Now, it has WiFi (i.e. an Internet connection), which is our one non-negotiable go-to-requirement.  So that’s good. And, it has a full-sized, full-equipped kitchen, which means that we can easily prepare meals here, plus the queen-sized bed is pretty comfortable.

By far biggest quirk is that the bathtub/shower is … outside. Yup, outside.  There’s a sink and toilet (i.e. a half-bath) inside, but the shower is outside. Here’s a link to information about the place with some photos, so you can see the shower.  (BTW, ignore any prices you see; one of the reasons we decided to stay here is that the landlady cut us a super deal on the price since we are staying here for almost 8 weeks).

Now, taking a shower isn’t as cold as I’d feared, even thought the outdoor temps here don’t seem to regularly get above 70 at most. But the water stream is good and warm, and in addition to other furnishings the owners provided fluffy towels and bathrobes. So, all-in-all, not bad.

Of course, we’ve been here less than a week. Check back with me in 8 weeks, to see if my opinion has changed.

Anyway, that’s all really a digression from what prompted me to write this post. Another standard criteria for accommodations on the Plan G tour has been to rent a place that has a washer (and dryer, if a dryer is typical for the country. I.e., in Italy the places we rented had washers, but no dryers because typically people just don’t have dryers in Italy. Here in the U.S., though, if there’s a washer, there’s alway been a dryer).  An in-unit washer/dryer is a wonderful thing.  Truly.  Usually I reject places for our longer stays that don’t have a washer/dryer in the apartment, or at least have one available in a room on an adjacent floor in the same building.

However, this place in Arcata has no washer or dryer on-site. What it offers is just proximity to a local laundromat that’s a couple of miles away.

But … go back and read the note above about how  the landlady gave us a great deal on the price for this place for 8 weeks.  Let’s just say that the difference pays for a lot of loads of laundry.

So today I went off to the local laundromat and discovered that it’s not coin-operated, like most American ones. Nope, at this one you are supposed to buy a card from a machine on the wall using exactly four $1 bills (a fee that is refundable eventually). Then, you have to load money onto the card using the same machine, and then figure out how to operate the machines using the card. Using a machine on a wall  was highly reminiscent of aspects of my foray into the world of Italian laundromats years ago. This time, though, there was no family that needed my help. In fact,  there was even an attendant who sold me the card and loaded the money on it for me, bypassing the whole machine thing. Nice.

But now I feel like I’m an International Laundromat Pro.  If you know of anyone who wants to hire one, just let me know. My fees are very reasonable … although I will charge more than a mere four $1 bills.

——

P.S. BTW, for those who are new to the blog, here’s a shameless plug for my book: that story of my adventures as the “Local Laundromat Pro” is just one of the tales you’ll find in my book, Life on a Gelato Diet, available in paperback (and for Kindle) from Amazon, and in all other electronic formats from LeanPub.

As typical with our travels, the main mystery you might have, though, is “Why did they go there?”  Arcata is on the northern coast of California, and it seemed like a nice town when we passed through it a couple of months ago (we stopped here for lunch in May).

Moreover,  my project on early women photographers (1840-1930) has been greatly inspired by the work of a photo historian named Peter Palmquist. He was a photographer and photo historian from  …. Arcata. Yup, Arcata. And his research on all the early women photographers started with women who came from Humboldt County, which is this part of California.  Unfortunately, Mr. Palmquist died over a decade ago, and his archive and notes are all on the other side of the country at this point, inaccessible to researchers while the archives at Yale are remodelled. Ah well. But he published books (I have many) about women who were in this area,  and I’m still hoping to track down some more information while we’re here.

Plus, as I said, we thought that Arcata seemed like a nice place to check out for a while. So, we decided to stay here for 7-8 weeks when we found a cute little vacation apartment to rent.

The first Arcata augury happened yesterday when we “checked in” to our latest vacation apartment here (which is technically in Bayside, the small area that is next to or part of  Arcata – I’m not sure which. But I’ll call it Arcata to keep it simple. And alliterative.) Anyway, the husband of the couple that owns this place turned out to have known Peter Palmquist. Nice, eh?  I took that to be a positive sign.

Then, there were two more auspicious things this morning.  First, we beat the odds — weather-wise at least — when we awoke to a large rainstorm, even though there was only a 10% chance of that happening according to the online forecasts.  One of the weather sites actually said there was a chance of fog, but not rain.  Chris read that as we looked out at the rain outside the window. Only 10% chance? We got it!

No puddles near our door as a result of the rain, unfortunately, but there were a few nice raindrops:

After the rain, Arcata, CA

Then, the second thing his morning were the large spider webs that appeared overnight outside our door.  The one below was the most photogenic, since it was covered in raindrops, but there were at least two others nearby (not pictured) :

Raindrops on a Spider Web, Arcata, CA

BTW, that’s an illusion that the web as big as the tree tops. I mean, it was big, but not that big.  The illusion is created since the web was closer to me that the trees and I took the photo lining up the web with the trees beyond.

Anyway, I take spider webs to be a good sign since when we moved to Tübingen a few years ago, we were memorably greeted several mornings there by a series of enormous spider webs outside the door to our first apartment, and I like to think they brought us good luck there. For reference, you can read this old blog post about them.

So, although divining the meanings of the auguries is always a mystery — especially on a Monday — all the initial signs seem auspicious for our visit in Arcata.

Stay tuned…