Coast Swap: Apartment Hunters Puyallup/Tacoma Edition

What we are looking for in an apartment:

• 2 bedrooms (one to use as Ginger's office and also to have guests stay with us)
• possibly a second bathroom (to better accomodate guests
• maybe a personal yard for Clementine?
• a short commute to Stephen's office in Puyallup 
• flexibility to move when Stephen's job moves to a work site
• an apartment that doesn't require renovation (taking a break from that)

We toured 9 different properties, but we'll show you highlights, top two in each category: Apartment Complexes, Duplexes, and Houses.

1. Massive Complex

• $949 (pet deposit $500, half refundable.)
• 2 bed, 2 bath, second floor.
• tenet pays for water, electricity, trash. 
• no a/c
• distance from office: 3.9 miles, 7 minutes
• Many complexes just like it all over town!

• Amenities: 24 hour weights room, pool (9-9) 

 

At first we thought this is the sort of place we'd like to live temporarily while for our dream apartment (and waiting for company to assign Stepen somewhere more permanent) but it immediately overwhelmed us. The amenities didn't make up for feeling lost, crowded, and crushed. 

2. Kids Complex

• $975?
• 2 bed, 2 bath (1 shower, 1 tub) 1 bonus room
• great living room, small kitchen
• cons: small kids playing in parking lot
• just North of Puyallup, distance from office: 5 miles, 10 minutes 

 

3. Tall Duplex

•  $1100
• 2 bed, 1.5 bath, 1 car garage
• on busy street (odd driveway angles)
• lawn care up to tenant
• fenced back yard
• 6.2 miles, 17 minutes to office
• spacious, two floors! 

4. Tiny Duplex

•  $850
• 2 bed, 1 bath
• small living room, no dining room
• w/d in separate building, coin-op
• all utilities: $150
• distance to office: 9.3 miles, 16 min
• (not sure we can make our furniture fit.)

 5. North House

• 2 bed 1 bath, $925
• North Tacoma, nice neighborhood
• fenced yard, not allowed to use garage (owners store boat there)
• small kitchen, combined dining/living room (fireplace)
• distance to office: 16 miles, 32 minutes
• cute, may be a little crowded. 

Kitchen is small, but has good features. 

Fireplace is cute, not sure how to fit dining and living room into this space. 

6. Red Leaves House

• 3 bedroom, 1 bath, $1125
• North Tacoma, distance to office: 18 miles, 35 minutes
• Garage is inaccessible to cars thanks to odd driveway edging. Streetview blocked by red leaves bush.
• Spacious kitchen lacks dishwasher.

most quirky kitchen applicance ever: a toaster oven built into the wall!

nice remodeled bathroom

cute triangular backyard

 Which, oh which will it be? How would you choose?

Coast Swap: Billings MT + Missoula MT + Spokane WA + Puyallup WA

Billings MT

April 6, 2012

2683 miles

Mandy and Nick loved Clementine! She's so tired of driving in the car, she would have loved to stay with them.

We spent two nights in Billings to spend some time with family. Mandy and Nick did a great job hosting a brunch. Left- Stephen, Ginger, Ron, Nancy, Uncle Jim, Aunt Mary, Nona Lena (Jim's mother), Grandma Pearl, Mandy, Nick.

Missoula MT

April 7, 2012

3030 miles

46° misty

We drove north to Missoula to have lunch with Uncle John and Aunt Gloria. They made grilled cheese and delicious carrot soup with produce from their garden! We went for a walk on their beautiful property in the mountains.

On the road again, we stopped at an unusual tourist location: 50,000 Silver Dollar. The bar and the walls are covered with silver dollars that tourists have purchased then displayed since 1952. Some have become very valuable. 

Spokane WA

April 7, 2012

3242 miles

41° overcast

gas $3.43

Our last night on the road was spent in Spokane to see cousin Stephanie. She took us to a fun spot where everybody takes their photo- the Wagon in the park. 

Puyallup WA

April 8, 2013

3525 miles

55° sunny

We've arrived! Time to rest... next, looking for apartments, hopefully find one near Stephen's new office. So far, we love the beautiful green grass and flowering trees. 

Coast Swap: Minneapolis MN + Mt. Rushmore SD + Devil's Tower WY

Minneapolis MN 

April 4, 2013

1599 miles

43° sunny, snow patches

Gas $3.65

We visited Vicki and Steve in Minneapolis for a night. They were kind to let Clementine stay over, though their two cats informed her that she ranked low in the household hierarchy. Clementine had fun playing with daughter Dominika, a junior in high school. Lukas is a senior this year, and was on spring break with family friends in Florida.

Steve finished remodeling their master bathroom. We loved the antique dresser converted into a sink! After we left, Stephen wanted to visit another remodeled house from HGTV's "Rehab Addict." Host Nicole Curtis bought this condemned house for $1 and remodeled it in three months. 

Mt. Rushmore SD 

April 5, 2013

2258 miles

63° sunny

This was Stephen's first time to see Mt. Rushmore. Ginger attended Rushmore Music Camp here during junior high and high school, and seeing it again brought back good memories of performing patriotic songs at the amphitheater at the memorial.

Devil's Tower WY

April 5, 2013

2398 miles

50° light rain

Devil's Tower had a walking path around it about an hour long. There was a light rain, but we enjoyed the walk with Clementine. The tower was once an underground magma extrusion, but many years eroded and exposed it.

Coast Swap: Chicago IL

Chicago IL

1167 miles

41 ° cloudy

Gas $4.12

We had so much fun visiting our college friends Emily and Jordan in Chicago! We studied architecture with them at Texas Tech (and Stephen and Jordan took the MBA program together). They bought a house a year ago, and we enjoyed hearing about their architectural work on the house, being nerdy about the same things, and their drawings on the walls and same textbooks on the shelves.

The Chicago Model City can be found at the Chicago Architecture Foundation downtown.

Jordan and Emily are expecting their first baby next month. His name is Malcolm, and his bedroom is themed with dinosaurs. I love the dinosaur drawer handles best. 

 

Their cute 1920s neighborhood, in a near suburb of Chicago. Emily commutes to another suburb for work as an environment consultant, making use of her civil engineering degree. (She says she does more problem solving than engineering.) Jordan walks and takes the train to work in downtown. He's an architect working toward his license with EXP. 

Clementine befriended their 4-pound Pomeranian, Precious. 

Their neighborhood is very close to the Frank Lloyd Wright district. We took a tour of Wright's house and studio. They have excellent tours. It costs $5 extra for permission to take interior photos. 

Stephen stands by the Inglenook. The dining room is a room within a room created by high backed chairs and lighting feature. 

In front of Wright's studio, the large column capitals have the tree of life, a book, a floorplan, and storks. Stephen informed the tour group that it is a floorplan of the Florence Cathedral.

We sought out authentic Chicago food. Stephen had a hot dog for lunch, which Real Chicago Hot Dog: poppy seed bun, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, pickles, sport peppers and celery salt. at Big Guy's Sausage Stand. We went to Emily and Jordan's favorite pizza place for dinner: Lou Malnati's for real deep dish Chicago pizza.

 Emily had the afternoon off from work, and gave us a wonderful walking tour of downtown. She pointed out buildings by Sullivan, famous interiors and skyscrapers, and a dash of stories from a ghost tour.

The park has more modern architecture and art including "The Bean" a bean-shaped reflective sculpture. Seeing Chicago with Jordan and Emily was fun! We wish them the best with their new life. 

Coast Swap: Philadelphia + Pittsburgh PA + Columbus OH

Philadelphia PA

287 miles

58° cloudy then rainy

Gas $3.99

We were excited to visit our friends, Jen and Kathleen. Stephen and Kathleen used to work together at A4 Architecture in Newport. They moved to Philadelphia two years ago when Jen started her graduate studies in pyscology at Temple University. Last year, they bought a house that was recently built on one of the many abandoned lots in Philly. The three story home has a balcony view of the city, and a personal backyard. Similar projects are improving the neighborhood, and they are less than a mile from downtown. They love to bike or walk to work and classes. Jen said Philadelphia is a great town- "less pretentious" than other big cities, and a slower pace of life but with all the city benefits.

Kathleen holding sweet puppy Nyla who loves to jump. Seeing friends again- Jen, Kathleen.

 We attended Easter Sunday services at Liberti Church downtown. It was a beautiful liturgical service with modern mixes. After, Stephen tried to find a Philly Cheesesteak, but most restaurants were closed, so we started the drive straight across Pennsylvania.

Road trip joy!

Seeing college friend (and senior year roommmate) Tracy again was a highlight of the trip because we got to meet her husband and two children (and visiting in-laws!) Her older daughter Mona is 1 1/2 years old, and baby Sandra was just 15 days old the day we got to meet her. Mona is outgoing and mischievous. Sandra was calm, happy and sleepy. Tracy met her husband Joe through work. He's a former Marine who now works in sales with Tracy's natural gas enginneering company. We weren't surprised Tracy fell in love with another Texan, but she says his faith and Christian spirit drew her to him.

Columbus OH

812 miles

45° sunny

gas $3.46

We stopped in Columbus for lunch to visit Bob and Julia, parents of our friend Tim. They've come to visit Newport a number of times, and were happy to be hospitable on our trip. Chef Bob cooked a special vegetable ragu for lunch, and we toured their home to see all their special crafts. They will be leaving it soon to downgrade to a smaller home, but they look forward to hosting an engagement party for Tim and Jess. 

Coast Swap: Goodbye RI

Packing up our apartment was an adventure... the sort we wish we would never have to do again... but it felt good to purge a lot of un-needed belongings. Although Stephen's company is paying for our move, he did a lot of research to find the most cost-effective way to transport our stuff across the country. Several professional movers assessed our apartment, determined that we had 5,000 pounds of furniture and belongings (!!!!!) and offered a huge fee. So, U-Haul was much cheaper, though calculating gas was daunting... And driving a truck would be a downer for the road trip. Stephen found an alternative similar in price- U-Pack. Here's how it works: the company drops off a trailer at our house:

We get three full days to pack it with anything. 

(Much thanks to Tim and Jess for help with packing!) Stephen masterminds how to stack, cram, and balance as much as possible:

We took up 10 feet of the 26 foot trailor. We put up a locked wall to separate our belongings, so the company will take it to someone else's house to fill the rest. (Or it may be filled with freight.) They will drive it to Seattle, and we'll get three days to unload it again. 

Things We'll Miss about Rhode Island (and New England)

• Colonial and Victorian Architecture
• Sailing Community and Events
• Historic Mansions, Tours
• Living on an Island!
• Our house and neighbors
• Driving an hour in any direction and being in another state
• Lively pedestrian-friendly downtown and harbor 
• Proximity to big cities like Boston and New York
• Maple Syrup everywhere

Rhode Island Lingo & Oddities

• Wandering R's (missing from words like lobster (lobstah!) and appearing in words like idea (idear)
• Grinder = sub sandwich
• Handbook = purse
• Carriage = shopping cart
• Cap = hat
• Cities of Gloucester and Worcester pronounced "Glaustah" and "Woostah"
• Driving a car on streets designed/sized for horse and no grids for city streets (based on cow trails and Indian paths)

Bubbler = drinking fountain

Coffee milk (a coffee flavored syrup added to milk)

Hot dog buns split on top (rather than the side)

Dunkin' Donuts on every corner (we won't miss it, but that's what reminds us of RI.)

• Rhode Island mentality (especially on Aquidneck Island) - that traveling any further than 15 minutes away is a far, far journey. We often found ourselves saying, "When is the last time we left the island?" Now we are leaving a long distance!

Coast Swap

About Us
Ginger & Stephen Montalvo

Our 9 day road trip from Rhode Island to Seattle, Washington, finding a new home and settling in.
We're moving to Seattle for Stephen's new project with Absher Construction.

Coast Swap Blog Entries

Goodbye RI March 2013
Philadelphia + Pittsburgh PA + Columbus OH 31 March 2013
Chicago IL 2 April 2013
Minneapolis MN + Mt. Rushmore SD + Devil's Tower WY 3 April 2013
Billings MT + Missoula MT + Spokane WA + Puyallup WA 6 April 2013
Apartment Hunters Puyallup/Tacoma Edition 16 April 2013
New Home Tacoma WA April 2013

additional photos of our traveling adventures available at my flickr site
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