we did.  We looked at the bedroom set I was convinced I would love when I saw it online, only to discover I didn't actually care for it.  So we bought the dining room set, set up delivery for the following Friday, and headed for Slumberland.

The salesman at Slumberland was a young kid, very enthusiastic and talked our ears off about Pierre and all kinds of things not really pertaining to furniture.  We walked through the showroom and I stumbled upon a rocking and swiveling arm chair, and I just loved it and that was it. Sold!  We walked a bit more and came upon an upholstered blue arm chair that just sort of invited you to sink into it, and again, sold!  We thought we wouldn't find a living room set, but ultimately on our way back towards the door, we found a really nice couch and chaise (I call it my fainting couch) and all three of us agreed that it was comfy and perfect and just right for our basement, so we bought those as well.  

We went to pay for everything, and although we could take the chairs home (if we could transport them), we couldn't actually get the living room set until mid-July.  Given that we were sitting in zero gravity lawn chairs from Walmart, this seemed like a long time off, but the fact that all three of us agreed on furniture was also something of a miracle, so we decided to buy it and just wait it out.  Mary offered Keith and his truck to pick up the chairs the next day, so at least we wouldn't be totally uncomfortable.  

That's pictures of the set we did get!  Next step is to learn how to get the cats, specifically Stepstool, to not scratch them up!

At this point, Leah was more or less done, so we decided to go have lunch which we enjoyed at a local Mexican place called Gallo's.  There is a sweet little downtown area in Pierre and it is located there, as opposed to the more commercial main drag.  We all had virgin margaritas and pina coladas, and celebrated a successful shopping morning.  Then we took Leah home and did a little more shopping, which yielded a shelf and a desk.

We took them home and I had thought we'd be able to put the microwave on the shelf, but it wasn't deep enough, so we took it downstairs and set up the TV.  We also put the desk downstairs and got Leah's computer set up, and Greg and I did battle with the cable modem, and soon the house was full of glorious WiFi.  Unfortunately, the Roku wasn't cooperating!  So no TV that night.  (Turned out the batteries in the remote died!)  As we still didn't have our comfy chairs, we trotted the lawn chairs down to the basement and hung out down there before calling it a night and going to bed.

Sunday morning, we returned to Capitol Lake armed with chips and bread for the ducks.  It was absolutely perfect and gorgeous weather, and the ducks were, of course, happy to see us, and we whispered some greetings to the Governor as we strolled past her party pad.

I had read on one of the yard sale sites that there was an estate auction in Ft. Pierre, just over the river, so when we got home, we rolled over there.  There wasn't a TON of stuff that they had that we wanted, but I wanted an old trunk to use as a coffee table, and I found a cute little table that I thought would fit 'somewhere'...  I managed to win both of them for the price I had set and we even managed to fit them in the car!  Afterwards, we went over to Keith and Mary's and Keith got his truck revved up and we headed to Slumberland and GOT MY CHAIRS!  It was a tight squeeze getting them downstairs--our basement stairs and hallway are very narrow and for a hot minute, it didn't look like my rocker was going down there.  Fortunately Keith came armed with tools, we took the base off, got it into the family room, and put it back together.  Voila!

The rest of Sunday was spent trying to relax and chill before I started work Monday morning.  One note of excitement was that we have a neighborhood full of cats, and two of them belonged to the previous owner.  One of them, a fluffy white guy was living under our deck, and we started feeding him.  He deposited a massive fur ball on our deck, which we saw was matted with fecal material and some sort of brambles.  Upon getting friendly with him, we noticed that his back leg was in REAL bad shape and his fur was horrible.  I called animal control and they said that if we could catch him, they'd send a police officer over.  So we coaxed him out, boxed him, and the cops did arrive!  They sent a cop who didn't like cats all that much, so we had a good chuckle with him over that, but he took the cat off to the vet to get cleaned up and he will hopefully be adopted out in due course.  

 Preparing for work, I was a nervous wreck, as I knew expectations were running high for me over there, and I wanted to make a good first impression.  I also haven't worked full time in 12 years since Leah was born and hardly at all last year, so I was worried about the adjustment.

Monday morning dawned.  I was up and at 'em early and headed over to the library just on time, where I met Brenda, the other senior librarian and Cheyenne, the other new employee starting that day.  We took a tour of the library and I greeted my crew briefly.  The day passed by really fast, and I had lunch alone in my little office, as I hadn't realized that everyone leaves for their one hour lunch break.  After lunch, I met with the crew for an all staff meeting (they hate the word team, so they have dubbed themselves Kate's Crew), and by then, it was about time to go!  I had a really, really amazing first week of work, and such a beautiful and warm welcome, it was like an absolute dream.  Every single person on all levels is just great to work with.  It is a maze in the office part of the library, so I did get lost a couple times, but everyone just turned me around and got me moving.  It's been awesome.

My office before I fill it with 'stuff'

When I got home, we went to Zesto's, the local ice cream institution and enjoyed blackberry twist ice cream to celebrate a successful first day.  It was so delish!  It's also probably walkable from our house, but Leah sent us her order, so we drove to get home before it melted.

NOT my picture of Zesto

 Tuesday night was time for our first game with the Pierre Trappers--the local baseball team.  Hyde Stadium is just across from Capitol Lake, so we decided to walk down to the game, and Leah decided to stay home. (She's developed an almost-phobia about being around groups of people).  Greg and I had dinner at the game and we had a blast.  I kept up a running commentary and asked him his opinion about what plays they should make, and he charitably laughed throughout.

Around this time, we realized we were heading into a three day weekend and needed a plan besides "sit around a house with no furniture".  We decided we'd do Wall Drug, since just about everyone we knew asked us from the time we announced we were heading to SD "Are you going to Wall Drug?" or "You have to go to Wall Drug!"  Since the Badlands are nearby, we decided to make a two day trip of it, and i had a free night via Hotels.com and we were going to sleep on a real bed!  (By this point, however, we were so exhausted the airbed had ceased to be an issue and we were sleeping like babies on it!)

The rest of the week passed by very quickly--a blur of meetings and time with my crew at work, and good stuff like that.  Greg's birthday was Thursday, so we took him out for dinner at Drifters, a 'fancy' restaurant in Ft. Pierre where we enjoyed a really lovely dinner and massive pieces of cake from a local bakery (two pieces of cake lasted three days!).  He's now an old man and is obliged to complain about muscle aches and the kids down the street.  haha

Our dining room set arrived on Friday as scheduled, and as we had bought real plates and silverware and glasses, we were able to celebrate with a real home cooked dinner and eat as a family.  It was such a nice little celebration together and a great way to end our first full week in Pierre.  We had roasted pork with apples and onions, ranch beans, and a Pierre treat, frog eye salad from the local Korner Grocery (not made with actual frog eyes).

I can't speak for Leah and Greg, but I absolutely love it here.  My stress levels are all but non-existent at the moment.  The house is great, the family is great, work is great, the neighborhood and city are great. The weather, I admit is questionable.  It was hot as heck when we arrived, then plunged into the 40's, and today as I write this, we're heading for a wild 104!  But thus far the humidity hasn't come with it, so I can't complain too much.  We run the air or heat as needed, but otherwise, we're doing fine!  Nothing is perfect and there are petty inconveniences, but I would give Pierre an A+ for exceeding my expectations thus far!  I'll be back soon with tales of our road trip! :D

On the Road!

 Monday the 17th finally arrived, whether we wanted it to or not...  A final night in our home, and then we were off to the sunnier shores of Toledo OH for an evening.  We had a not-too-hard time wrangling the cats into their respective boxes, dropped a bunch more stuff off at Aunt Dorothy's for her yard sale, Greg packed the cars with the precision of a Tetris master, we stopped at my dad's to bid him "see you next time!" (more than a few tears did I shed) and we were on our way.  

Our first big stop was in Buffalo for ramen.  It so happened that one of my college BFF's lives in Buffalo, so I sent him a message once I knew where we were stopping and asked him to meet us.  We enjoyed a really lovely lunch together and Leah enjoyed 'real' ramen.  She seemed to like it, as judging by the fact I was treated to listening to some sort of Japanime the whole way to Toledo from there on.  She also seemed to like Todd, having snooped through his and my private messages on Facebook and chatting with him a bit.  She declared him "the kindest man in the whole world." 

 

 

The main issue we had while driving is that although I knew that I90 in NY was a toll road, I wasn't aware it was basically a toll road through Illinois.  I put my EZPass up and prayed the entire way, but I kept getting passed through, so it seemed to work.  In fact, just a couple of days ago, I got an email that I'm only $3 in the hole to whoever the EZPass company is, so I paid that off and we can call it a day!  

We arrived at our AirBNB with no trouble.  The owners let us block them into the driveway so we didn't have to leave the car on the street.  In no way, shape, or form were we prepared for the spectacle that awaited us at this place.  It was a feast for the senses, to say the least.  Every last surface was covered with artfully arranged memoribilia and bric-a-brac and it was just absolutely fascinating to look at.  Like a museum, honestly!  We talked to the owners about restaurant recommendations and wound up downloading the DoorDash app and ordering Greek food for dinner.  What a world we live in, honestly!  It worked out just great--came quick and couldn't have been easier.

 

The cats were miserable having been locked up all day and then locked into a small bedroom, but we didn't dare let them run loose.  We were up bright and early the next morning, cats in boxes, breakfast procured from a local Panera, and I backed into their neighbor's car, which was parked at the end of the driveway.  I got out and didn't see any damage, so I decided to keep going, but we got a text later in the day asking if we knew anything about it, and I 'fessed up' and let them know it was me, and filed a claim.  It was a good learning lesson for Leah to see me take responsibility and I don't think I'd have felt very good about myself if I hadn't told the truth.

A few hours into the drive, we had a jailbreak.  Leah's cat Stepstool decided she wasn't riding in a box, and she chewed her way out the side of one of the soft side carriers we had brought.  She was swiftly followed by Lord Furrington, Leah's other cat, who manipulated the zipper on the other carrier and managed to get out.  Consequently, we were forced to make an unscheduled stop in Michigan to buy a new cat carrier, which REALLY made Stepstool angry, as it was one she couldn't get out of.

 

That night, we stayed in Rochester MN, home the Mayo Clinic.  We got another AirBNB and were greeted by the hostess, who lives next door.  As crazy as the other place was, this particular place was absolutely pristine and austere.  We decided to let the cats run wild as there was nowhere for them to really go and hide.  They were happy to stretch their legs and get away from each other.  We used DoorDash again and enjoyed a nice dinner together before relaxing on our last night before arriving in South Dakota.

Driving through MN the next morning offered some unexpected delights.  First off, we found signs for the Spam Museum!  We didn't know that there was such a thing, or that Spam hailed from MN.  We were 30 minutes early to actually go in, so we didn't get to take a tour.  But we stopped for photos and when we got out, Greg said, "I was thinking "Awww, we don't get to go to the Spam Museum!""  We're on the same wavelength for sure :) 

Then we continued on down the road and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sign suggesting we visit Blue Earth MN's Green Giant.  Turns out Green Giant foods is also out in MN!  They've built a massive Green Giant and we for sure had to go check that out.  Turns out there was a geocache hidden nearby, so we had fun finding that as well!

All the while, our mortgage representative had been calling me with last minute information about things that needed doing before we could close.  She called once to stay that I had to sign a particular paper before close of business that day or the sale wouldn't go through on time, so I pulled into a service area and took care of that.  Then a bit later on in the middle of BFE, MN, she finally called with the final closing amount for the down payment, etc.  I had to pull into a dirt patch and call my bank, who said they needed 24 hours to complete the wire transfer--we had 18.  Needless to say I was very anxious!

Me making real estate deals like a boss in MN!

 

Eventually we crossed into South Dakota.  We stopped at the Welcome Center to pick up bunches of brochures and take some pictures of our triumphant entry into the state.  I emailed one to my fellow senior librarian and captioned it, "You're stuck with us now!"  She emailed back "haha!"  

We stopped in Sioux Falls for a trip to Barnes & Noble for Leah's newest stash of manga novels and a quick lunch before getting back on the highway for the last stretch.  I thought it would be a quick trip between SF and Pierre, but it's actually nearly three hours.  We saw beautiful rolling grasslands all along and lots of wide open spaces which Leah and I were not prepared for, having never been to this part of the country before.  We stopped at our last AirBNB of the trip, dropped off the cats, and then headed over to our new house to meet up with our realtor, Bob Gill, to see that everything was in order for our closing the following day.  I asked him to bring a "sold" sign so we could have one of those stereotypical pictures on the front steps.  

Once we got inside, we found beautiful banners and signs and posters all over, as well as cards and gifts from Mary, her kids and grandkids, and some anonymous benefactors who wanted to welcome us to Pierre.  I've never had a nicer welcome, honestly!  We checked out the house and I honestly just fell in love with it immediately.  It is absolutely perfect for us, the right size and lay out and everything.  If you'd like to see a video tour of it, you can click here.  I immediately fell in love with the place, and I couldn't wait to move in!

We rolled back to the AirBNB and used DoorDash a final time to order from a local BBQ joint before collapsing and going to sleep.  The next morning, Greg and I headed to the title company and completed the closing for our house (the wire transfer went through just fine) and became homeowners together for the first time!

We picked Leah and the cats up from the AirBNB (the cats were not happy about going back in the boxes) and drove 10 minutes to the new house (the cats were very confused about such a short day in the boxes).  Our neighbors, Harlan and Yvette, came over and introduced themselves and we had a really lovely chat about the neighborhood and the house and they were happy we are cat people who like to garden, and vice versa!  We unloaded our cars and ran to a local big box store to get chairs to sit, as we had gotten rid of most of our furniture and we had no idea when the moving truck might arrive.  A co-worker at the library lent us air mattresses, and we were as furnished as we were going to get for a while!

That afternoon, we went to the local hospital, which was having a Covid vaccine clinic, and Leah got her first shot.  She gets her next one mid-June and we'll be able to relax a good bit more after that!

Afterwards, Mary had us over to meet her whole family and have a BBQ, which was incredible and really took the pressure off the Door Dash people!

And with that, we are now Pierre-ians.  Or is that Pierre-ites?  Pierre-isians?  Whatever it is, we are!  Four cats, three humans, two cars, nine states, 1800+ miles, and we did it.  I'm so proud of our little team.  What an adventure.