Gouverneur

Tomorrow, we will be exactly two weeks - fourteen days! - away from our final move-out date here in Virginia, and we will be heading north to New York in the Jeep, U-Haul trailer attached, with two bored dogs and two loudly meowing cats in the back of the Jeep.

Trueman finished out-processing Fort Eustis this morning, and is currently either already at Fort Drum, or still in transit to Fort Drum. He last called me just after crossing the state line between Pennsylvania and New York, which was around seven, so he should be just about ready to get to Fort Drum as I write this. He'd called to tell me that he ate at a little Dutch diner that had been featured in a travel show we watched. I hope he took some photos.

Tomorrow, Trueman is supposed to call the nice fellow who has the property we've put a deposit on, so he can physically tour the property, sign the lease, and get the key. I'm excited to see photos of the property - well, not that I haven't, the future landlord actually sent us a DVD with images of all of the rooms, outside views, the stables on the property, etc. but it'll be the first time that either of us sees the place in person. I'm living vicariously through Trueman ...

I hope that everything goes without a hitch so that I can be excited about the place we are definitely, absolutely, 100% moving to. Both Trueman and I really like what we've seen of the place and where it's located, and the future landlord has been very nice on the phone and in email conversations. It's pretty much a sure thing, especially since we put a deposit down (yes, with a receipt and all that good stuff), but I'll only really believe it when we have the lease in hand.

Why do we really, really want this place? Because this is it ...


For some reason, Mapquest shows the wrong location with its little star, but then again, Mapquest has been showing the Sheriff deputy's house at the corner when putting in our current address, so I probably should not be surprised. The actual house is the one the arrow points to, and it is a three year old "modern log home", three bedrooms, two car garage. It's a split-level home with the garage and a family room "downstairs" and the rest upstairs. It comes with two acres that will be "ours", and stands on a total of 74 acres of mostly wooded side-of-the-mountain that we will be able to use for hiking, walking the dogs, and (most likely) hunting. The future landlord already pointed out that "the ticks don't get too bad unless you clean deer close to the house!"

The house is located just outside the town of Gouverneur, NY (which I've not been able to spell correctly at first try yet!), about forty minutes from Fort Drum. I realize that's a pretty long commute, but we've been assured by pretty much everyone we know in upstate New York that the main roads are cleared pretty quickly and that living out there will more than make up for having a long commute. I hope they are right.

I've found that Governeur is referred to both a town and a village, which I've found a little confusing. I am gathering that the "village of Gouverneur" is the historic main street area of the town of Gouverneur, but might be mistaken.

Poking around the Internet, I found the following:

Gouverneur is located in St. Lawrence county..
St. Lawrence county is 56% Republican and 43% Democrat.
93% of people living in Gouverneur are white.
Almost 70% of Gouverneur citizens are Catholic.
50 residents of Gouverneur are foreign born.
Only 10% of people in Gouverneur have a Bachelor's Degree or higher.
More than half the people of Gouverneur are currently married.

And anyway, who doesn't love a town with a giant pack of Lifesavers on the village green!


Trueman actually just called, having arrived safe and sound at Fort Drum and checked into the guest lodging (hotel) on base. He said that Fort Drum reminds him of Fort Irwin in its sheer size, and that everything appears to be about 30 cents more expensive than in Virginia, even on base where there's no tax.

Things he's found that he doesn't like so far has been the lack of little glowy things marking the lanes on roads, like we have down here in Virginia where snow plows don't scrape them off, and the fact that most of Pennsylvania and most of New York he's driven through seem to use dead deer by the roadside instead of mile markers.