We found a home in Davis!

I’m heading back east after a successful apartment-hunting trip to Davis. Scott and I met in Sacramento on Tuesday night, and we spent all day Wednesday and Thursday checking out locations. By 4pm on Thursday, we had it narrowed down to two options. (1) A really great duplex in North Davis, a 20-minute bike ride away from campus, with a kitchen that opened onto a spacious living room with a fireplace, and lots of huge windows looking out onto a fantastic garden and hot tub in the back yard. (2) An apartment in a complex in South Davis, a 5-minute bike ride from campus.

The apartment won out, but I had a hard time giving up the house. I was really excited about the prospect of working in that living room, listening to the stream trickling, smelling a wood fire in the winter, watching the birds and butterflies outside. But one piece advice we’ve heard from over and over and over from just about every student we talked to is the tremendous value of living close to campus. And when I think of how much value we’ll get from that southern location, I’m really excited to be moving there. For example:
- I’ll be able to zip up to coffee shops to work.
- Scott will be able to come home throughout the day.
- We’re 3 blocks from a cute, friendly climbing gym, as well as a running trail through the UC Davis arboretum, both of which I intend to frequent.
- The apartment complex has a pretty decent gym and a pool and a hot tub and parking spaces and a pool table.
- Also, we have plenty of room for visitors and will happily host anyone who cares to come out and see us!

The only thing missing is the vista. The two bedrooms (one of which will be a study) look out onto a parking lot, and the living room opens onto a little concrete patio. We’ll have to get creative on the study window. My first thought is to copy Damon’s office window and line it with a neat collection of class bottles. It creates privacy without hanging curtains. I’m really excited about transforming the patio into an oasis. Lots of potted plants and flowers and herbs, maybe a little fountain. We can park our bikes elsewhere.

We'll have the floor plan on the right:



It was a successful trip, but it made me think about the ways that I’m going to miss DC. Davis is small. We’ll be able to visit every restaurant within a year. There are no Smithsonians. No club Ultimate. No one I know, except Scott and the handful of students I met last night. I was hoping I’d fall in love with the city when I saw it, and I didn’t. I don’t dislike it. It just doesn’t compare to DC… which it’s not trying to. It’s clean, sunny, and tree- and bicycle-filled, and the people I met were friendly. I think it will grow on me.


I’m getting into Boston late tonight, and I get to play at Wellesley’s tournament this weekend. Sounds like the alum team will be savage, so I’ll get a good workout! It will be good to get home on Sunday.