F is for Far and Away; Moving from the City to the Mountains

"You're never too far away"

        I grew up in the city. Actually I grew up in a crappy little oil town inside of the city. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always taken pride in being from Bakersfield and in being a Southern Californian born and raised. But I always dreamed of getting out of the city, living closer to nature, out in the wilderness, far and away from all the noise and hustle and bustle of city life.

    

Our Wonderful Home

We moved east, to South Lake, a tiny town outside of Lake Isabella two years ago. Now, I won’t lie. As majestic as the sun coming up over the mountains is and as great as it is breathe in fresh clean air (by California standards anyway), it took me some time to adjust.

We live between Mt. Mesa and Weldon

 For instance, I always got gas and electric from  PG&E but up here, our house runs on propane. And until we got our 200 gallon tank we were using 5 gallon tanks and switching them out a couple times a week in the winter, and a few times a month in the summer.

     It was not easy for me to figure out how to switch the tanks on my own. I’m a pro at it now but two years ago, I was brought to tears of frustration when I couldn’t figure out how to get the fittings off of the empty tank.

desert rat from our cupboard

Then there are giant bugs! Scorpions in the house and spiders of all colors and sizes and textures. Rats as big as my Chihuahua! I kid you not! These were things I wasn’t used to! My husband grew up in the mountains so it was all the same to him, but I had some serious adjusting to do!

            

   

lizard at the breakfast table

              

 Fortunately I have adjusted pretty well. I’m getting the hang of this whole country living thing. It took a while to get used to being so far from my friends and family but they’re always just a (very long and exhausting all day) drive away. And I’m happy up here. With nature. My kids love it. There is so much room to roam and things to explore. The creative possibilities are endless when you can go play in a forest or hike mountains.

   

So, maybe it isn’t so bad that we moved so far and away from the city.