We’re officially back on the road! We were three days late for take off, (if we’re really being honest, it’s more like three WEEKS late), but we have struck out onto our next adventure, effective 10am this morning.
The second home we bought to renovate and sell was completed, put on the market, and sold all in the month of August. Jason and I figured we would be hitting the road by end of September, but then the closing on the house came a full month earlier, and the plans shifted to taking off beginning of September. Mid-June, we bought our current motorhome while we were in Arizona vacationing/dog-sitting for family (hello sunshine, pool floating, and pickleball!). We sold the truck we had bought for the renovation projects and bought this Allegro Bay RV for the drive back to Oregon.
Once we were back home, I started moving us out of the almost completed house project and into ol’ Bae (it’s a working title for her, but it seems fitting). We mostly lived without furniture in that house with the exception of the dining set left by the previous owner. I’m talking no bed frames, dressers, couches, end tables, recliners, book shelves, etc. We did buy some mattresses to sleep on, two TVs, and one mirror to get us by for the nine months we needed them – and then we sold or gave it all way. Once again, everything we own came out of a house and into an RV. For feeling like we lived very minimally in that house, there was sure a lot of stuff to be meticulously packed into Bae.
Once out of the house, we parked Bae at Jason’s parents’ house with full hook-ups while we went through the sale process and planning our next adventure. (We also took a wonderful trip to Cancun for a week in August, and it was full of sun, much needed relaxation, and family time.) Jason and I both feel like the buying, flipping, and selling of that house went very, very well, and we were extremely lucky to get buyers so quickly.
We also bought another property that we share with my sister and her husband that we aren’t as lucky with. We bought that one at a Sheriff’s Auction in June ‘22, and we’ve been dealing with buyers’ remorse ever since.
As it sits now, it’s a beautiful, flat acre of land with a creek running through the back end of it. The attempts to salvage and flip the house were swiftly quashed when the contractors let us know it was impossible to fix the cracked foundation and re-level the home. The house was demolished, and the land was cleared of junk, brush, cement, scruffy trees, and old fences. We recently defined the property lines with a lovely 6-foot cedar fence while we figure out our next step.
Sell? Build? Nonconventional ideas? Something else?? We’re still processing the loss and attempting to find a way to minimize our financial burden on the property. A tough pill to swallow.
With having experienced the best- and worst-case scenarios of house flipping all within a year’s time, we find ourselves leaning on the “We can do that again” side of it. Before the ink was even put to paper on the sale of the second house, I was already scouring the depths of real estate looking for the next project. I had a clear realization about myself with these two houses: I need a project. I need and crave a space to make things new, clean, organized, refreshed. Without the project, I spiral into an anxious depression that I’m desperate to crawl out of, yet can’t see the light to make it happen. I need projects, I need change, I need to feel useful and accomplished by a job well done. So, I cleaned a barn.
While staying on their property, my in-laws graciously allowed me to go all in on re-organizing one of their barns. This barn holds 50+ years of marital memories and a life built together across countries, oceans and generations. It also holds all of their kids’ and grandkids’ junk. It’s a barn! It’s meant to be packed to the gills with hobbies, tools, memories, decorations, car parts, and “I’ll get to it later’s”. I was in my mental happy place. I took Every. Single. Item. out of that barn. Then I swept, washed, categorized, donated and put it all back together. That barn is beautiful. It’s literally just a storage barn to anyone else that walks in, but for me, it was a calming therapy.
The last three weeks, however, have been a bit of an uneasy mess. We had Bae, and our plan was to hit the road. What road? Not sure. How long? No idea. Where to? Again, not sure. But, by golly, we had this RV, and we’re going to use it. Jason began plotting a course, then the days continued to slink by, and the course changed. Then family health stuff came up, and the course changed again. We also needed a car.
Since we sold the pickup for Bae, we had no other rig. Borrowing my father-in-law’s Prius wasn’t sustainable forever, and we certainly couldn’t take it with us.
So, the search began for a car big enough for our family (including our ridiculously-old-but-still-down-to-travel 150lb dog), but light enough to flat tow behind Bae. A couple of weeks ago, and MANY web searches and conversations later, we are now the proud owner of a mid-size SUV that is already equipped for Bae to tow and is reasonably comfortable for the five of us, plus Big Dog Sage.
Now we had the RV packed, the house sold, and the car bought, but there were still several little things that needed to be considered or completed. Our youngest son, Cord, had his 10th birthday coming up on the 20th, and he wanted to be around family for his birthday. We were only a week away from his birthday, and it seemed almost cruel to leave right before him getting his wish granted.
So, we decided we’d stay through his celebration on the 17th, THEN we hit the road. Alright, this was it. We had a finite date for launch. We were really going.
With the leaving day fast approaching, I made the most of my Tuesdays with Mom and Dad. I finished up a 3-generation quilt, which was also my first quilt ever, with my mom’s expertise to guide me.
I also helped my dad with a few last-minute projects, doctor visits and medication complications for Mom.
Then the Sunday Birthday lunch celebration for Cord came and he had the time of his life on a 10-gift treasure hunt all across Grandma and Popa’s property. He spent it with family, and he was a very happy birthday boy. The next day was our Go Day. We said our goodbyes and “probably see you at Christmas” to the party guests and planned for departure the next day. Then we had some hiccups…
Although we bought our rig with it already set up for towing behind a motorhome, it was NOT set up to be towed behind OUR motorhome. Jason spent almost two full days working on the wiring between Bae and the car before he was able to get everything in working order.
I’m so proud of how he handled himself through all that frustration. He got the wiring corrected, re-ran, and up to snuff (technical term) exactly as it should be, all with a calm focus. But again, we were still stumbling on a snafu. Some of the wiring components for the brake system that Jason ordered and were set to be delivered on Sunday, still hadn’t come in yet. That precious mailing network of ours had that small package (which I had added to with a couple other non-essentials) bouncing all over the place.
Amazon kept apologizing for the delay, advising we can get our money back if it doesn’t come in 1-3 more days… Well, that wasn’t helpful. But alas, the package was received yesterday afternoon, which meant we were free and clear to set off in ol’ Bae. A new date was set, and now, maybe, we were actually going to leave town. We’ve been telling our friends and family for weeks that this might be the last time we’ll see them before we leave – and then we’d see them again. And again. But there were no more roadblocks or speed bumps for us to get over, and we were committed.
Leaving home was harder this time. During the planning and preparing, I found myself dragging my feet. I wasn’t disappointed when the mail was delayed. I was accepting of the wiring delay. I liked that we were still home for Cord’s birthday. This trip isn’t indefinite like our last one was. There’s a beginning and end date to it. I didn’t want to go. But, I didn’t want to stay either. There wasn’t a project for me to dive into, despite my best efforts in seeking out another flip house. Not to mention, the weather is turning, and I don’t like it. I’m a sun girl. A 75-degree low, 95-degree high kinda girl.
This 40-something at night, and 60-something during the day is for the birds. Well, some birds, but not us sun birds. I wanted to go find some sun, but I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to find new adventures with my husband and boys, but I didn’t want to miss my family back home. I needed a change before the darkness crept in, but I was fearful of a medical nightmare rearing its wretched head while we were away.
I quietly wept throughout this morning as we finalized our rigs for departure. I kept myself busy in an attempt to ignore the pull in my gut to stay. We were closing up the last door, and Jason casually asked off the cuff if I was ready for this craziness. “No,” I answered. The tears fell as I tried to explain my own confusion to my ride-or-die. He held me tight and finally said, “This trip can be as long, or as short, as we want it to be.” And that was my clarity.
We aren’t forced into this once-in-a-lifetime experience. We don’t have to do any of this. We get to. We choose to. We are choosing to spend quality, personal time with our sons that we will never get back. We have the privilege and freedom to set off on another life-changing, mind-altering, limitations-breaking adventure. And I’m here for it. I think. Maybe. Probably.
So here’s to farewell for now, finding peace with your person, and our first stop: Crane Hot Springs.
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