we're here!!

as of sunday 9/4, we're officially here in wilmington!  it's of been quite an adventure so far... 

wilmington, etc.


detours!
as you can probably imagine, the damage from hurricane irene (which i've noticed people here simply call "the storm") to roadways was extensive.  therefore, many roads here are still closed, including route 9 which connects bennington to brattleboro, and wilmington and marlboro to both.

getting around is for the most part doable, but it requires maps and planning.  google has actually generated maps that track which roads are closed so planning for alternate routes is easier.  this has come in very handy to us so far.

one of the many detours.  they may be
time-consuming, but i must say, the winding
roads here are very pretty!

sunday marked the voyage from my mom's house outside of albany to wilmington, and so we found our route, which took us to the tiny portion of route 9 that is open by way of massachusetts.

since then we've experienced many a detour - returning our u-haul in brattleboro on monday morning was so far the most extreme trip of the many we've been on.  we followed detour after detour and a 19 mile trip ended up taking three hours!

yesterday in an attempt to get to brattleboro without driving three hours, we found ourselves on a crazy detour trip through dover and into wardsboro.  at one point we came to a blockade that said "road closed - local traffic only".  garret decided to forge ahead to see if it was passable.  IT WAS NOT!!! we decided to turn around when we came to a point where the river had completely overtaken the road about 200 feet ahead...

i've been hearing reports that route 9 may be open as soon as friday 9/9, which would be helpful not only to us, but to the many people who have been hoping for the best on detours for a while now.

main street
the first night we were here, the police were no longer guarding the route through the town center in wilmington, so we [naively?] thought we could drive through, and did, to get to the grocery store.  the devastation here is truly unbelievable.  i had seen pictures.  but to actually be there, where we had been just months ago and soaked up the vibrancy of this wonderful little town, and to see it as destroyed as it is, was shocking.  i should have brought a camera, but i didn't.  nevertheless photos hardly even do the place justice.  to see actual buildings gutted, and to see the people inside already working hard to get them back up and running, was awe-inspiring.

the house!


breaking and entering!
so, we drive the detour through massachusetts and arrive at our new place of residence, where a key was to be left for us in the main office of the development.  i guess in all of the confusion and work of the storm, it slipped through the cracks that a key needed to be left for us!  the office was closed, and no one was around.  so here we are with all of our stuff, and no key!

i called and emailed the people who own our house, who unfortunately weren't home, but sent us an email that suggested we break in.  oh boy!!!

we got to the house and stared at it.  what to do?  then, i remembered that the previous times we had visited, a specific door off of the second floor balcony had been unlocked.  garret found a way up, but paused.  what if that door was no longer unlocked?  he'd be trapped on a second floor balcony and i'd be tasked with breaking into the house.

well, he took a leap of faith and - PHEW! the door was indeed unlocked.

i'm keeping it faithfully locked now... it's apparently easy to break in through!

boxes, boxes, boxes

murgy curls up to a box for a little nap.

i'm so sick of boxes and unpacking!  one astounding thing about living in a house though, is that there is pretty much a place for every belonging?  coming from brooklyn where we were somewhat forced to turn our belongings into decorations, for they had no place, this is a very new concept to me.

in fact, when i was putting things away in the kitchen (i always start with the kitchen - to me, it's the epicenter of the home!) i, out of habit, crowded just about everything into one cabinet before realizing doing so left me with several completely empty cabinets in other parts of the kitchen.

i'm sure i'll get used to this quickly and fill them all up fast!

so quiet!
my biggest impression thus far is how quiet and dark the nighttime is here.  i didn't know i was capable of sleeping so soundly.  the first night, murgy, who usually prowls the apartment and barks at shadows, didn't even move the entire night.  it was so dark, i don't think the little pup even knew what to do! neither did i!

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i haven't taken many pictures yet, i've been so preoccupied with everything else.  so, more pictures will certainly be forthcoming, especially once i start to get rooms set up, but here are a few i've taken so far!

the empty truck in brooklyn!
ready to be filled with everything we own.
surprisingly enough (okay, okay, it's probably not that surprising)
we didn't even have enough stuff to fill it!

cooking our first meal here on sunday night -
hot sausage, fresh tomatoes, and garlic with alfredo sauce

we had to share one plate - we hadn't unpacked any others yet!