Living in Spokane

Hi all,

On the weekend we moved from the comforts of Phil's grandma's place in Coeur D'Alene and relocated to our new place on the South Hill of Spokane.

We have somehow already accumulated a lot of stuff to fill our one bedroom apartment with. It is amazing how fast one can get stuff. A lot of it has been acquired through trawling through thrift stores and clearances at department stores. The place isn't the Ritz but should do nicely for the time we spend there.

People are very friendly here. We have met the other tenants already - it generally would take months or years to do that in Sydney! And we also have discovered a friend from church lives across the street with his family. While moving things in from the car we were quickly invited into their place for a drink. It is nice to feel like part of the neighbourhood already.

Phil has been continuing to work. He is very happy that he now only has a 10 minute bus ride to work. Fi hasn't had any luck with jobs so far. One of the interviews last week turned out to be more of a recruiting thing than an actual job which was slightly frustrating. The other was for a temping agency which could be good if they can find her an assignment.

The tourist attractions for us have consisted of:

Car D'Alene - an event in downtown Coeur D'Alene which attracts 800 vintage cars that cruise the main strip for 3 hours. It was pretty amazing to see all this old cars, each completely unique. Some were hotted up with hydrolics and flames etc. We watched for a while but the fumes eventually become a little too much!

Pot-luck at Twin Lake - Cheryl (Phil's aunt) invited us to her home group's pot-luck dinner at one of the couple's places. It is amazing. Overlooking this beautiful lake surrounded by pine forests. It was fun to chat to these slightly older people and the food was unusual but good. Consisted of grilled chicken (they love to grill here in the summer), potato salad, home-made bread, vegies with ranch dressing, a fruit salad with caramel (this was part of the main!) and then to finish home-made smores (as in it was 100% homemade biscuit and marshmellow etc!)

Coeur D'Alene Wine Cellars Garden Party - again Cheryl to an event. This time at a house overlooking Lake Hayden. It was beautiful. Had a wandering garden, chickens, bee hives, vegetable garden etc etc. There was ample food and wine. This was the first time we would try smores. Amazing.

Moving forward

Today we rented an apartment. It is in a "mansion" that is about 100 years old. It is half the bottom floor. One bedroom and the other basics included. It is described as "old world charm" so think rustic and a little shabby. It is downtown in the district known as South Hill. Yes it is hilly. Phil may get fit walking to and from work :) It is a trendy kind of area with the main draw card being Huckleberries an organic supermarket. Kind of like Norton Grocer but more health/organic food oriented and with a liquor section, coffee section, tea section and cafe and less Italian!

Rent is so cheap here. Equals about 1.5 weeks Sydney rent per month! Now that's a bargain.

Fi has had a few responses to job applications. Nothing settled yet. The annoying system known as the credit check may dampen her chances on one job which offers a company car and credit card (can you believe it!) as she is even less than a "ghost" here. A "ghost" is someone who has no credit score in the USA. Phil is a ghost. Credit scores dictate life here. We couldn't even get a phone contract or a credit card here. We could however co-sign on a car with Phil's aunt. By making payments Phil will begin to accumulate a credit score. It is based on making payments on time. Fi is yet to receive her Social Security number which is used to record credit scores therefore she is like less than a ghost - like a mythical ghost like Casper. Turns out the land of the free is enslaved by the credit system... and they wonder why everything went so wrong!

Welcome to our adventures in usa-land

Hi all,

Welcome to our new blog space to keep all our lovely friends and family posted on our adventures in usa-land and beyond.

We arrived on the 21st of February in Coeur D'Alene in Idaho where Phil's family resides. Its an very beautiful town located on an amazing lake and surrounded by pine covered mountains. Dirt is cheap in Idaho so everything is very spread out! Our solution to this problem was to spend our first two days at a Toyota dealer test driving and crunching numbers. We are now the very happy drivers of an '09 Corolla. We aren't sure we are qualified to have such a lovely vehicle seeing as we never cleaned our previous car!

Phil has started work in downtown Spokane which is about 45 minutes away. It is a riverside city with some waterfalls - which are a bit more like intense rapids. It is a very quiet city. We are constantly wondering where all the people are! It is not like the hustle and bustle of Sydney at all. We are hoping to find an apartment down there soon to save Phil from his two hours of commuting each day - although I think he is yet to find a traffic jam!

Fi is just hanging out at Grandma's house looking for jobs and doing not much. The rain here (which everyone assures us is unusual) has meant she has been a little stuck inside. She is not used to doing not much and is now quite acquainted with almost every shop in the Couer D'Alene area. She is trying to get back in touch with her creative roots and has started crocheting a scarf and will be attending a quilting class on Saturday.

The weekends are little more fun. So far we have:

• Been to a Civil War reenactment. This involves hundreds of people setting up a camp in Civil War style. They really get into it - tents, clothing, guns and all! We wandered the campsites and watched a battle - where the Rebels won! It is a truly amazing piece of American culture.
• Been to Costco - a ridiculously oversized bulk store where you can buy everything in massive quantities. The best bit is that you can eat a 10 course meal in the samples.
• Hiked Mineral Ridge which overlooks the lake - beautiful. Yesterday on another hike (Tubb's Hill) we even saw some deer!
• Went to Artfest - it was totally rained out. It is a market with regional artists. Could have had a cool vibe but instead we are just cold.
• Eaten American food - a hot dog swamped in chili, deep fried pickles, Americanised-Australian food at the Outback Steak house.

That's all for now - we will keep you posted on our American adventures!