The house still worked. My schedule did not.
I loved the place in Cold Spring. It gave me room for bikes, a garage, a basement, and an easy escape from the city. The problem was that TRX needed more of my time in California, while the friends who had made the house practical had moved back to New York City.
Keeping another lease no longer made much sense.
I wrote the landlord with two options. I could leave anytime inside a broad two-month window, as long as I had a few weeks of notice. That would give her time to find another tenant without forcing either of us into one exact move-out date.
The other option was more complicated. If she gave permission, I could keep the lease and offer the place for limited short-term stays when I was away. I was not proposing a constant stream of weekend guests. I described one carefully selected weekend booking at a time, or an occasional month-long stay.
Cold Spring required a permit. The house would need professional cleaning between guests. I would have to keep it organized and be selective about who stayed there. The garage and basement could still hold the bikes and gear that made the place useful to me.
She needed time to think and talk with her family. I did not know which option she would choose.
The travel kept moving anyway. A California work trip was already booked for the following week. I pulled the bike bag out of storage, built the bike, and loaded the empty boxes into the Mini.
The house decision remained open. The bike was ready to go west again.