As has been the case with us, things did not go smoothly with our job search. Washington took their sweet old time issuing us licenses, and as a result, the company Amanda had a job lined up with (an outpatient facility in Pasco, WA) backed out over fears that she wouldn't have her license by July 30th. It turns out we got our licenses issued on July 20th, but by that time Amanda's position had already been filled by someone else. I had a home care job set up in the neighboring town of Richland, WA, but since Amanda's job fell through, we didn't think I'd be able to continue with that plan. Long story short, we had to start from scratch and find new placements. Keep in mind though, as all of this is going on, we are travelling through areas such as the Badlands and Yellowstone National Park where cell service is all but impossible. We did everything we could to keep in contact with our recruiter, but most of the time we were in the dark. Also, as we got closer to Washington, we had to stall our trip because we didn't know what part of the state we should drive to. We ended up staying extra days in Missoula, MT and Spokane, WA just to buy time. The extra time in Missoula was worth it, Spokane…not so much.
We had some options in the Seattle area, but unfortunately none of them panned out the way we hoped. As a last ditch effort, our travel company, Delta Flex, decided to bite the bullet and pay for Amanda to have a rental car so we could both do home care for the company I was originally scheduled to work for in Richland, WA. They had offered us both jobs a while back when we first interviewed, but since under normal circumstances we only have one vehicle, we can’t both do home care. Now that we have a rental car though, we were able to take the positions.
So after a multitude of phone calls, a few days of stalling our road trip, and lots of awful stress/frustration we finally knew where we were going. Richland, WA. This is part of an area known as the Tri-Cities. There are the three cities of Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco all in one area around the Columbia River. Again, we'll give you more information about it later, but it's a very successful business area and it's apparently the heart wine country in Washington. Who knew there even was wine country in Washington?
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| Richland, WA: Current home of the Adventurers |
Turns out the only thing harder than locking down this job was finding a place to live. Because the Tri-Cities are so successful, apartment prices are relatively high and vacancies are extremely limited. We looked all over the place and 9 times out of 10 we were told we would end up on a waiting list and couldn't get in to an apartment until the end of the first week in August, at the earliest. We were sick of bouncing between camp grounds and hotels. All I wanted to do was cook my own meal for a change. At the end of our search, we stumbled across a brand new apartment complex that is still partially under construction. We were told that tenants weren't supposed to move in until August 1st, but when we pleaded our case they agreed to let us move in early, on Friday (the 27th). This place is amazing. Everything is brand-spanking-new. We have access to a pool, a club house, fitness center, and most importantly, tanning beds.
As a side note, most of the apartment complexes we visited offer complimentary tanning rooms. Apparently that's a big deal around here. I don't get it at all. See, Richland is in a desert. It's 90+ degrees every day and there are never clouds in the sky. Why do people need to tan? Just walk outside!
Anyway, back to the point. Since they were desperate for tenants in this new complex, not only did they let us move in early, but it ended up being the best deal of any place we looked at too. It's not quite as sweet as the deal we had in Olney, but I don't think we'll ever find a set up that good and cheap again. Also, since we moved in early, we are literally the only people living in this entire complex right now. We have the whole place to ourselves. Now it's just a matter of getting unpacked, organized, and ready for work on Monday.
Oh, but did I mention that the apartment doesn't have furniture? Yeah, that's a slight issue. I'm actually laying on the floor writing this on my laptop since I don't have a chair to sit in or a table to put the computer on. Minor details though. Furniture is overrated anyway. Well, I'm going to go to bed now, on our luxurious air mattress. We will worry about trivial things such as chairs and tables on another day.
Please check back regularly over the next week as we will be adding tons of pictures and stories from our cross country road trip. Thanks for being patient while we were travelling and again I apologize for not updating everyone sooner.
