Yesterday my wife, Faith, and I flew into New York City on a red eye flight from Seattle. I didn’t sleep.

We stepped out of the airport to wait for our taxi in the bright sunlight. The wind picked up and chilled all of us waiting in line for a taxi.

The taxi ride was an adventure. We loaded our bags and got in the back seat. The drive said, “Where are we going?” I told him from some directions I got from the woman who is letting us stay in her apartment for a couple days. We were off.

Most of the ride was uneventful exept for the last stretch where we were all looking for the apartment. The cab driver turned off the meter so we could figure out some directions and call Bridget. It was 6 a.m. in Seattle, 9 a.m. in New York. We knew were going to wake her, hopefully sleeping safely, in our condo on lower Queen Anne. After a couple tries so answered. Then she helped us get back on track and arrive at her front door.

We paid the fare and climbed three flights of stairs to our temporary home.

Faith found Bridget on Craigslist who was going to be in Seattle the same time we were going to be in New York. After a few tentative email exchanges, primarily on our part, we agreed to swap our homes free of charge. It was a very scary decision for me because my mind was racing with conspiracy theories.

Now that I’m sitting at Bridget’s desk looking out over Manhattan I realize that she’s actually a lot like us. She even has the same chips we like from Trader Joe’s—the ridget cut salt & pepper kind.

This morning it is beautiful again in New York and we can’t wait to get out there and explore the city. We met up with our friends Andrew & Ainsley Sundberg and Matt & Joanna Roddy last night and walked around the chaos of Black Friday—through Times Square, Rockefellar Center, Macy’s and a lot of other places that passed by me in blur.

Andrew asked me what I thought of New York so far and I told him, “I feel like I’m on a conveyour belt moving along the city quickly taking in the sights, not spending too long in any one place.” He laughed and said, “Like Disneyland” and we both laughed.

When we got home last night the adventure continued. Two out of three keys worked on the locks to our apartment and so we had to call Bridget again. She woke up her neighbor to come let us in with her dog Rupert. Faith and I apologized numerous times. Her neighbor didn’t mind. We traded keys so hopefully we don’t have to go through that again tonight.

We have one more night here in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) near Polishtown. Then we move in with Andrew and Ainsley for a couple nights. As I write this post I’ve stopped frequently to look ou the window at the city. I’m thinking it would be nice to have this kind of a view back home in Seattle.