About a year ago we bought a house in Sedona. This week, over a year later, we finally moved in. And therein lies a story.
Sedona Stories 1 tells about the challenges of making the offer and Sedona Stories 2 recounts the difficulty of getting a mortgage in the month after Signature Bank went bust. This post covers the third act, where we move into our dream home.
Since we travel frequently, we decided to try listing it as a vacation rental. The photographer took some beautiful pictures of the place.
Why the delay moving in? We enjoy travel and Devon had already planned trips to Peru and Canada, with an extended stay in Italy in the summer. Then came a Thanksgiving trip to visit new family members at our daughter’s house in Portland and the Christmas holidays, when we stayed in Santa Rosa with our extended family.
My eyesight was fading fast due to cataracts so during January and February of 2024 I scheduled cataract surgery. Now I can see better than I did in elementary school. Wow! Gotta love all the spare parts for old, worn-out bodies.
Packing
Finally in March we packed up our worldly goods, which fitted comfortably into ten small moving boxes. We shipped the eight boxes of clothes out by UPS, then discovered we missed a few things so we packed two more boxes on moving morning for a quick drop off at the UPS store for shipping. Truly our most peculiar relocation.
We hopped into our little two-seater convertible for the 800 mile drive to Sedona. Two days later we finally arrived. Driving Intestate 40 from Bakersfield to Flagstaff is worth doing once, but only once.
Home in Sedona, Finally
The view of the Sedona rocks was as beautiful as we remembered. The house was just as cozy and friendly as we remembered and looked even better after a major remodel, mostly done in 2023 but still not quite complete. You may recall some of your own remodel projects which seem to linger forever as the final punch list just does not give up easily.
So our first few days have been occupied punching the punch list. We are winning but the fight will go the full ten rounds. Meanwhile, we get to enjoy the spectacular red rocks of Sedona. We have also met a few new neighbors — javalina and coyotes.
The unusual house fits well in this neighborhood.
We are so excited to be living in our dream home… for nine days. We previously scheduled a military funeral for Devon’s father Ray LaHar at Arlington National Cemetery on March 31. Since he retired as a major he has the right to the full military funeral service. With extended family attending we will host a small family reunion in DC before heading to northern Europe for three months.
With any luck we will return to Sedona in July, just in time to enjoy the hottest of the summer months. When your travels take you to the southwest please stay in our guest suite and share tales of your own adventures with us.
Hope to see you soon!
Trail of Sparks 