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| My old Hippie |
You know how I write things, say things, believe things and then everything changes? So looks like either I lie (I don’t) lol, or I’m very mistaken... apparently I’m mistaken..a lot🤣.
Now let me start out with LJ is fine. His health is great. Only has to see his docs every six to twelve months. His hair is long which is a blessing after chemo. But now it’s in that “wtf look are you going for” stage, but he’s letting it grow til it stops he says. Once past this stage it will be fine. Long hair? Why not, lol. At least one of us has hair 🤷🏼♀️🤣
And Scooter is fine. I'm fine. Everyone is fine, lol. But there are stories to tell...
LJ’s hearing aids are still working wonderfully, dammit. I keep getting caught mumbling snarky comments, lol. I guess that’s the price to pay for him to stop saying “whaaat?” all the time lol. As for me, recently I had the pleasure of getting a wisdom tooth pulled (at my age, go figure) and a couple crowns. That was fun. Upside, I drank shakes and ate soft foods for ten days and lost ten pounds. Maybe I should have some more work done...a lot more. A whole lot more 🤣🤣🤣
Scooter is still doing well. He’s getting older so he’s slowing down a bit, but still loves his swim time, searching for lizards and playing ball. He gets excited when he knows he’s going somewhere in the car. He now demands we roll down the window as we leave so he can bark at the world, advising neighbors he is in the car and off for an adventure. The local farmers plowed the watermelon field nearby so the flies have started to show up. Poor dog goes nuts trying to chase them/catch them when he goes outside. He’s determined to rid his yard of the little buggers. He is such a good dog and just cracks me up with his personality. When he wants something he sits at your feet and makes a tiny squeaky noise. Kinda like “hey mom...mom... momomomomom!” Don’t respond and he stomps his front feet and whines like a two year old 🤣🤣. So like good parents we either give in or just simply tell him “not now”. When he hears those words he gives you sad eyes but then stops asking and goes off to his room to pout. He’s definitely good at guilt trips. He’s the king of the house, that’s for sure. I love that little guy so much.
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| Pouting so he takes a nap🐶 |
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| Mommmm I wanna go swimming |
Let's see...what else.. hmmm...oh yea.
So...brace yourself... here’s the biggie 😳🤪🤭. It’s another true, "WTF", "Nooooo", "you did whaaaaaaaaat?" and "good grief" chapter in our ever changing lives.
To bring you up to speed, here’s a little background. As you most likely know, we gave up full time RVing and settled in Arizona a couple years ago while LJ fought his battle with cancer. Where we live, in Goodyear, is a family community, a great place to live. We chose this place because of what it offered, including the close proximity to all the docs LJ had to see on a regular, almost weekly basis. It made perfect sense. We live in a gated section with great neighbors on either side and across the street, but not especially social neighbors. Nothing against them. They are simply younger, working, with kids and a life of their own to live. It’s a nice neighborhood but is definitely geared to a younger group with kids in school. And while I enjoy our pool, LJ does not so he has nothing to do. He’s not a pool guy. He finds floating boring. I told him that's cuz he forgets the necessary red solo cup filled with any favorite alcoholic beverage which can improve the experience tremendously, but he’s not convinced. He hasn't been golfing at all in the last few years, which means those special made clubs just keep getting dustier. God knows what’s living in his golf bag and I’m not going to look. He has to trailer his atv to ride anywhere fun. It’s street legal so he could do a Taco Bell run if he wanted to. But he does not, lol. So he spends his days on the ol Ipad or watching tv. I spend it floating in the pool then doing the same as him. Sometimes I do puzzles, craft a little or read but it’s just not exciting in the least. Lots of “I'm bored” on line shopping, too. Random stuff I can't live without. So much so that when the box arrives LJ says "what did you buy?" I dunno. I forgot. There has to be more to life than this. He didn't win that cancer battle just to sit around waiting for the occasional camping trip.
Plus, lets be honest. For two people, this is a big house. Over 3200sf and that is simply more than we need. But it is a great home. I love this place, except when it’s time to vacuum and dust lol. It has everything (except an rv garage). The house is beautiful and spacious. The backyard is one I've always dreamed of. We are definitely close to everything. But it’s hard to get LJ, and even me, motivated. We like to go out to eat with friends, play cards or dominoes...interact on occasion. We don't have enough of that here. Many of our friends live a distance away so we pretty much do things just the two of us. Don’t get me wrong, We have always been fine just being with each other, but the conversation does tend to lag when there’s no one else to interact with. There’s a lot of “blah blah”, yea you told me that yesterday, lol. That is the one thing we miss about living in Sparks. We were always doing something with someone.
It’s odd, too, because as much as I love this place, I’ve never quite felt “at home” here. LJ says, “DJ, you're nuts”. I think it’s because we moved into the model with all the furnishings so it never became “our place” in my eyes. I feel like we live in somebody else’s idea of what a home should look like...somebody else’s place. I know.. “she crazy” 🤷🏼♀️. I am thankful, though, and appreciate that we are able to have a home like this. And considering we had been RVing full time and had sold everything to do so, we were blessed to find this place, getting it fully furnished.
Honestly we have discussed “do we reallllly want to move somewhere else?” lol Ok. I admit it. I’ve discussed it...out loud. Once in awhile LJ mumbles something back like he might be paying attention and occasionally actually joins the conversation. We are settled down. Life is good. Yet here I am, feeling restless. Why? I think it’s all of the above and boredom.
A few months ago, after we made the decision not to go back to full time RVing, we started discussing home base. Where should it be...Here? or somewhere else. We talked about moving to other states, but then, as LJ pointed out, we are back to not knowing anyone, so nothing really changes, just the scenery. What would be the point. Meeting new people on our own, well, we truly aren't the most social of beings on our own, lol. I blame that on our cop background and the inherent skepticism of humans.
We briefly thought about going back to the Reno area. We have established friends there. But housing prices have gone crazy and for whatever reason, it just doesn't feel right; like going backwards. We both like Arizona. Say what you will but I love the weather here. I love the landscape. Yea it gets hot three months out of the year, although I still do everything I would normally do and the other nine are fantastic. I'm just a desert person, I guess. I find everything about it beautiful. The storms are beautiful. The landscape diverse. Nothing like desert beauty with its many colors and textures. Well, except for the scorpions, beetles, snakes, spiders...I could go on, but I don't want to. Gives me the heebee jeebees. (Pest control is my friend, lol). We had those in Reno, too, just never saw them. And anyway, just ewww.
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| Not in a million years |
For example. Yesterday I went out to get a box that had been delivered. What was in it? I dunno🤣. I ordered it a week ago. So I pick it up and see, a foot away, staring at me, one of the devil creatures, a palo verde beetle. I might have screamed a little and headed back in the house. I’m pretty sure I kept repeating “Please don’t follow me into the house..please don’t..please.” Door closed. I’m safe. Scooter looks at me like I’m a lunatic. I’m sorry but those things are freakin' huge. And they fly. I can’t run fast enough, I’m sure. So I promptly got the Home Defense bug annihilating spray I keep on hand for just such occasions. Pest control is great but sometimes it takes time for the bug to die and I’m impatient in these circumstances. I might get another delivery and have to go out there.
I opened the courtyard window, just a crack. I stuck out the wand and doused that monster. Half a bottle ought to do it. Checked back a few minutes later and he was legs up having gone to the bug farm in the sky. Being ever so cautious in case it was faking death, I used the leaf blower to rid the area of his carcass. It’s a fact that a broom doesn’t provide enough distance between me and the demon bug. I sent his dead self out to the front lawn where a bird promptly ate him. Hope the bird is ok. I think he is cuz he was back later looking for more murdered bugs. Palo Verde beetles, aka monsoon bugs. The thing nightmares are made of.
Back to the story.
So we have gone up to Wickenburg Ranch a few times to see the Roloff's. It’s about 40 minutes north west of us on Hwy 60/93. It’s a cool little town, very western, historic. My gosh there is so much to do up there! Where they live is a true fully gated community. Ok, the gate is manned by a lovely man named Jerry who is probably in his 80's, but still...it has gates 🤣. In this place we call "the Ranch" there is golfing (a nine hole and an eighteen hole course), small lakes for fishing (catch and release), a gym, a spa (jacuzzi AND pampering types), bocce ball, a pool, restaurants.. the list goes on and on. It is a world all it's own. The area up there is beautiful.
The Roloff's always talk about how they love it up there. Always something to do. It's not age restricted (except a couple of 'villages' like where they live) but really, with a majority of two/three bedroom homes and so far out in the sticks, how many folks have kids there. It’s really a retirement community. Tom drove LJ all over the place in his fancy golf cart looking at the various types of houses, neighborhoods and so on. Tom was in his "you should move here" mode pointing out the view, amenities and homes with RV garages while LJ took it all in, enjoying it. Quite a few retired cops from all all over the US live there. Plus, being in AZ, and especially a very conservative area of AZ, everybody is packing. Probably the safest community for miles, lol.
The downside is Wickenburg is 30 minutes from the larger Phoenix area suburb of Surprise (i.e Home Depot, shopping, stuff). There is a Safeway, banks and necessities in the small town of Wickenburg and it’s very cowboy-ish. (not a bad thing).
Tom and Annie have for a couple years been trying to convince us to move up there. We usually say, we love it but it's sooooo farrrrr. To which they respond...exactly, but not as far as you used to commute to work every day. Oh, and also it’s close enough to necessities but you are out of busy Phoenix and Maricopa County. Plus we (Roloffs) live here. Hmmm. That's a good point. Well played, Roloffs. Well played.
Annie and Tom, continuing their sales pitch, told us about the concerts at the pool and how much fun they are. Tom sends videos to prove it, lol. There are all kinds of mini events like wine and paint night, book club, this thing that thing. In fact this weekend I went up there for a card making class. They have regular game nights with neighbors. You can do it all..do none. Here have some more beer and wine and let's continue talking about how much you need to do this.
So, after another recent visit, LJ and I just got to “discussing stuff”. Over the last couple of months we have been mulling over where our life is headed, and what we want out of the future. Like we said, we really don't want to go back to full time RVing with no plan in sight. Traveling is fine, but we do want a home base. But does it have to be this home base? I mean, again, it is a big house with a lot of upkeep. No one comes to visit, really, except maybe a visitor a day here, a week now and again, but for the most part it’s just us. And there is that boredom thing. So after mulling it over, this is what we did...wait for it...
We went back to Wickenburg Ranch...to the models...just to look. Annie had suggested we look at the models, just for fun, because you never know. I thought the likelihood of us finding anything was nil. Plus rumor has it lot premiums now are horrendous. What the hell...nothing else to do on a Saturday, so off we went, just to look. Kind of like when LJ went to “look” at his truck (that story in the previous blog installment). Roloffs entertained Scooter so we could take our time with the models.
I had been researching the place on line for a couple of weeks. We decided we would actually seriously look to see if any home/lot would work for us. LJ felt strongly that if we move again we would be downsizing. I agreed for all the reasons already stated. I figured in reality we were just passing time looking, maybe get some decorating ideas, plus it got us out of the house.
But you know, I think it was meant to be because we found a 2100sf house with a three car tandem (37’ deep on one side) garage AND a 50’ deep RV garage. Of course, me being me, I preferred the 2500sf house (what? That’s still downsizing, lol) but it didn’t come with an RV garage 🙄. Since I liked the smaller house, too, I decided to be the bigger person and acquiesce to LJ. What..? No way! That’s right... he won one. Write it down, cuz I sure did 🤣.
But what about the lots and those freaking ridiculous lot premiums. They happened to have available two nice large lots that would accommodate what we were looking for. These kind of lots are a rarity in the “I’m not a millionaire” villages. Shannon the sales guy drove us to the lots so we could check out the area for ourselves. Nice. Hmmmmm.
We braced ourselves for the $$$ price tag knowing if they were ridiculous that would kill our chances of moving. But then we could skip the RV garage, go for a small house on a normal lot and simply would have to store the RV. We just were not sure we wanted to do that since where we are now we park it conveniently at the house. Although there is an an upside to storing it. At least it would be covered parking, protecting it from the Arizona sun. And they do allow you to bring it home to load it unlike a lot of other communities.
So break it to us sales people. What's the premium? $100,000? $150,000? Yes, they have lot premiums that high. No... for these two lots it’s $10k with a 10k incentive so ZERO, unlike the $100k plus on the lot across the street. Why? What’s wrong with it? It’s flat? So really, what’s the catch? Ohhhhhhh. No view to speak of. And it doesn’t have the desired orientation. Ok.. BFD. It’s on a corner with only one neighbor, a landscaped buffer between the lot and the street and kinda does have a view on one side. It’s larger than most and it’s pretty private, unlike a lot of homes in active communities. The way it faces isn’t a deal killer, all other things considered. We see those as positives. Works for me. I’ll skip the view and put up patio covers and shade pergolas for that kind of money lol. LJ thought the same thing.
But then, of course, wouldn’t you know it, I actually liked lot #2 a little better. No reason. Just did, but he liked this one on the corner. So again, I acquiesced 🤣🤣🤣. Thats 2 for LJ... 2 wins...2 notations in the “but you got this so I want that” column. I need those chips. If we do this I have upgrades to buy, lol. We asked if they would hold the lot for a couple days while we talked it over. They agreed. This is a big move so need to be sure.
So home we went. We talked to Joy, our realtor/friend, and asked her what she thought our house would sell for. She’s related to Tom and has sold houses in this area for years, so we trust her judgement. In fact, she found the Roloff’s their place. As she worked on pricing, we started graphing the garage out on paper and making measurements of vehicles, the atv, etc. We discovered with this place everything can be garaged at home, including the RV. The house is just right for the two of us with a humongous laundry room that can double as a craft room. The yard is smaller, but definitely big enough should I want another pool. I’m really thinking not...maybe a spa instead. It's definitely downsizing from the current house, but I do like it a lot. In some ways it’s actually better. It lives large. Dorn (the builder) makes good use of the space in their homes.
But then couldn’t we just build an RV garage here and stay put? It is an option. There’s plenty of room for one. We had already looked into it, in the past, so we knew it would be very expensive to do. The downside is, even if we built it, his truck would still be parked outside. With the new place, because of the garage size, depth and the big RV garage, nothing would be outside, including his truck and atv trailer. So after talking, looking, thinking, looking, talking, researching, we decided "should we?" We should seriously look into it. We were surprised at the price of the new place, even with upgrades. After talking to Joy, we felt we could get a great price in the current market for ours. We would be money ahead by selling ours, buying that one. Cheaper to move than build a garage here. It appears it would be in our best interest all the way around, financially and mentally to take the leap.
AND get this. Unlike a lot of other local builders lately, they will lock the purchase and option prices which is great considering how the price of crap is skyrocketing. Also, I think another plus is we get to full time RV for a year while it is being built! Maybe not the full timing LJ had originally planned in 2017, but it's still full time and I’m taking credit for completing my original three year commitment 🤣🤣. We get to save more money and do some traveling, finishing what we started.
So after a lot of thought and contemplating, we took the “Scooter approved”plunge. Ok. Scooter is clueless but he does like to visit up there lol.
We put our house on the market the next day. We don’t do anything slowly, lol, but really we had been looking into the possibility for awhile. Joy entered it into MLS at 9pm on Monday and we had our first visitor by 11am the next day. They made an offer that afternoon. OMG. I thought we had priced it a bit high but apparently that’s why I’m not in real estate, lol. Kudos to our agent, Joy, for knowing the market so well. I had dreaded the showings but apparently one was enough! Dodged that bullet! I’ll write about the experience of buying the new one, selling this one and moving again in the next blog. Doesn’t matter how many times you do it, there’s always something and we learn new stuff. And as you know by now nothing ever goes smoothly or without RUFKM and, of course, humor for us. 🤣🤣🤣🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Looks like sometime next year we will live in Wickenburg, AZ. We will be "ranch people". We already know a couple of our new neighbors having houses built by us are retired from other agencies. One is from California, the other retired FBI, with more scattered throughout our “village”. Pretty conservative up there so we will fit right in.
I know I will be blamed for the move. LJ has already working on his “it’s her idea” remarks. And, he’s right, I did say this was our forever house, and then I did a 180 and pushed looking up there at “the ranch. But situations/needs change. Blame me. I can take it. In fact, bring it hubster, lol...bring it. But I'm blaming LJ, too. He wanted an RV garage, lol. He wanted more to do.
And don’t worry, lol, Scooter will still have his own room, facing the street so he can watch the world go by. Once it’s fenced (with snake mesh because I don’t like snakes) he will be back to lizard hunting to his hearts content. Plus he loves visiting with the Roloff pups. It will be a change but he will be fine. New critters to chase, a dog park to visit and lake surrounded by grass to walk by, along with golf cart rides. He’ll love it.
If you are interested in our new adventure location, check out https://www.wickenburgranch.com. It's a great little community. The history of the ranch is interesting as well. Oh and rodeo season is all winter. After all, Wickenburg is the Team Roping capital of the world. It says so on the sign as you enter into town. Cowboys in tight pants on pretty horses. Lordy...
If you peruse through the models, in person or virtually, we bought the Hotel California with the RV garage. It’s a Dorn Home. They offer an abundance of personalization and upgrades, making it fairly semi-custom. It will still have a private area for guests. We are adding a barn door so it can be closed off for privacy since the bathroom is not an ensuite. With all my "money costing ideas" as LJ calls them, good thing we sold our current home at a good price.
Of course he’s very practical and I’m all about how it looks and does it make me happy, so let the arguing begin... when he complains I’ll just respond with “you got an expensive RV garage, the house and lot” 🤣. It’s what we do. Why we’ve lasted over 40 years 🥰.
Oh but wait.... there’s more 🤣🤣🤣😳
As if all that wasn’t enough drama, we are now the proud owners of a new RV that will love having its own garage. Whaaaaaat??? I know. We bought the new one for better creature comforts while on the road. We sold our toy hauler and ordered the new one back in April before all this house stuff happened. Perfect timing lol. Might as well do all kinds of life changing crap at once, get it over with lol. We pick it up in a few days, just in time for our new adventure. Can't wait to post pics of the new travel home. It's a Keystone Montana 3231ck. Like a little apartment, lol, with wheels. He’ll tow his atv trailer like he did with our original Montana back in 2017. This one is less than 38’ so much easier to do. Fortunately LJ is a fabulous trailer parking guy. It’ll be awesome.
So, here we are, starting another chapter with a new RV..new home..back on the road. And that’s the Good Grief part, lol. I know I know. It seems we are constantly uprooting and changing. Our son laughed when I told him, asking what took so long, haha. Our daughter is happy we are downsizing. Time to admit we are old and don't need a big ol house. Hopefully this truly will be the last move. It certainly will be a better environment for us. And as we get older it will be nice being part of a community of folks who look out for each other. It’s a place that will be perfect should something happen to one of us. I know, morbid thought, but at our age planning ahead for the inevitable is important. And as fast as the area is growing I bet we have our own Wickenburg WallyWorld in a few years so we won’t have to make that long trek into the big city🤣. And when we do go to Surprise, we drive past my favorite pottery place which will require stopping to see what’s new. It’s a win win 🤣.
This truly will be good for us and all kidding aside was not a decision made lightly.
We are looking forward to the change. Annie and I can do some of the crafty venues they have for the residents. We can do water aerobics, drive around in the golf cart and look at people, go to the gym, take part in the pool parties and so much more. LJ said he's looking forward to meeting everyone Tom knows (and if you know Tom, you know he knows everyone). He’s looking forward to golfing and going to the gym with Tom and as a bonus, he can ride his atv out the garage door and on to some cool trails. There's even a side x side club there he might check out. We will design a Scooter friendly back yard. And with the dog park, walks and Roloff pups, even Scooter gains a social life, lol. With all the activities up there and built in friends, I know our social life will improve tremendously. Certainly won’t be able to say we are bored. And the on site restaurant is fabulous. Variety of food and priced reasonably along with being very tasty. Might never leave lol.
So for a while, the blog will be as it was originally intended.. our life on the road with the added moving drama, house building pictures and adventures galore. I already have stories about this process, lol, so many stories with each passing day. Funny stories, wild stories, and RUFKM stories. Typical James family stuff 🤣. We will, regretfully, miss the Sheriff’s Dept reunion again, but this time for a different reason...moving and preparing for the new life. I apologize in advance to the poor soul who wins my Rio Linda basket. Hope you have a sense of humor!🤣🤪🤷🏼♀️
All of this, well, really, it’s a good thing. A very good thing. I’ll update soon! Til then....
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What our new place should look like.
This is a neighbor house around the corner...we copied them 🤣 |
