Goodbye, Manitou

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Now is as good a time as any, so I might as well get this over with. In an earlier discussion, I alluded to the fact that we are moving. It might not have seemed like it, but I (we) have been pretty depressed the last month. It's more complicated than this, but essentially, we are being priced out of Manitou with a major rent increase (to be fair, our slumlords, err, landlords, are jacking up everyone's rent to market value. Everybody wants to live in Manitou, so they will get it, too. We have the premier apartment in the complex, so we had the biggest increase. We also aren't the only ones forced to leave. Three other tenants are leaving as well. The owners are justifying this by making major repairs and renovations, something they only became interested in when they decided to put the place on the market.) We have lived in Manitou, in this complex (which is in a perfect location,) for six years. We have spent the last month looking, and the only place we could afford has nothing but really bad reviews: apparently, our landlords aren't the worst in town. So, in the meantime, we have been getting rid of everything we don't absolutely need. This is heartbreaking, and the major part of our depression: we also spent the last month finding new homes for our four cats. The last one leaves tomorrow, which is devastating. I'm actually staying up as late as I can tonight, just to spend as much time with him as possible, even if he goes to sleep. Friday afternoon, we'll be moving into an extended stay motel in Colorado Springs until we can find an apartment. This motel has premium cable and a gym, is right next door to one of my favorite locally owned bike shops, and is also right on one of my favorite bike paths. In addition to military stationed at the nearby Air Force Academy, many of the tenants are elite cyclists staying in Colorado Springs to train at altitude. So we should have at least decent neighbors. But I'm not gonna lie. I loved living in Manitou. But it had to end sometime. Today, as I walked to the ATM, I no longer felt like a resident. And that made me more sad than I already was.