A Farewell to Apartments

In case you weren't aware, the Singleys are moving (just a few miles away). I've been living in apartments for almost 10 years now, and Meg has lived in apartments for almost as long. Needless to say, we are really excited to be moving to a rental house with a yard and a garage. That doesn't mean we won't miss this place.

When we moved here from Provo, we felt like we were moving to a resort. We're only 15 miles away from Seattle, but we are surrounded by so much nature that we felt like we were moving into somebody's timeshare. Here are some photos and memories of the place that we've called home for the past 3 years:

The Cedar River

After studying stream restoration and open-channel hydraulics, I was really excited to have a beautiful river in my backyard. I don't think there's any better way to understand natural processes than to observe them regularly.

Fortunately, the apartments are high enough that they aren't in the 100-year floodplain. We know, because one year after moving here I was able to witness that 100-year flood. In fact, my company paid me to take pictures and mark high water elevations.

Every October, we watch the Sockeye Salmon swim up the river to spawn. They are bright red at this point in their life cycle, so they are easy to spot.

Our favorite activity is throwing rocks in the river and saying "plunk." Our favorite location for plunking is underneath the bridge, hanging out with the pigeons.

Painting en plein air anyone?

Blackberries

With a river just a stone's throw away from our back door, we'd be nervous about our kids wandering into the river, if it weren't for one thing...an impenetrable forest of blackberry bushes (a.k.a. pokey bushes).

Blackberries grow like crazy all around Seattle. In fact, they're kind of treated like weeds around here. King County even owns a herd of goats that they let loose along the bike trails to keep the blackberries in check. We, on the other hand, can't get enough of them.

This was the first of many blackberry pies, so excuse the ugly gf crust.

The Yard

We couldn't exactly let the kids go play outside by themselves, but at least they've had a shared yard. They also met some friends.

The yard is also home to some tree frogs and a guinea pig that escaped from somewhere and lives in the bushes. Here's our snowman, complete with a "Wasatch County Demolition Derby" trucker hat.

Trails

There's a paved bike trail that runs along the Cedar River. It is pretty spectacular when you're riding home from work and a bald eagle flies within 15 feet of you.

I never really got into the habit of riding to work, but the kids have put the trail to use. Here's Grandpa Gibson with Jane and her new bike.

The double-decker stroller knows the trail very well.

In addition to the bike trail, at the back of our parking lot, there's a paved trail that goes up into the woods to the south. We've seen a few deer and touched dozens of gigantic banana slugs.

Swimming Pool

One thing that we've taken advantage of is the swimming pool in our complex. We're going to miss this in a few months. There's no better way to unwind after work than relaxing by the pool.

Home

Most of all, we'll remember all the fun we had inside our apartment.

This is the only home Grey has ever known.

Here's what we won't miss:

• Carpet - we're hoping that Jane's dust mite allergy will be less of a problem with hardwood floors.
• Shared walls - we haven't had noisy neighbors, we've been the noisy neighbors. Our kids are used to telling each other to be quiet so we don't bother the neighbors.
• Looking for parking spots - I usually get home too late to find a spot, so I park 50 yards away in the overflow lot.
• Wondering if my car has been stolen - Even in our gated complex, my 1997 Honda Accord was just too darn attractive for some idiot car thief to pass up.
• Vertical blinds - blech!

Now we just need to pack up our stuff and say goodbye to apartment life. It's been real.