In Petaluma

I made it. I arrived on Monday, actually. I drove straight through from Flagstaff to Petaluma. 800 miles in 12.5 hours. I was quite sore when I got out of the car. Lucky for me, a friend had a bottle of wine (actually two) and a home-cooked meal waiting for me when I arrived.

I signed a lease on an apartment yesterday and moved in today. I’m sitting here on my only piece of furniture, an inflatable mattress. The rest will be shipped later. Most stuff is staying behind. Moving from a 3000 square foot house with a garage and an attic to a 700 square foot apartment means leaving behind lots of stuff. I’ll have the important things though: books, computers, bikes, and super-automatic espresso machine.

Broadband should be hooked up in a week or so. I’m currently “borrowing” a neighbor’s unsecured wireless connection. Signal quality is poor, but it’s enough to check email and blog. I go to the coffee shop across the street when I need to use more bandwidth.

I’ve been exploring Petaluma and the surrounding areas. I mapped out a few different bike routes to the office as well as some routes that might make for nice training rides on the weekend. Some coworkers are going to show me the good mountain bike spots. I brought two of my bikes with me. The other three will ship later this month. I’m not sure how I’m going to get all five in this apartment. I’ll find a way. My babies have to be climate-controlled when they’re resting. 🙂

On the backside of my apartment complex is undeveloped countryside with some natural surface trails winding through the hills. The breeze is cool and fresh. Time for a stroll.