Guess What Came in the Mail Today???

The keys to our rental house in Tahoe!!!

It is getting more and more real by the minute.  

When we visited last November, we drove around for days just sightseeing.  One of our first drives was to the top of Kingsbury Grade, which is the major road that takes you from South Lake Tahoe, over the mountains, and down into flatter, more desert-like, Nevada.   There are tons of homes and lots of GORGEOUS lake views at the top of Kingsbury and Heavenly Ski Resort is just down the road.  When we decided to move, we knew that was the area we wanted to be in. We searched rental websites and Craigslist for months!  All of the places we found were either too expensive or old and run down.  

So, Mike got an idea to post information about us on Craigslist.  He said who we are, and what kind of place we were looking for.  Within a few days, we had an email response.  The rental agency was very excited because we wanted to be "long term tenants," meaning a lease of a year or more.  Most people who want to rent in that area are looking for "ski leases," from November until April-ish.  The rent amount was in our budget but we were skeptical because we hadn't seen any pictures of the place.  

A few days later, the pictures arrived and we were pleasantly surprised!  It is a 3 BR/2BA duplex near the top of the mountain and it had recently been updated!  New floors, counter tops, appliances, etc.  There was only one problem: it was available for rent immediately, and it was only September!  We wouldn't even be in the area until January!  

We talked back and forth via email for several weeks, trying to figure out a solution because Mike and I KNEW we wanted this place.  We were even willing to start paying rent a few months early, just to secure the place!  Then came the AWESOME news.  The rental agency called us to say that they had found another renter who needed the place from September through December.  Their rent would end on Dec. 31st, and ours would begin January 1st!  How perfect, right?  We felt like that was a pretty good sign that things were going to work out, so we agreed and just a few weeks ago we signed the lease.

And today our keys arrived!!!  Yay! 

Here are some of the pictures they sent us of the house: 

The house is situated on the side of the mountain.  We park our cars on a parking pad that is level with the 3rd floor of the house, then walk down the flight of steps, and enter the house on the 2nd floor.  

When you walk through the door, you are in the living/dining room.  Notice the counter tops from the kitchen off to the left of the picture.  

The deck is on the front(?)  There is a door in the living/dining room that leads out to the deck.  The grate allows the snow to fall through so you can actually step out your door after a big snowfall.  It also provides a see-through platform that allows you to look down... WAY down... to the rocky ground that would catch you if you fell (2 stories).  

 See?  I told ya.  TWO full stories to the ground below!  Yikes!  The rental agency mentioned that the outside pictures of the home are "old" and that several things have been "re-done."  Notice the hot tub on our deck?  Yeah, that's not there anymore.  I know... seriously sad news.  I also know the railings around the deck are new compared to this picture.  What I am NOT sure about, are the structural supports for the deck.  Does that look like a stable base for that deck?  I'm not sure.  For anyone who comes to visit, the deck will be: "Enter At Your OWN Risk."  

The bathrooms.  Pretty self-explanatory.  

The third floor is a loft/extra bedroom.  

We shall see what it REALLY looks like when we get there.  Our fingers are crossed that it looks something like these pictures. 

And speaking of houses... instead of decorating our home with our beautiful Christmas decorations... we are putting everything we own into boxes.  It is sad and exciting at the same time.  Our house looks like this: 

And our poor dog... bless his heart... has no idea what is going on.  Maybe he thinks that if he stays near our stuff, we will be sure to pack him too!  But of course, we would NEVER leave our dog behind (no matter how much my mother BEGS to keep him).  He'll be riding shotgun the WHOLE way to Tahoe!