After our return to San Diego we give ourselves time until the end of March to find something.

Marco also has some appointments with a Neurologist and is scheduled for an MRI which we want to get done.

Also, looking at rentals in the Phoenix area we see that the prices drop considerably in April. All the snowbirds are leaving and a lot of furnished rentals will be vacant.
Since Alicia has important family guests, her brother is visiting, we have to leave their house before the end of March though and spend a few weeks at the Extended Stay to bridge the time – a familiar feeling as we spent about one year in one of their suits when we came to San Diego six years ago.

On April 1st we check out and pack our belongings – again to drive East. I have been in contact with Cheryl, who owns an older patio home south of Old Scottsdale in a peaceful quiet neighborhood.

We meet and have a look at her home, it is very generous, about 1400 square feet (140m2), it’s fully furnished and ready to move it. We deal with the formalities, she speaks to our references and approves us, and finally I drive with her to the bank to transfer the money for the deposit and the 1st month rent, so we can move in.

We very much enjoy the big patio, the quiet neighborhood and the proximity to the stores. I can go shopping with the bicycle to Fry’s, Sprouts, Walgreens and Lowes – everything is close by and the green belt that stretches about 3 miles to the south and 20 miles to the north with lakes and trees is just down the road. Gizmo also enjoys the outdoors, he spends every minute outside from 5am until we call him in at around 8 or 9pm. He stays within the patio and I take him out to explore the neighborhood once or twice a day on the leash, this seems to work for him and for me. And, best of all, this place is affordable. For a comparable rental in San Diego we would probably pay at least twice as much!

So finally, after almost a year of moving around (we packed our car 5 times since June last year) we have a place where we can stay as long as we choose to – unless Cheryl (the owner) changes her mind!

And, last but not least, only a few weeks after moving in, Marco starts feeling better, either the higher dosage of his medication finally kicked in or his cluster is over – what ever the reason, we gladly take it and appreciate every day and every week without an attack.