ROAD TRIP to the Pacific Northwest...Day 18

Wednesday November 6

John made some steel cut oats for breakfast which went down real nice with our coffee.

When we were here the previous week, John had mentioned that the property across from him was for sale. Even though we weren't interested in relocating, something stirred a curiosity deep down inside. When we called John from McChord, we asked him to call his agent to see if she can show us the house and land next to John's. John made arrangements to have a real estate agent show us the place at 10:00am today..

 

 

It was a beautiful piece of land with awesome views, but there were a few issues that distracted me from getting overly excited. First, it was on 5 acres which meant, land maintenance...too much work for the grounds upkeep. Second, it was on a well and septic. I prefer to be attached to city water and sewage, just for convenience sake. And third, it was a manufactured home, nice and big but still a manufactured home. They grow little in value over the years. Yes, we could sell the manufactured home, have it hauled away and build a custom home, but that seemed like a lot of work. And last, the issue of being so rural and far from a hospital did not appeal.

We did tell the agent, who happens to be the mother of John's daughter-in-law, that we would love to see some other houses while we were in town. When she asked where, we suggested Ashland, Medford, Phoenix and Talent, with maybe few places in between.

It was short notice, but she did line up a few showings for the following Saturday. Kerry and I spent the day driving around the different areas, just to see if any appealed (or didn't appeal). Phoenix and Talent were quickly removed from our list. We called the agent (Judith) and updated her on our findings. She would focus on Ashland and Medford.

On our way back to the house we met John at his new rental property. It was a nice place just a few blocks from the hospital in a real cute neighborhood. He would be working on this place for awhile before turning it over to renters. Looked like a good investment to us.

The idea of moving, selling a house, buying or building a new one, packing; all sounded like a lot of work, but being retired and still in reasonably good health, why not? If we did this, we are going to need a lot of boxes.

 

Kerry asked me if I would consider moving to Oregon, her question arose from our mutual interest in seeing local property. Were we doing this for fun, just to check out the market or were we actually considering moving here? I looked at Kerry and without plan or forethought I replied, "Babe, you moved out of your dream house in California to follow me and my career to Tucson. We had a great run there and there are so many reasons why we should stay in Tucson. But, what you did for me 14 years ago by following me shows me that this is a two way deal. If you want to move to Oregon, and make this your home, I'm with you 100%!." With that she looked at me and replied, "Really?" I nodded.

It wouldn't be until June's birthday party tomorrow that we would realize exactly how much the family wanted us living there. But for now, we considered the reality of moving here. We had to consider Justin retiring from the Air Force when he returns from the Middle East. Steph talked about moving to Florida, where their family could be near Nicholas in Alabama. My reply was simple, "Since I do not like the cold, and Kerry loves to garden, why don't we live in Oregon for most of the year and spend a portion of the winter in Florida, where it is warm and sunny?" That way I don't have to deal with the hot and humid weather Florida offers during the summer time and, I get a break from the colder Oregon winter weather. Sounds like a win win situation to me. "Seeing the kids (and grandkids) for a month or two once a year is more than we see them now," I reasoned.

 

The reality of this thought process was going to be non stressful. I decided to simply leave it to God and allow the events to unfold as they unfold.  It is not up to me to question the path but instead, to simply follow. If it is meant to be, then it will be; if it isn't meant to be, then that path will be cut short.

For the rest of the day, we relaxed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day; June's birthday and there was going to be a big party. This was the reason we needed to be in Oregon  by the 7th. I fell asleep picturing the various House For Sale signs we would soon be seeing. How exciting?