The Great Escape has Begun

[jbolt]

Been enjoying your story, thanks for updating! We also are working out our escape from CA and just (today) dropped an offer on a place in Prescott AZ. It has a nice 1064 sqft shop with it's own 200A service, fully insulated & half of it is 2 story providing for storage. Fingers crossed they take our offer. If they do I'll have to start my own escape thread! lol

Oh I know that feeling... Sounds like a great place. Keep us posted.

 

[jbolt]

@jbolt Congratulations, on finding your piece of heaven.

I grew up in Tillamook Oregon and looking forward to retiring in Oregon. For now I am stuck in Washington state, which sadly is not much better than California, at least in the area I am. Won't end up in Northern Oregon this time, but are looking at the South West corner from the Cascades to the the Coast and below Roseburg. We still have just about 17 months left, seems like a long time until you think of all the things we have to get done. Will most likely build from scratch. Depending on what we find that fit our check list.

We moved up to Washington from Antioch, CA in 2010 when work was almost non existent. I know the commutes, not good. Worst was from Napa to S. San Francisco. That was a 126 mile round trip with the majority of it in heavy traffic.

Looks like you might be in Jackson County, nice area. A little warm for me. Wish you all the best in your new home and of course the shop. Nice that you will be able to take your job with you. Probably able to expand into Oregon clientele.

Our place is in Josephine County. North end of the valley about 12 miles above Grants Pass. The weather is pretty moderate.

Northern Oregon is too Cali light for me. I'm not a coastal person but it is beautiful over there. I hope you find what your looking for.

 

[extropic]

Just found and read your thread. Watching now.

Congratulations on your progress.

I escaped to southern CA about 17 years ago.

 

[brino]

I have one small quibble with this statement:

We made six trips to the property in 2020 to move my shop and other non essential household items.

The use of the work "other" could imply "more of the same non-essential items".....but that can't be right!
You mean it to differentiate the two priorities of stuff like "to move (the most important stuff) and other non-essential", right?

Are you having problems sourcing building materials in California.
I know some projects here are being slow-rolled or even stopped due to that.

Congratulations on the progress, especially during such a weird time.

-brino

 

[jbolt]

I have one small quibble with this statement:

The use of the work "other" could imply "more of the same non-essential items".....but that can't be right!
You mean it to differentiate the two priorities of stuff like "to move (the most important stuff) and other non-essential", right?

Are you having problems sourcing building materials in California.
I know some projects here are being slow-rolled or even stopped due to that.

Congratulations on the progress, especially during such a weird time.

-brino

HA!

Not sure on materials. The last home I built was in 2005. I do consulting work for the construction insurance industry.

 

[Papa Charlie]

Yeah I have looked at those. I have also seen some interesting DIY setups.

Currently I have a 60" straw rake on the back of the tractor. I use that to drag stuff to a path where my wife uses the riding mower and a Agri-Fab sweeper to pick it up and take to the main pile. Anything within a 100' of the main pile I just drag there. The sweeper does a surprisingly good job. I never intended to get the sweeper but our cousin loaned us hers to try and within 10 minutes of use my wife ran over a stump with it damaging the front. I bought our cousin a new one and kept the damaged one. It is now battle reinforced for 'wife' use.

I like the cost of the Pine Straw Rake over the Cyclone Rake. Not much to go wrong with them and can generally be fixed with minimal cost.
Which Straw Rake did you get?

If we end up on the East side of the Coastal Range, will probably end up in Josephine also. Looking at Coos County as first choice. Neither the wife or I can handle high temps. Having grown up near the Northern coast, there is a huge difference in weather just a few miles inland.

I hope you make the escape soon. It is sad to see where the Bay Area has gone over the past 10-15 years. Keep us abreast of your progress and again, congratulations.

 

[jbolt]

I like the cost of the Pine Straw Rake over the Cyclone Rake. Not much to go wrong with them and can generally be fixed with minimal cost.
Which Straw Rake did you get?

If we end up on the East side of the Coastal Range, will probably end up in Josephine also. Looking at Coos County as first choice. Neither the wife or I can handle high temps. Having grown up near the Northern coast, there is a huge difference in weather just a few miles inland.

I hope you make the escape soon. It is sad to see where the Bay Area has gone over the past 10-15 years. Keep us abreast of your progress and again, congratulations.

There is just too many people here now. The sense of community is gone. We used to know most everyone within a block or so and now its just our immediate neighbors.

The straw rake I have is a Titan 60".

 

[Papa Charlie]

@jbolt
I know what you mean. It got worse after 2008. Our neighborhood in Antioch was very friendly, people would take walks after dinner, talk with each other, I knew the majority of my neighbors. Mix of white and blue collar workers, kids playing in the street. Afterwards, ended up with several shootings in the area, no one was out walking, most of the businesses had been robbed near us, people moved in from Richmond and Oakland and brought with them their issues.

We were sad and happy when we escaped in 2010. Got only 30% of what our home was worth. Washington was pretty nice at first, a reprieve from the hell we left, but it has changed up here. A lot of chrime, homeless, drug addicts, you know the story. Wife is scared to go out. Can't wait until we retire and are able to move.

Thanks for sharing. Our plan is to find piece of land between 2-5 acreas. One of the tools I will be purchasing is a tractor. Depending on the lay of the land, attachments will vary, but I have a list depending on what we end up with. Been really contemplating a backhoe or skid steer, at least initially, but once established may go to a tractor/loader config. Nice thing is that equipment is holding it's value, so you really don't loose.

 

[jbolt]

@jbolt
I know what you mean. It got worse after 2008. Our neighborhood in Antioch was very friendly, people would take walks after dinner, talk with each other, I knew the majority of my neighbors. Mix of white and blue collar workers, kids playing in the street. Afterwards, ended up with several shootings in the area, no one was out walking, most of the businesses had been robbed near us, people moved in from Richmond and Oakland and brought with them their issues.

We were sad and happy when we escaped in 2010. Got only 30% of what our home was worth. Washington was pretty nice at first, a reprieve from the hell we left, but it has changed up here. A lot of chrime, homeless, drug addicts, no know the story. Wife is scared to go out. Can't wait until we retire and are able to move.

Thanks for sharing. Our plan is to find piece of land between 2-5 acreas. One of the tools I will be purchasing is a tractor. Depending on the lay of the land, attachments will vary, but I have a list depending on what we end up with. Been really contemplating a backhoe or skid steer, at least initially, but once established may go to a tractor/loader config. Nice thing is that equipment is holding it's value, so you really don't loose.

It is a real shame what has and is still happening. I've been to some pretty sketchy places in the Bay Area for work. Been robbed twice, had my car broken into several times and once caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting while at a HUD apartment complex in Richmond. It is so bizarre to leave an area of significant wealth and then within a few miles drop into what feels like a third world country. With the current laws the police don't even respond to petty theft anymore.

Where we are in Mountain View it still has a very low crime rate but we have seen petty theft and burglary rise some with people coming from out of the area to cause trouble. 25 years ago we didn't have to lock our doors.

The only downside to our area in Oregon is the meth addicts'. They seem to be responsible for a lot of theft. Our place is on a private dirt road with 12 other properties. We are third of a mile in from the paved road. The entrance to our road is not real inviting so no one ventures up so things are safe there. Even though we have only up there a few weeks a year I know most everyone of the road. Everyone keeps an eye out for each other. Its a good feeling.

We have 3-1/2 acres. When we first started looking at property I didn't think I wanted more than a couple acres to deal with. If I were to do it again I would like to have around 10.

 

[Papa Charlie]

If I could, I would buy more, but it comes at a cost that my retirement funds won't support. I want that cushion between me and the world. Having a private road where someone stands out if they don't belong is essential. Too much property also shields those that don't belong from the eyes of your neighbors so it is a give and take situation. Trouble with land that is larger than 5 acres is, unless you have deep pockets, it puts you in an even more remote area where utilities and services are farther away and more costly to get. Fortunately, the private road seems to extend your property line beyond the legal point and provide that cushion without the additional expense.

Oregon has its issues that is for sure. But the people that I know in the Southern part of the state are not the same as the Portlandia types in the North. If any one is planning to be along the I-5 corridor, then they need to be back away from it. The criminals use I-5 as their get away resource and don't generally venture too far away to prevent standing out or getting caught up on one way in and out roads.