At that time, JW had a good job offer in Gillette, WY - they would even buy our house here, pay for all our moving expenses, put us up in temporary housing for 60 days while we got settled, give us $5000 cash to use on whatever expenses we needed to pay for in regards to moving such as autoregistration, utility deposits or whatever.
He also had his old boss in Nome saying that he thought someone from the care and maintenance team that they kept on was going to be leaving and if that happened, he wanted JW back up there.
I definitely did not want to move to WYO so was glad there was this 2nd option that might work out - otherwise, JW was pretty adamant that we were moving.
March 9 is when the boss in Nome was supposed to be back in the office. Mar 13 is when we were going to be in WYO to check out the place and make a final decision.
March 9, we sent Flat Stanley back to AZ and waited to hear from D Jarvis the guy in Nome. Weird thing is that the guy in WYO was named M Jarvis - not exactly the most common name in the world. Felt like a big conspiracy.
Monday March 9, a big blizzard was raging in Nome - very few planes were getting in or out.
Tuesday March 10, JW sent an e-mail to DJ to let him know we were going to have to decide about WYO.
Wednesday March 11, finally DJ got back to Nome and had a chance to talk to the guy he thought was leaving - nope he isn't. He e-mailed JW and told him that he thought he should take the job in WYO.
Thursday March 12 - we went for a long walk up the road and over the snow-covered hills - it was very peaceful except I had to rush back to a 4:00 meeting with my boss ( a meeting that she cancelled at 3:00 while I was out walking). When we got back here and found out I didn't have a meeting, we sat down to discuss what to do.
I had thought he was anxious to get started on this new job while in fact, he didn't want to move away from our spot. He thought I was anxious to get him back to work while in fact I too did not want to leave this fabulous spot in Montana. I had spent the past two weeks trying to think of all the things I hate about this place - couldn't even come up with 5 things. And moving to WYO definitely was not going to fix any of these.
We then decided that we would go to Gillette - we would be open-minded while looking at houses and if we thought we could do it, then we would.
Friday March 13 after I got off work, we headed southeast. Stopped in Sheridan and had a way toooo expensive dinner - which definitely wasn't worth the effort. Pulled into Gillette about 7:30.
Saturday March 14 we went for a leisurely breakfast (since someone decided we needed to get up at 6 o'clock to meet the realtor at 8 - it never takes us more than 20 minutes to get ready in the morning and 20 minutes to eat breakfast) We met up with the realtor and went to look at the 3 houses we had agreed to check out. All 3 were modulars on acreage. There is a boom over there right now with all the coal mines so houses are outrageous and you can't even find a stick house to buy.
The first house we checked out was too old. It was on 122 acres which was nice but was in very poor shape and had actually been moved twice so financing would not even be possible.
The second house was brand new. Two bedrooms but our bed would not even fit in the master bedroom and I don't know why people think you need a big bathroom with a huge tub in - to me that is a total waste of floor space.
The third house was okay but 4 bedrooms - 3 of which were about 9 x 9 (if that large)
We went back to the town and got our truck, then we drove out past the mine (which is 54 miles from Gillette) then another 50 miles to Newcastle where some people stay. It was a strange little town but at least it was kind of in the pines. We drove on over through Spearfish, SD and then back home - knowing that JW would be turning down that job and he'd keep looking.
If we were a lot younger, maybe we would have went ahead and gone but at our ages and knowing that we hope to retire in a few years, we didn't want at the "end of the day" to be in a mining town with a house that we may or may not be able to sell. It would be starting all over again and I guess we're too old for that.
For now, we'll stay here. JW will keep looking for a job and they are still talking about reopening the mine in Nome. If they do, he's at the top of the list for going back - this time, I'm going with. If not, we'll be able to pay the bills as long as I keep my job. While they are waiting to do that, he's signed up for Archery Guide service so in July will go to 4 week camp for training. Then they have a list of people wanting guides so he can go straight to work. It will be fun for him and good experience since that's what he was hoping to do when he retires.
Here's the view from one of the houses in Gillette and my view. Hmm let's see - an oil rig running day and night with a diesel engine making noise 24 x 7 or a peaceful view of the Beartooths - obviously not hard to pick between those two.
