In Conclusion
The main
purpose of the journey was not to buy a house in Oregon. It wasn't to visit my
family up in Western Canada. Instead, it was for one reason and one reason
only. We knew that Justin's family was missing their dad/husband. He still had
a couple of months to serve in the Middle East before returning home. His home
was already void of his presence for over 4 months and that is a long time.
Kerry and I
thought that by visiting them, we would be doing many things at one time,
including helping them deal with Justin being gone; being there for them to go
see football games or hand out candy on Halloween (things Justin would be doing
if he were home). So this road trip to the Pacific Northwest wasn't a longtime
planned vacation. It was more of a "Let's go and visit the kids,"
kind of sudden impulsive vacation. Sometimes those are the best kind.
Because it
was such a long drive we decided to break it up and use Oregon (Kerry's
brothers place) as a rest stop for both going up and returning. And of course,
being so near the Canadian border we decided that a few days with my family in
Canada was appropriate and long overdue. We ended up spending almost 10 days
with Justin's clan - 10 wonderful family together bonding and loving days
(except for the being sick part of course).
As we left
McChord Air Force Base for the last time, as we headed south, we had no idea
that we were going to buy a place in Oregon. We knew we were going to look at
the house for sale across the street from John, but not out of interest in buying
it. It was more a curiosity as to what one would get for their dollar in the
Oregon real estate market.
We planned
the extra travel days so we could be in Eagle Point (John's house) for June's
birthday. John really wanted us to be there for the party. Why not? We were
both retired so we could do whatever we wanted to do. We could spend a month on
the road, if we had a mind to do so (3 weeks was long enough away from home,
this time).
As we looked
at the surrounding real estate market we started thinking about the amazing
love that was flowing towards us, from all directions. It was over whelming!
What if we moved here? How would that work? For every question we asked ourselves
a dozen others would arise. What about our house in Tucson? What about our
church family at New Life? What about Justin and Nick? Every question was
weighed and considered. The only two issues that were difficult to consider was
our boys and our church.
After much
debate and consideration, we were resolved to the fact that as far as the boys
and their families go, Nick was already living in Alabama and he wasn't going
to be moving any time soon. Did we want to live in Alabama? Nope, too humid.
Now for Justin. He was soon to retire, or at least that was his plan. There was
also talk of his staying in for a little while longer because of the benefits.
We knew that he wasn't interested in staying in the Tacoma area once he was retired,
whenever that would be. So, as far as where he would plant his roots, we
weren't sure where that would be.
There was
talk about both Justin and Nick moving to Oklahoma City where there is a large
family population (mostly on Nicks in-law side). Kerry lived in Oklahoma City
before and said she would never live there again. I don't blame her...too humid
in the summer and too icy in the winter. Then there was talk about Justin
moving to Florida, where he would be closer to his brother in Alabama. Would we
want to live in .Florida? That was the "all-important" question.
Florida has a lot to offer but one thing it has that we do not have any
interest in is extreme heat in the summer. We lived in Tucson for the past 14+
years and getting away from the heat was a positive thing about moving to
Oregon. Add to the Florida heat the high humidity and what you have is a
climate that would be uncomfortable for Kerry and me. At least in Tucson there
is no humidity. Yes, living full time in Florida was out of the question.
This was
when it hit me...the solution that served everyone's needs. If we sold the
house in Tucson and moved to Jacksonville Oregon, we could stay in Oregon from
March to December (more or less). Just before Christmas we could drive to
Florida, stopping in Tucson along the way.
After spending a week or so in Tucson, visiting out church family and
friends, we would continue our way east until we hit the warmth of the Florida
beaches. We would be there for Christmas.
We would
probably rent a small furnished apartment or maybe even buy a condo. With Nick
only living a few hours away, we could spend January and February visiting both
of our boys and their families. That works out to a month with each family,
almost 4 times longer than we see them now.
The other
benefit of this plan...I don't like the cold. I lived in the Pacific Northwest
(Vancouver Island) before and really, I don't mind rain. But being born and
raised in Montreal, getting as far away from the cold as I could would be a
goal of mine during my entire life. Once Oregon starts getting colder in the
winter, Kerry and I would simply close up the house and take off for a couple
of months, until things started warming up in Oregon once again.
That was the
answer- the missing puzzle piece. Now the idea of moving to Oregon was not so
difficult. When we were told that our final offer was accepted, we were
overflowing with joy. We immediately contacted our kids to let them know. Were
they pleased? Well let me say this, they were less enthusiastic then we were.
Most of them finally accepted the reality...all would have to adjust, including
us.
Working with
Judith (our Oregon real estate agent) we
had set up a complete house inspection. John agreed to show up for the final
hour of the inspection. This way, the inspector could go over any issues he
found with John. John would, in turn, report the details back to us. The
inspector agreed with our opinion of the house (and John's as well) that the
house was beautifully made with top end quality materials. There were a few
issues that needed to be addressed and those were noted down in his final
report to us. Now the real negotiations began.
It took some
going back and forth before a final agreement was reached. She (the seller) would
reduce her price and we would allow her to stay in the house for 2 months so
she could take her time finding a new place to live. That worked out well for
us because we would prefer the house not sit there empty. We also enjoyed a
reduced purchase price...to help cover some of the things that needed to be repaired.
On December
7th, exactly one month after we signed the papers with Judith so she could
submit our initial offer on the house, a final agreement was reached, signed
and filed. The house is ours and we will close on December 31st. We now have a
house in Oregon.
We contacted a real estate agent in Tucson
who came highly recommended by a friend of ours in church. She just sold her
place and used this guy, a young go getter who uses modern techniques (like
demographic analysis and market algorithms). We were impressed. He arranged to have
a professional photographer come by and shoot a series of photo's for the
listing. One day, when I went to get the mail, there was a for sale sign on our
property. Strange!
So, as you
can see, this was an amazing journey that took us down a path, one we never
planned on taking. We not only drove 4040 miles in total, consuming 184 gallons
of gas, we also veered into the unknown, a path that is taking us to an
entirely new chapter. We will soon be loaded up and on the move to the Pacific
Northwest, on one last road trip, for now.
I want to
thank all of you who have been following my BLOG. My goal -
to keep writing, telling stories, bringing my world into yours.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Oh, I almost forgot...
Do you remember when we were driving north, at the beginning of our vacation, when we contemplated stopping in Redding California to visit Adrienne and Nick (Kerry's cousins)? Then, as we headed south at the end of the trip we wished we had more time so we could stop in Redding for a brief visit. Well, you will never guess who called us on our second day home. That's right, Nick and Adrienne. They were travelling in their RV and wanted to stop by in Tucson for a visit. They parked their rig out front and for the next couple of days we were able to share some quality time together.
Now, how weird s that?
And one last thought...Sorry Pat that Ontario was not on the agenda, this time. But you never know when that day will come, when there will be a knock at your door. At that point there will be no hiding, no turning back, no running away.
Hugs from ours to yours...
