Trouble With California

Sorry folks, it's been a while.

California, has been a mix of emotions for us. We arrived here cheery, and ready to face the challenges ahead. We have been exploring the area, frequenting all the local breweries for wings and beer. I'm impressed with most of the breweries in the area. 6 Rivers Brewery is our favorite. It's located in McKinleyville which is 10 minutes north of Arcata, if that. The view from the brewery is wonderful, the microbrew exceptional, and the wings are the best we've found! It's nickname is "the brew with a view", Love it!

We've visited the farmer's market (two blocks from our apt.) and have been impressed with the quality of produce and fun surrounding the plaza every Saturday morning. There was not a single booth selling conventional produce. Everything was organic and local! We became member/owners at the Northcoast Co-op, and enjoy shopping there often (also very close to our apt.). We also got our library cards! The interesting thing about the libraries here is that your card works at all the libraries in the county, and you are able to return books to any branch, not just the one you checked out at. Pretty neat!

We spent 2 hours at the DMV getting the car fixed up with registration, license plates, and drivers licenses. It was expensive. Believe everything you hear about California being more expensive than the rest of the country. Holy crap! It cost $500 just at the DMV. Plus, you have to get your car smog tested before you go, and that was another $60. And our car insurance is more than $200 a month thanks to my not so clean driving record. Luckily, it will go down next time around because my record will be clear.

We've visited the ocean several times. It's a 10 minute drive from our apt. The beaches up here are pretty nice, and Henry really loves the ocean. If he wasn't attached to his long line, he would jump into those huge waves and get carried out to sea. He also likes to drink salt water. Whose dog does that? I can't imagine liking to drink that crap. So every time we go to the beach I have to pay careful attention to him when he gets near the water. I don't want the pup getting sick!

We took a trip south and drove the avenue of the giants, through Redwood National/State Park. The redwoods are my absolute favorite tree. I have learned quite a bit about them in the recent months. Did you know that the redwoods only survive here because of the coastal fog? Redwoods get so tall because they absorb the water from the fog at the tops of the trees instead of having the put all their energy into pumping up the water from the ground. They are not found anywhere else in the world, the climate and fog are the only reason they survive. A recent discovery, salamanders inhabit the canopy of the redwoods and are the largest predator living in the canopy. The salamander can only survive if its body stays moist. Researchers have found that the branches of the redwood trees provide the ideal habitat for the salamanders. When dead branches and leaves fall onto other branches it creates a nutrient-rich compost that sits on the branch, coastal fog keeps the compost moist, and provides an ideal environment for bugs, ergo the salamander can live. Researchers speculate that most of these salamanders (who reside 200-300 ft up in the canopy) never touch the ground during their life cycle. AMAZING. It never fails to take my breath away when I see one. Another perk of living in Arcata is Redwood City Park located about a mile away from our apt. They aren't the biggest redwoods, but it's a pretty amazing park. I often take Henry for a walk there. Jealous?

Now to the downside of this whole experience. Housing out here is absolutely ridiculous. We have been here over 2 weeks now and cannot get housing. It's either too expensive, too far away from the hospital, or not dog-friendly. Almost nobody allows pets out here, even though the area is so pet friendly. Or if they allow pets, the ads say "small lap dog or cat considered". Our dog is not small. Then there are all these places that want you to pay to put in an application. F' That, we decided. We do not want to pay to put in an app unless we are definitely going to get the apartment. Landlords also do "open houses" out here. This is also a new experience for us. Normally in the past it's been first come first serve. Out here they want you to put in an app for $25 then come to an open house and then the landlord will decide who he/she wants. We do not like this system at all. There are also these companies out here that act as the middle man between landlords and prospective tenants. These companies charge a fee and then give you listings of what you are looking for. Instead of the landlord doing it, they give it to this company and they do the landlords job. We do not like this either. It seems to us that everyone is trying to make money off of you out here. So, if you have to pay for a list of apartments (normally $50), then pay to put in an app ($25) and then you might not get the apt because the landlord picks someone else, you're out $75. Who can afford to do this? that's rent and security deposit money (out here they can legally charge you 2 months rent for a deposit, in Michigan it's 1 1/2 months).

So looking for a place that doesn't require an app, that's in our price range, accepts dogs, isn't listed through a 3rd party company, and is within 30 minute drive to the hospital is nearly impossible. One would think being able to pay $900 a month in rent would get us a spot easy, but not so. Everything is SO expensive. The housing prices for rentals, as well as the buying market are total shit. Humboldt County is a depressed area to say the least. There is 12% unemployment and a ton of homeless. I can see why now. We are close to being homeless ourselves. There is something legitimately wrong with the housing market out here. I feel like I'm living in Detroit (not really, but there's a lot of poverty here), but can't find housing under $900 a month. It's pure greed out here.

Speaking for myself, I've been really depressed this past week because of the housing situation. Our corporate housing is great, but we have to be out August 1st. It costs $1600 a month to stay here and we are not going to pay that. We have had a few housing prospects, but nothing solid. We looked at a dumpy old single wide trailer on 5 acres out in the woods last week. I mean DUMPY. Guess how much it is? $900 a month. With utilities it will cost over $1,000 a month. We asked the guy if he'd be willing to accept $750 a month, he's thinking about it.

We've been all over the map when it comes to housing options. We've thought about buying a house, we've thought about buying land, living further away, quitting and moving back to Michigan etc. etc. Our plan now is (if the dumpy trailer doesn't work out) to buy an old motor home and live in it at the RV park. We have the money to purchase a motor home, and the rent per month including all utilities is roughly $500. That way, we would be close to downtown (so I could get a job), it would be cheaper all around, we'd always have a roof over our heads, and it would allow us to save money quicker.

That's enough for now. I'll keep ya posted!