A quick trip to Tennessee

In July, I had to take time out from my hectic schedule to drive by myself from Lexington to Johnson City, Tennessee, to look for a house for the fall opening at ETSU. Since Steven had just been born, Janice did not want to travel down with me to look for a place to live with two young children. We decided not to rent a place if possible as we seemed to get quite comfortable with a house and mortgage. I drove down on a Monday and looked with an real-estate agent for three days, but could not find a place to buy. I called Janice on Wednesday afternoon and told her that I did not have the luck to buy a place and I had to drive back to attend an oral defense of a student the next day. She told me just to do my best. After the call, the agent told me that he had a friend who had told him at a party the week before that he would like to sell his house. He called the fellow who had been once the mayor of Johnson City. He was home and said he would consider selling his home. So we drove to West Maple Street to see this old style house. I liked it and told him I would like to buy. He gave me a figure, I told him that was fine. After he talked with the agent in the backroom for a while, even though his wife was not at home and children were not back from school. We signed the contract and sealed the deal. I did not stay much longer and happily hurried to drive back to Kentucky to report my success. We are still wondering today how surprised his family members must have been when they got home later that day!  Yes, I did realize that we might have paid a bit more than the house was worth, but who would care if we lived there for the next thirty five years!