After a few hours of driving in a bit of a dreary weather, I finally arrived at my new Airbnb in Pulaski, TN. The house was located just a few minutes from the "downtown". I parked in the driveway and looked around. The neighborhood did not seem nice at all. On one side of the house there was a dog enclosure with at least 6 carriers and dog houses, on the other side were two other enclosures belonging to another neighbor. The house across the street had at least 6 cars parked in the front yard, both in the driveway and on the grass and the one next to it had some sort of aluminum foil-like curtains covering all the windows. I locked the car before entering the house...
The house itself was large with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It looked nicer than in the pictures and felt homey. I went back to my car parked in the driveway and started unloading the boxes. Kitty seemed to feel pretty good about the house as well. Having unloaded everything, I took a few pictures.
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| Bathroom next to the master bedroom |
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| Hallway from the master bedroom |
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| Master bedroom - view from the front of the house |
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| Master bedroom - view from the hallway |
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| Office |
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| Office - view from the hallway |
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| Second bedroom - view from the hallway - in the back of the house |
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| Second bedroom - view from the dining room |
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| Dining room - view from the kitchen |
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| Larger bathroom adjacent to the third bedroom |
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| Washer and dryer in the larger bathroom |
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| Third bedroom |
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| Third bedroom - view from the kitchen |
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| Kitchen |
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| Small living room |
I checked the internet connection, and the speeds were fantastic. Well, that's one good thing, right?
Soon enough as I unpacked a bit I heard loud music coming from the house across the street. They were having a party. Great! This was certainly not something that I was particularly thrilled about especially after living in a quiet place. I sent a message to the host who has been already lacking in communication asking if this was a usual thing. She had a "not my fault" reply.
The window in the living room went off tracks and was an inch open on the top. After trying to fix it, I contacted the host again who said the neighbor would stop by to see if she can fix it in the morning. Indeed, she slammed the window back in its original spot and locked it. In conversation, she also mentioned that she was a dog breeder, hence she had 12 (!) dogs. And this is how the barking/howling/yapping story began. For the next few weeks I was bound to find what it is like living next to a neighbor with barking dogs. It actually reminded me of the apartment I rented in Lake Elsinore a few years ago with two Saint Bernard dogs who also resided mostly outside frequently barking. PTSD? Perhaps... I am definitely more sensitive to sound that others, which could be related to my upbringing.
I had to keep the windows closed to drown out the barking. Luckily, the dog area was further away from the house, so I could hear muffled sounds.
Kitty, on the other hand, was not overly stressed out about the barking dogs. In fact, he was quite at ease exploring the new place. I, on the contrary, would sleep with my sound machine on.
The weather was cold with temperatures dipping down to below freezing multiple times at night and occasionally during the day. While it was a residential neighborhood, the street was a circle, which did not allow me to walk much. With no sidewalks, I had to improvise with my routes to get some exercise. The closest Planet Fitness was 40 minutes away, not a sustainable solution for the gym either. There were no park locally. None at all. The nearest park was
David Crockett State Park, a truly beautiful place, but 35 minutes away.
After complaining to the host about the dogs, I got nowhere. Airbnb was of no help at all. If I were to move, I would lose all the money I paid for this rental - $1,671 for 28 days. I guess the dogs didn't bother me as much to lose all that, so I had to adjust. In the evenings when I heard the dogs barking a lot I would put my noise canceling headphones on and play relaxing music from
Calm while reading. Sometimes I would watch TV or a movie on my laptop which also drowned out some noise.
I went on a hike to David Crockett twice and really enjoyed the park, albeit in its fall version without leaves.
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| 70 degree weather day in the park |
I visited Nashville a few times to go on hikes and socialize.
I also utilized the kitchen the best I could making delicious meals like the one below.
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| Soy bean pasta with peas in spicy pumpkin sauce |
On Thanksgiving weekend, I was supposed to go on more hikes, but after a hike in Nashville, I had to head back home because my car has some screeching noise. I think the front caliper might be going downhill. With the holidays, no mechanic was available, so my Nashville plans were put on hold. My friend was coming to stay over for the weekend, so at least I would spend some time with her. In the meantime, sappy Christmas movies and chocolate with wine for me after an occasional walk in the neighborhood!
