Long Beach and Nathan's new apartment

We flew to Long Beach on May 10th, to spend a week with Nathan, help him find an apartment and get moved into it during his 10 day house-hunting leave.  One of the many pleasures of retirement is being able to take off and do things like this!

We arrived Tuesday evening, and Don picked us up at the LB airport.  We went back to the motel, caught up with Nathan, and heard about the rest of their trip, after San Jose.  The motel was in Seal Beach, a great little community, right on the ocean, and very close to Long Beach.  Don took us all out to dinner Tuesday night, and we had a great time at Claim Jumper - a chain of restaurants that we had heard great things about.  The food was great and we had a good time.

Wednesday morning we walked to Main Street had breakfast and checked the area out.  Nathan had to go back to the base, and Don had a noon flight home, so the morning went by quickly.  After they left, Lee and I went back into town, browsed some of the shops and walked to the end of the pier.  It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed being outside.

Nathan and Cathi had found a condo on Craig's list that sounded promising, and Nathan had corresponded via e-mail with the owner, and was pretty sure that this was THE place to be.  So, Wednesday afternoon we met up with Doug to check it out.  It's a great condo, right on the beach, very close to downtown Long Beach.  One bedroom, living, dining, and TONS of great storage!  There's covered parking and laundry facilities on-site.  There's a huge common deck with furniture and a bar-b-que, and right down the steps is the beach!  Pretty much ideal!  Nathan told Doug he would take it, and then our next question was:  when can he move in? 

Doug had made arrangements to have the apartment completely painted first, so he said that we could get the key on Sunday.  The next two days were very busy!  Nathan had an appointment to take his Scion to the dealership to get his transmission fixed, as it was grinding.  They gave him a brand new Nissan Altima rental car, and told him that his car would probably be ready by the following Tuesday.

From there we went to Ross, where we began the process of outfitting Nathan's new home.  Sheets, towels, dishes, etc., etc., etc.  It's not easy to start from scratch!  And it's costly!  But Nathan had been saving for the last couple of years, and was ready to start the next phase of his life.

Nathan needed furniture, so on Thursday we went to IKEA!  It was Lee's first experience there, and for those of you who have never visited an IKEA, they certainly have the whole merchandising thing down!  They start you on the 3rd fllor, with a map, and then lead you through the next two floors of furnishings and finally to check out and pick up!  Their prices are great.  However, you provide the labor, as everything comes in boxes and needs to be assembled!  Fortunately, Nathan's grandfather, Don Sr., had gone with him while he was at home to get a well outfitted tool box!  It got LOTS of use!

Nathan picked out bedroom furniture, living room furniture and also for the dining room.  After checking out and arranging delivery for Monday morning, we continued on to Target to finish off our list - cleaning supplies, paper goods, etc., etc., etc.  At this point our motel room was getting pretty full - all of our purchases AND all of the items that had traveled with Nathan in his car.  Oh, yes - and our luggage!

While all of this was going on, Nathan was making arrangements with the moving company to have his household good from Cordova delivered, and getting his vehicle registered in CA. We had lots of "to do" lists!

By Saturday, we had done everything we could so took the weekend off!  Nathan went to a great hockey store in Anaheim and got all set up to play roller hockey.  Lee and I went into Belmont Shores and then walked along the beach to Nathan's new apartment, where we could see the painters working away!

Sunday was more of the same - breakfast, relax, go for a walk, etc., etc, while waiting for Doug to call us and give us the keys!  The car was loaded and our plan was to empty the motel room into the condo on Sunday evening.  Nathan had wisely extended our motel stay for Sunday night, so we didn't plan on staying at the Condo.

Doug finally called about 6:30 pm and told us that we could come and get the keys, but that the painters weren't quite finished - ACK!!  We went over, and sure enough - the floors were still covered, painting stuff was everywhere, and it became apparent that we would NOT be bringing additional loads over that evening.

Monday IKEA was scheduled to deliver the furniture between 8 - 12:00.  We got to the condo with another load, and I stayed there while Nathan and Lee went back to get the rest of our stuff and check out of the motel.  The painters arrived at 9:30.  I asked them to clear the bedroom so that IKEA could put stuff in there, which they did.  They then began finishing up the kitchen and bathroom.  Nathan, Lee and I went for a walk, while waiting for the painters to finish and IKEA to call. 

The call came in about 11:00, so we walked back.  The furniture came at 11:30.  The painters had cleared the living room and were finishing up and were out of there by noon.  We had boxes of furniture everywhere!  Nathan's household goods were scheduled to be delivered the next day, so we had a LOT to do!  Nathan and Lee started the assembling of the bedroom furniture.  The first piece they put together was the desk, which seemed to take forever!  I got busy cleaning!  The Condo was freshly painted, but the kitchen and bathroom were badly in need of a good cleaning!

So, on Monday and Tuesday, a housefull of furniture got assembled, the condo got a through cleaning, the household goods came and Nathan's car was ready to be picked up!  The excellent news there was that the replacement of his transmission was covered under warranty!  Phew!

Wednesday morning Nathan had to get his car smogged and registered.  Lee and I finished up some of the last minute details.  We had a great lunch at Chili's (thanks, Nathan!), and had some time to relax and enjoy Nathan's great new living space before it was time to head for the airport and home.

It was great fun to be able to assist in this every large endeavor - I had forgotten what it's like to start with nothing!!  We are looking forward to visiting again, soon, and taking advantage of the deck, beach, and Nathan's great hospitality!

As they say on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition:  Welcome home, Nathan Murphy, welcome home!

The Sharks beat Detroit in round two of the Stanley Cup play-offs, and go on to play Vancouver in the third round.  Nathan is happy about this!

Nathan's condo, from the beach

The view from the beach

Here's the great biking/running/walking path that goes from Long Beach to Seal Beach

Oh, my!  LOTS of boxes!

Assembling the top of the desk

Finished desk base

Nathan, assembling one of his dining room chairs

Ok, now for the bed!  It's a great chest bed, with 4 large drawers under it

Done!  Still to go - two small chest of drawers - one for each side of the bed

One of the sofas - covered in black cordoury

The second sofa - this one makes into a queen-sized bed.  Nathan is hoping to have LOTS of company!  I have a feeling he's going to need a calendar for his guests!

His dining room set, with my birthday flowers!

The CLEAN kitchen!!

The living room.  I suspect that at some point Nathan will add a flat screen TV...  but at this point he plans on enjoying lots of outdoor activities.  I think he's going to be a So. Cal guy!

Thanks, Nathan!  We'll be back!!