2017 Trip – Blog #4 – Meeting with Mary!

Monday, May 29th, 2017…..  Memorial Day – Hope everyone enjoys the day. But please be sure to take time out today to remember any of your family members and friends who have sacrificed for you in service to our country.

Even though it was a holiday we decided to head north and explore Salem.  It’s a nice day for me but not Lydia - not exactly cold but the sun hasn’t come out completely yet. But hey – that’s Oregon right! The 40 mile drive was nice and we enjoyed the day. We stopped in Albany at The Original Breakfast and had a nice meal. The sun did finally come out and it was a beautiful day! We had already marked a few homes we wanted to drive by but they all had things we didn’t care for.  Unappealing areas, way out of town and amenities, one was so far back in the woods we swear we could hear banjo music!   We headed back and did drive past the one house we found earlier in Lebanon.  It is SO nice we wanted to see it again.  After that we drove a minute or two to the local Walmart and bought a few things and headed home. After dropping off the frozen food at the rig, we went into Coburg for dinner.  Our realtor, Mary, had recommended a couple of places to eat there so we tried Coburg Pizza Company.  The pizza was very good and the salad was huge! Definitely on our list now! Afterward, we detoured past the house on Fir Butte in Eugene that we had toured in January.  THAT was our benchmark home! Perfect! It is now sold but looks like no one is taking care of the lawn!

Tuesday, May 30th, 2017…..  I got up early and showered and then walked down the road to the local coffee hut and got coffee while Lydia got ready. No hurry today, our meeting with Mary wasn’t until 11:30.  She is only a few minutes away.  She had prepared some listings, some of which we had seen before, so we picked the ones we wanted to see and we headed out.  The first was on Lake Trail Rd. in Veneta, very close to Pine Grove Reservoir. Lydia really liked this one!  It was a newer home and the owners were there working on the lawn. We liked the attention to detail and they have taken excellent care of the place. Nice quiet area, lots of trees, and flowering beds. Very well manicured.  Cons are the trees and the leaves to rake and the work on the lawn.  Also, there is no RV garage, nor a great place to build one.  But it is still on our list.  The next one was on Dukhobar Rd.  This place did have a nice big RV garage but the house was split level and reminded us of The Brady Bunch home. The place had zero curb appeal and more of a choppy look and poor layout.  Definitely off our list. Next up was Lake Drive Rd., just north of the lake.  This one is stuck down a long gravel drive so it is isolated and remote.  I liked the two main living spaces and the huge shop and RV room but there was no garage and the place was not well kept so this one is off the list. We headed back to Mary’s office and she said she would contact one of her agents in Albany who would arrange us to see the Lebanon home. She also needed to touch base with the daughter about her dad’s home in Leaburg. We went back to Coburg to Chiefs BBQ for ‘linner’ (late lunch – early dinner). Great bbq!  Later, back at the rig, both agents called.  We go Thursday to Leaburg and tomorrow we go to Lebanon.  Aimee, from ReMax Albany office, emailed me the CCRs and disclosures for the Lebanon Oak Creek Way property.  Not good for us – they have an HOA and even though there are no fees at all, there are a ton of restrictions.  So we’ll see tomorrow.  Afterward, it was relaxing and tv and then bedtime.

2017 Trip - Blog #3 - The Search Begins

Thursday, May 25th, 2017…..  Wow, it WAS nice sleeping last night!  We opened the windows in the bedroom and got a nice breeze.  It was actually cold when we got up so we had to turn on the small portable heater for a while!  We were at 3,100 ft at the base to Mt Shasta but we didn’t expect it to be that chilly. We hit the road about 8:30am and made the 250 mile trip to get to our destination, Eugene Kamping World RV Park.  We have been here before and it’s not the greatest park.  We are looking for a place in this area for a month or so to base out of while we look around. Early last week, we tried other parks in the area which couldn’t accommodate us monthly but we will check on another tomorrow that we couldn’t reach before.  Once set up, I cleaned the bugs off the windshield and we rested for the day.  Lydia made pork chops and augratin potatoes for dinner and we watched the last part of Survivor and then each of us caught up on shows we had taped before calling it a night. Nothing is on the plan for tomorrow except for that other park so we’ll get to sleep in.   

Friday, May 26th, 2017…..  Even though we decided to kick back today, we got restless and took a drive to Elmer’s for breakfast and then took off from there and looked at a few houses we had researched on the realtor sites.  Two in Veneta and one in Leaburg. Two have potential. The one in Leaburg is nice but it’s not supposed to hit the market until next week.  We’ll probably set up an appointment with our agent to see it then.  The other one is interesting but lacks curb appeal. We stopped at the market and got stuff for dinner for a few days and went back to eat and watch tv.  I did spot oil leaking from the rig so I investigated and found the dipstick had come unscrewed.  Didn’t leak much and I cleaned it up and fingers crossed I think I’m ok. 

Saturday, May 27th, 2017….. We decided to head north today - about 25 miles northeast to Lebanon. There were two homes we had previously flagged that we wanted to check out.  We eliminated one immediately but the other looks really good!  Nice neighborhood just outside of town. We haven’t met with anyone yet to set up appointments to see any of these homes but these drive bys give us a lay of the land and what’s around.  Lebanon is a nice little town with amenities plus medical facilities. Definitely on the keep list!

After spending much of the day there, including re-finding the quilt store Lydia found a few years ago when we were here, we headed back to the rig and had dinner and settled in for the night.

Sunday, May 28th, 2017…..  Today we will hang out at the rig, maybe go to Walmart.  Just a kick back and rest day.  

2017 Trip - Blog #2 - The Drive North

(As mentioned, we will most likely stack up daily posts and publish when we can get an internet connection.)    

Monday, May 22nd, 2017…..  Our trip ‘officially’ began this morning when we prepped the motorhome and hooked up the car.  We had spent the last 8 night at the Garden Grove Elks Lodge (#1952) of which I am a 13 year member. Oddly, we knew very little about the rv’s and how it worked.  Like most Elk Lodges across the country, this one has rv sites with water and electric and a dump station.  We stayed here as the Pod was delivered to the house and was loaded.  Then we had to wait for Jeff’s van to get picked up for transport to Florida.  Turns out the pickup was done on Friday, the same day escrow closed.  We decided to leave on Monday so I set out to make travel plans for the trip to Eugene.  First stop was Bakersfield.  Only 155 miles but we wanted to stop to see Lydia’s brother Stan and his wife Joy before we headed out.  We checked in at the Bakersfield RV Resort and headed to their home.  Nice visit and we went to dinner afterward and then said our goodbyes. 

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017….. This morning we headed out about 7:30 (to try to beat the heat) and drove 254 miles to Flag City RV Resort in Lodi.  Once in camp and settled in, we rested a bit then headed out to dinner.  We had passed a Spaghetti Factory a few miles back (in Stockton) so we headed there and enjoyed a nice meal. We were given several (visa) gift cards from friends and family which we have been using so we thank you all for that!  Afterward, we went to Walmart and got a few items then went back to the rig.  Later, we went over and used the pool for a while.  It is 98° here today so the water was refreshing!  Afterward, we settled back in for a quiet night and prepped the rig for tomorrow’s travel. Oh yeah, we got a text from Jeff this afternoon that he received the van today with no issues.  Yaaay! 

Wednesday, May 24th, 2017….. We have a Flying J station just down the street from the campground so we stopped there on the way out to fuel up.  We have another 250 mile drive today to get to Mt Shasta RV Park.

Even though we left camp around 7:30 it was still warm. But it’s better than driving through the heat of the day!  We got into Abram’s Lake RV in Mt Shasta about 12:30 and got set up.  No one has been in the office but we knew the amount and self registered and paid.  We went into town and had lunch at Taco Bell and then stopped at the market to pick up some pork and potatoes for dinner.

We hung around the rig and rested for a while.  I took a walk around the campground and the hiking trail which was nice.  Then it was back to the rig to catch up on the DWTS finals that we taped yesterday.  Ok, we now saw who won.  I’m good with that.  He deserved it. The weather is a bit cooler here in the mountains so I bet it will be nice sleeping tonight!

  

2017 Trip - Blog #1 - The Adventure Begins!

Most of you know by now that we have decided to embark on a new adventure in our lives. We made the decision back in September last year to sell our Long Beach home and head to the Northwest!  We have traveled in our motorhome over the past 35 years and have seen a lot of our beautiful country.  We have asked ourselves along the way, 'Could I live here?'  For one reason or another for the most part the answer was no.  Although the desert is nice for a visit, we don't do brown.  Mountain life is not our style either and we don't want severe winters with snow we have to push around! The east coast and southeast and midwestern states are ok but humid in the summer. Back in 2012 we spent 7 weeks in Oregon and we liked what we saw!  Nice and green and clean air plus mild winters with little snow that doesn't stick around plus there is plenty of room to move around.   We couldn't get it out of our minds.  I spent a ton of time on the old interwebs checking on climate history and crime rate, real estate prices, taxes, cost of living, etc, etc.  So last September we went back and checked out properties.  It was then that we made our decision that we could do this!  Only one thing was in our way. We wanted to see winter in the area. So we headed back up in January and spent time in the cold and rain.  We could still do this! So we concentrated on the next steps.  We worked on getting our house ready to put on the market.  It took us a while but we listed it a few days before Easter and accepted an offer above asking just five days later.  So, now it's just a month later and we closed escrow and have the money in the bank! 

So what's next?  We are now homeless!  Ok, not really!  We have a nice big motorhome that we are living in.  Our plan is to head north next week and find a base camp in the Eugene area and start our search for a home in that area.  Our kids are ok with our decision.  Randy and Maryanne are in Westminster and will come visit often.  Jeff is in Florida with his fiance, Krista, and her kids.  My sister and Lydia's sister are local and will visit. My sis has plans to move up to our area as well and is waiting to see where we end up.

Ok, that's enough for now.  Stay tuned if you are interested and we'll post as we go along.

The adventure begins!