I waited longer than I should have to pack up for New Mexico. I started to slowly pack weeks before, but never reached a point of near completion until the final couple days before the movers arrived. I had a broken hand at the time limiting the amount of weight I could handle when packing and my mother-in-law was soon to be arriving to help me finish. This current move I have packed 85 percent of the things that I will not be taking with me in my car with a week to spare. Honestly I only have the kitchen left to pack which I intend to have done tomorrow. A major difference between packing for this move and the one to New Mexico was that we had rented a U-Haul trailer to take a chunk of belongings with us since we were moving into a temporary location while we scoured the area for a long term solution.
Upon arrival and inspection of the temporary location I deemed it as an unacceptable living condition almost immediately. There were exposed wires, the sound of constant running water, the smell and discoloration of smoke in the carpet and on the walls. I found bugs on the ground, stains from untrained pets, and in the bedrooms were mattresses that had what I assumed to be blood stains on them. It was disgusting, The owner also had a rule that children were not allowed to play outside because he did not want to be liable for any accidents. I broke down in tears trying to tell myself that it was only for a month or two at most. My mother-in-law walked in about an hour after I had arrived with the girls. She was driving the U-Haul and made different rest stops along the way, but she dealt with the manager arranging for our refund from the property. We packed back into the car and headed to a hotel for the night.
Roswell, NM
It became a race against time to find a new place to live. With each passing day we added expenses of hotel rooms, U-Haul daily fee charges, gas costs, and food costs from eating out most meals. We drove to nearby towns trying to use Craigslist, newspapers and realtors to aid us in our hunt. Most of this proved to be useless because the town is very old fashion in that word of mouth kind of way. After 4 days we found a small, two bedroom place that was recently updated and only a couple blocks down from the elementary school. The only issue was that it was located 1.5 hours away from were we intended to live.
If you want to find the right road, follow many paths, be willing to try new things and don’t be afraid to change the direction along the way. Leave your doors open.
We stayed there for 2 months making weekly trips to check out properties the realtor had come across. Most became available due to eviction or abandonment of the property. It was the way the area worked. The smallest houses had the most ridiculous monthly payments because of the demand increase caused by the oil fields. The house that we eventually found was an old outdated 70’s style home 600 square feet and one car garage less than what we had in Flagstaff. It cost the same as our previous rent with 80 percent less the beauty, charm, care, and updates of what we just had in Arizona. In this area it was the best we could do for the limited options we had. The major plus to this house was that it was located across the street from a small, underpopulated neighborhood park.
Bird of New Mexico – the Road Runner.
Almost immediately after we moved in we began to search for a new location to transfer to. This area is damaged, unsafe and overrun by violence. A lot of my earlier posts have documented some of the hardships we have found in this area with break ins, theft, and general safety precautions townee’s recommend you do each day. We turned down a few options that came our way because we decided that in moving we would pick a location we would be happy to live in. Finally that day came and that is where we are today. We are moving to the mountains of West Virginia.
This gypsy heart just needs to wander. Wander to undiscovered mountains and caves that guard the mysteries of this world. I will unturn every stone, I will walk every unpaved path, I will drive through the darkest seas just to discover the secrets that were meant only for me. – Chrissie Pinney
Karpidiem 