Congress, AZ – The urge to get “home” has overwhelmed me and I’ve decided to head to the Pacific Northwest via the shortest route possible. Looking at the map it looks like I can make a straight shot over I-40 to Bakersfield, CA in a 6 hour drive. This will take me through Mojave and the Tehachapi pass, no danger of snow this late in the year so it should be smooth sailing. I grabbed a last minute reservation at an RV park in Bakersfield and then texted my Cousin in Northern California to see if there was room for me to stop by and with that settled my plan is all set.
Check out this shot, one of the many plane storage yards along the route, taking advantage of that dry heat in the desert.
The distances between gas stations on this drive took me by surprise, I normally don’t let the tank get below 1/2 since filling the huge tank on the Tundra can cause economic panic. The light didn’t go on but the indicator said I had 12 miles remaining when I stopped…
After a long day on the road I arrived in Bakersfield for a quick overnight stop. Next day it was another full day of driving to make it to my Cousin’s place in Red Bluff, CA. The hills were green and beautiful and it was great to spend time with family again after so long away.
I spent a few days here visiting and helping out on the ranch, even managed to get a paint roller in my hands to help paint the new addition to the old barn.
It was great to spend time with family and reconnect.
Other than exploration one of my goals on the trip was to see if there was anywhere else in the country that I might want to relocate before buying a retirement home. Many years of living in the moderate climate of California’s central coast have pretty much ruined me for any place that actually has 4 seasons.
Let me just say here that these are opinions on where I personally want to settle down in retirement. I mean no offense if you live in or love an area I didn’t like, after all its a very personally subjective thing in the end.
I have less than zero interest in shovelling snow at any point in the future so most of the Northern tier states fall short of ideal for me. I did really like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The northern part of Montana around Glacier NP was beautiful and amazing, Flathead lake I’m looking at you!
I was also completely unprepared and truly shocked by the beauty of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. But all of these locations would require a snowbird lifestyle.
The one Southern area that I really like was the area around Tampa Bay Florida. Fort De Soto park and the town of Bradenton were some of my favorite spots in Florida. In general I found the Gulf side of the state much more to my liking. As much as I had thought I would really like the Keys, I found it too expensive and crowded for my tastes, and sadly even the diving was underwhelming as the reefs are in pretty rough shape compared to my last visit in the early 2000’s. It was sad to see how far they had degraded in 20 years.
So after all that, I still feel a strong pull to the Pacific Northwest, I lived in Vancouver Washington at the end of the 90’s for about a year and a half and I still really like that area.
Some of the things I like about the area in no particular order; It’s still relatively affordable (at least in comparison to the CA Bay Area), Washington state has no Income tax and Vancouver sits just across the river from Portland, Oregon has no sales tax, you can live in Washington income tax free and shop in Oregon sales tax free!
Portland also has great food and a thriving microbrew culture🍺. The Columbia river and the gorge are beautiful, in fact the whole area is very pretty, with lush pine forests and lots of outdoor activities right in your backyard.
The next phase of my journey will be to find an RV spot in the Portland/Vancouver area on a monthly basis this spring/summer so that I can explore the area and narrow down my search. I’ll be working on getting prequalified for a VA loan so I can be ready to go as in this hot market you can’t be idle.
I have also committed to an Alaska trip for the month of August 2022 with some friends so I will likely post about that in the future.
I am working on a wrap up post for this Epic Road Trip where I will share the stats for my entire 9 month journey in the next post.
Hey Its Gregg! 