The end of an Era.

 I sure have a bunch of catching up to do.

It's almost 2 months since I left you all in Seattle.

Our next and final stop on our farewell tour was a first for us.    Vancouver, BC

The Port Mann Bridge on the Trans Canada Highway

We arrived early afternoon at the Capilano River RV Park which is a super convienient location for getting into and out of the city.    Rob, Pat, Kevin, and Bobbie showed up later that afternoon.

Rob & Pat have been coming here for years and were the perfect tour guides for our 2 week stay.

Every morning we would take a walk to the Ambleside Park.   Situated along the Capilano River, the park winds its way out to the Burrard Inlet and further along the waterfront for miles.

There is a long section of the park that is off-leash for the dogs and every single morning the dogs had a ball running and meeting the dozens of other friendly mutts.

A trip to Granville Island was a great day trip, and the market there was fantasstic.

Vancouver is such a multi-cultural city and the variety of foods sold here reflects that diversity.

Outside the market we had coffees along the waterfront with a great view of the city.

Back in the city - the variety of resturants along one block was staggering.   There was Persian, Indian, Asian, Italian, Mexican, Irish, and several more that I've since forgotten.

Vancouver has preserved its waterfront as a treasure to be enjoyed by all.   Miles and miles of walking paths and parks surround the city along the waterfront.    We walked several parts of the trails during our visit an one day stopped at a resturant for lunch with the whole gang.

Another park along the waterfront - a rain forest.   We took a nice walk and the mutts again got to enjoy some quality off leash exploring.

Phoebe says "let me out"

Crossing the Capilano River on the way to Ambleside park each morning we looked down upon the stone formations that the 1st Nation Tribe members have created to corral the various fish in season.   While we were there it was salmon.   On the left side you can see some in the pen.   They look small in the photo but they were every bit of 10lbs or better.    

Another path along the waterfront.

Off to another adventure.

In a snap - our 2 weeks were over and it was time to start moving south.    We have alot to do to get ready for the big move.    

Our first night was back to Lake Pleasant in Bothell, Wa

Next - the KOA in Pendleton, Or

Then the 93 RV Park in Twin Falls, Id

Then the KOA in Ely, Nv

Then....  finally - our last night that we'd spend in our good old bus was spent at the Blake Ranch RV Park outside of Kingman, Az

We arrived back to the house on a Sunday and began the process of emptying out the bus.   Now that might sound like a simple proposition, but the bus has alot of storage and we'd been living it it for 12+ years so by Tuesday we were still not done, but we needed to shift gears.

Our neighborhood  (A dozen or so different subdivisions) only allows garage sales on one day of the year.   No one had ever done it before but Kate got it organized and several of the neighbors all took part.   Several also came to our place and helped Kate get her stuff out and ready.

The sale ran from about 7am to 3pm and we were out on the driveway at about 5am starting to get set up.

We had a giant "Free Pile" down at the end of the driveway by the street.

We sold a ton of stuff, made about $2k ($5 &$10 at a time).   By the end of the day about 80% of the stuff was gone.

I had advertised the sale on Facebook Marketplace and ran into a couple who was asking about free stuff.

The next morning they contacted me and asked if we had anything free left over.    I told them we had a ton of stuff that they could have, but they had to take it all and better come with a pickup truck.

Well they came with a pick up - but it was a "baby pickup".   None the less, they strapped it all down and make off with everything.    There was at least 5 big totes filled with clothes alone.   Anything that did not work for them, they would take to their church.

The Beverly Hillbillies.    As they left, I prayed that they did not scatter the stuff all over the street in front of the house.     The next morning I texted her to make sure that they made it home ok and surprisingly they did!

So in less than a week after getting back we had already emptied out about 75% of the bus, and put on a massive garage sale, and then disposed of the rest.    A half dozen trips to the Goodwill Store and our garage is starting to look like we are getting close to move ready.

At the same time....  I was busy talking to RV dealers trying to make a deal on getting rid of the bus.   I really did not want to try to sell it myself.   For something like this -  a lot of buyers will need financing and that is just something better handled thru a dealership.

At the end of the week - I made a deal with a local dealership in Tucson to sell the bus to them.   Of course I'd get less $$'s than putting it on consignment - but I was able to move it quick and put it behind me.   I was happy with the number, so this past Monday,  Oct 26th, I signed it over to Freedom RV, took one last picture, and walked away from it forever.

In 12+ years we've had so many wonderful adventures in her.   It was bittersweet to say goodbye, but we have miles to go ahead of us and new adventures await.

Time to turn that page.

We are now in full moving mode.     We have a possible opportunity to sell the house to someone - fully furnished.   If that works out great.    But I've always been a “hope for the best but plan for the worst” type, so we are getting the house ready to list.   I've talked to 4 realtors and selected one, so that is next on the list.

I have an international mover standing by and have arranged for storage in Ireland.    We wont be bringing much.    Some clothes, decorations, a few pieces of furniture.    We have a furnished place to stay when we get there for as long as we want so we won’t need alot anyway.

Full speed ahead.     We just closed another door and ready to open the next.

Oregon to Seattle

 At our last post on 4 August, we were enjoying the cool weather at Winchester Bay, Oregon.    We remained there for another 10 days till the 14th, at which point we wandered further up the coast.

Our 4 weeks in Winchester fell into a nice easy rhythm of morning walks with Kate, the dogs, and our friends Kevin & Bobbi and their doodle, "Maggie".    Just like the fog rolling in at night and back out most mornings, we rolled with the tide and enjoyed the easy life along the Pacific Coast.   Morning walks, some joint dinners, and a lot of chilling.

About a week or so before we left, Kevin & Bobbi ran out of time and moved south of Coos Bay for a bit.   We'll hook back up down the road in Vancouver BC.

A vacuum dredge clearing the channel

A stop along our walk

A foggy day on the nearby ocean beach

Our month at Winchester Bay came to an end on the 14th of August and we made the long 90 min trek north to the Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort in Newport.

All the sites are privately owned and the resort manages rentals for the owners who choose to rent thier sites when they are not here.    We had one of the most sought after sites, #188, perched right on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Pacific.    The Yaquina Head Lighthouse  is perched on the point just to the right in the photo below.

We had a nice grassy backyard right in front of the coach, with great views of the ocean and lighthouse.

The view out of our front window for 13 days.

Our morning walk thru the park.

There is a trail from the Resort down to a private beach several hundred feet below.

We got some good excercise making the trip down and back a few times.

View of the lighthouse from the trail down to the beach

Sunset from our backyard

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The view of the lighthouse from our back yard.

Due to the cliffs, our beach was pretty much deserted.  Just a few people on the beach in any direction as far as you could see.

The dogs enjoyed getting a nice run of the beach.

A family portrait.

Soon - our 13 nights here had flown by and it was time once again to hit the road.   Our next destination was Seattle, with a one-night stop halfway.

On Saturday 29 Aug, we arrived at the Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothel, Washington.

Located right in the midst of the urban area, the park itself is another world.   You would never know that you are where you are by looking around your surroundings.    

This is the first place that we stayed when. we bought the coach, as we bought it from an RV dealer in Kent, Wa not very far away.

Sunday we visited our good friends Jim & Krisi who live locally.   We really love to visit them.  They have this amazing house that they have created over decades.   

Outside it looks like a normal home on the block.....  

The great landscaping and art work in the bushes (all created by Kristi) gives you the sense that perhaps something special is going on - but when you enter the house you are just blown away by the vaulted beamed ceilings.   Massive iron handrails that look like growing vines...    Spectacular use of wood and light...   Its like walking into a ski lodge.    

Throughout the house is a mix of artwork collected over the years, but also a heaping helping of great pieces made by Kristi who is a massive talent in her own right.    With a view down the hill to Puget Sound, its just such a comfortable feel-good place.     Then you walk into the backyard and the gardens are just out of this world.

Jim and Kristi put years of love into the place and it shows in spades!

Meanwhile back at the RV Park....

A cool looking dragonfly took up residence on cedar tree branch outside.

A view of the water outside the coach.

While enjoying the cool quiet of our stays, I have been very busy.

First - working on the bus getting it all pretty for putting up for sale.    Using touch up paint to clean up chips, compounding out scratches, sanding out scratches in the Corian kitchen countertops...   making sure that everything in bus works 100%. perfect.   

Second - the big job......   

Planning our move to Ireland.   It's like having to establish a whole new identity.    We need our PPSN's (like a SSN) Health System Registration, Insurances, Drivers Licenses, Banking, Vehicle,  Doctors, and so much more.   I also have my extra immigration requirements that Kate does not have due to her being a citizen.

Everything has to be done in a certain order....  I need to complete steps 1,2,and 3 before I can do step 4.   then 5 & 6 can be done together and so forth.   I've created a playbook in Word that has projected timelines, cronological to-do list, links to explanations and websites, and lots of instructions to help my feeble brain keep everything straight, as well as provide me an instruction sheet as to what to do when.

Plus I have the logistics of the moving of whatever we are taking over there.

The Playbook is about 40 pages.   Where it instructs me to complete a certain task, I've put in links to take me to the section of the playbook that has the detailed instructions on the how and what to do to complete it.

I have been able to lay some ground work now by registering on some of the govt/private websites I will need to get us settled, and I've been getting my identity verified now to save time later.

I've lined up driving instructors for Kate to get her driving confidently on the other side of the road.

I have banking, phone numbers, insurances... all picked out and ready to go.   

I actually have my Irish Phone number already, plus a Tello phone number and account that we will use for communications back to the states plus handle the 2FA verifications from banks and other institutions that need to send me verification texts.  

Tello uses WiFi calling so Kate will be able to still make unlimited US calls just like she's still in the states.   For me it solves my banking 2FA issues.    

We'll pass those phone numbers out later when the time gets closer.

In the past few weeks I've had Zoom meetings with Cross-Border Tax people and an investment advisor who works in both Dublin and NY.    I've been discussing options with my financial guy Matt here in the states and we've begun positioning assets in preparation.  We have another call tomorrow.    This will continue into 2027.

Lastly - we have the bus and house to sell.

I've spoken with a couple of Realtors to either help me as a transaction coordinator should I sell the house privately, or potentially listing the house.   I also want 1 or two of them to give me a CMA pricing proposal.   I've also ordered a professional appraisal in order to develop a fair market price for the house.  I don't want a realtor pie in the sky number - I want a realistic valuation so that however I sell it - it gets priced fairly for a quick move where everyone leaves feeling good and we can simply move onward.

I've contactacted international moving companies and gotten quotes for door to door shipments and have arranged for a storage unit in Newcastle, Ireland.

Flights to Paris and Ferry to Ireland are already booked.   (Subject to adjusments)

The only date fixed in stone is 5 July.   We enter Ireland on or after that day.  Tax Reasons.  

The 5th of July will become our new Independence Day!

I'll probably CarMax the truck in NY as we close the door on the old life and enter the new.

You can see I'm keeping busy...

I  absolutely love a good challenge and I cant wait to really get started with the main event.   I think I have had all this built up work energy with no outlet since I retired.  So now all this pent up professional energy is finally bursting out in a flood.    It's finally found a purpose and something with some meat on the bone to really focus on and I have to say this project is very fulfilling and becoming very organized.   We really have a good foundation laid upon which we'll continue to build.

If it looks like we are excited as hell - you're right!

Oct 2nd we get back to Az and the real work starts.  Lots of stuff to sell, discard, or go to Goodwill.

Downsize, downsize, downsize.    Just be careful not to toss the dogs out by accident. (they look like toys)

Between then and now...  we are here for another week, then we head up to Vancouver, BC for 2 weeks to say goodbye to Rob and Pat.    Kevin and Bobbi will also be there.   Then our farewell tour heads south for our final rodeo in Tucson.

See you in Vancouver (If Canada 🇨🇦 still will let us in) 😢

Montana to the Coast and Ireland Bound

 

Just prior to making my last post, I was considering throwing in the towel.   Putting it together is a lot of work and takes a fair chunk of my time.   

Currently, I have almost 500 people signed up for email notification of new posts, and yet every time that I post a new one, I usually hear from about 4 or 5 people out of a regular group of about 10.

Usually the same ones every time.    I was starting to feel like a little whining snowflake and wondering if no one is reading it - why waste my time.   I thought the last post might be the last one, and just stick to my facebook posts now.   It's really much easier but you can't share any detail.

Someone out there must have read my thoughts however, because just after my last post I received a email from Donna B.    She wrote that she'd been following the blog since 2017, and told me how much she loved to receive it and follow our travels.   We exchanged a few emails and had a nice chat.

It was nice to hear from someone out there who reaffirmed that perhaps there are more people who enjoy it -  but just dont engage with the blog.

Thank you Donna B.    You gave me some power to push thru a few more.

My last post was over a month ago and left you in the Montana Rockies at St Regis.

Since then we've made 4 stops and currently are enjoying the cool breezes off of the Pacific at Winchester Bay, Oregon.   Kate and I stayed here back when we were full-timing.   Its a really nice park with good services, nice kept grounds, and good access to the beach.   But that is jumping ahead...  Lets get back to where we left off.

After leaving St Regis, Mt, we stopped at the Deer Creek RV resort, which is located a little north of Spokane, Washington, where they are currently having all those devastating fires.

Deer Creek RV Park Washington

It's a nice RV park with some newer sections and a whole large area they plan to expand to. It's co-located with a golf course so it's a real hit with the golfing folks.

Our view out the front window

While we were there, we took a ride down to Spokane to visit the Riverfront Park. It was built on the site of the 1974 world's fair, which, besides a worlds fair - was a very successful urban renewal project.  It had been railroad tracks and an industrial section along the river front.    It was rehabbed for the world's fair, and once that was over, a lot of the infrastructure remained and it created a wonderful waterfront park for the Spokane citizens..

Spokane Riverfront Park

A carnival like atmosphere with various vendors

The dogs strike a pose

Where's Kate?

In the park, you will find athe Looff carousel.     Built in 1909 it was created by the master carver Charles I.D. Looff as a wedding gift for his daughter and son-in-law.

The tower is all that remains of the Great Northern Railway Depot.  It was built in 1902 and most of the structures were torn down to make room for the fair but the tower remains.   

The Riverfront park occupies land both along the shore as well as on an island. that is named Canada island (it was named Cannon Island).  It was renamed during the fair as it was occupied by the Canadian Exposition during the fair.

After a few hours strolling around the park, we stopped at an Irish Pup across the street and had a nice lunch at their sidewalk seating with the dogs.   It was a perfect weather day.

Soon it was time to move on to our next destination, which was McMinnville, situated in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We broke the trip up into two days and so we overnighted at the Boardman Marina and RV park, which is located right on the Columbia river in Boardman, Oregon.

It's a nice park with full hook ups and great views of the river

Boardman Marina and RV Park Oregon

The drive down the Columbia River Gorge takes you through the Cascades. On the east side of the mountains you're in the rain shadow and it is very dry.

Within 30 miles or so it changes from a dry arid landscape to a lush green one as you get on the western side of the mountains.

The Olde Stone Village RV park in McMinnville. We stayed here when we were full-time and really enjoyed the town of McMinnville, which has a very quaint downtown section and is in a beautiful Willamette Valley.

Olde Stone Village RV Park McMinville, Or

The view outside of our coach at night

One day, we drove around in the foothills, looking for overlooks of the valley and found this pretty view

Located right across the highway from the McMinnville airport, I was able to enjoy a pair of DC threes that were using the airport every day for takeoff and landing work. It was quite enjoyable to see these old World War II birds conquering the skies again.

DC3 coming in for landing

Just before we headed to the coast, it was time to give the beasts a wash.

St Annie - Patron Saint of the unwilling bather

We"ll be meeting up with Bobbi and Kevin at the coast, so giving the mongrels a dressing up was a good thing.   A wash and a clipping, and they're good for a few more months.

Freshly washed and clipped

While in McMinnville, we drove about an hour to Silver Falls State Park. Our very first RV trip was in a rented class C and we visited Silver Falls back then. It's a great state park with lots of trails, one of which would take you by nine waterfalls. Unfortunately not all of the trails are a dog friendly so we have to take what we can get.  Barkers can't be choosers so to speak.    We still had a nice hike to the north Falls.

Silver Falls State Park, Oregon

The North Falls at Sliver Falls SP

After about 18 days in McMinnville, we drove a few hours to the coast where we will stay at the Winchester Bay RV resort for 28 days before moving a couple hours north on the coast and staying there for a couple weeks as well.   

We were about 10 miles from the coast, passing thru the last of the coast range, and my outside temperature was reading almost 90°. All of a sudden about 4 miles from the coast we watched the temperature plummet and by the time we got to Highway 101 the temperature was in the 60s.

Winchester Bay RV - Site #92

A veiw around the park

On our morning walk, our buses in the center

Nature.... the greatest artist of all!

We took a nice walk down along the beach and I got to get wet a bit. The water is very cool but refreshing.

When I made my booking, I could only stay in our first spot for 14 days, but I was able to grab another site for 14 days, which puts us at the 28 day limit in the park. The photo below is our new site where we are now and we still have nice views out of both the front and side window.   We watch the fishing and Coast Guard boats go in and out of the inlet.

Winchester Bay RV - Site 168

The beachcombers

Finally, we have some BIG NEWS to share, and this will tell how many people are actually reading the Blog and made it this far.  🤣🤣

We've talked about this for well over a year and finally made the decision that we are going to permanently move to Ireland. 

Kate has her Irish citizenship so it makes it very easy for us, and I can obtain mine in three years. We will be able to retain dual citizenship.  We already have our rental lined up for the first year at least, we can stay longer if we like.   It's where we stayed twice before, last summer for a month.   A nice farm about 30 min south of Dublin in County Wicklow.

When we get back to Arizona, the beginning of October, everything goes up for sale. The bus, the house furniture everything. We will arrive in the Republic on July 5 and begin our next chapter.

Making a move like this is somewhat complicated.  Many details to keep track of and lots of things have to be done in order.  Step 1 required before you can do step 2 etc.. 

It's like being born and having to create a new Irish identity.  Getting a PPSN (Irish version of SSN) registering for the healthcare system, getting drivers licenses, and on and on and on.

I'm currently working with cross border financial and tax people to get my ducks lined up and seem to have a decent handle on all of that.

I have a to-do list which details everything that I need to do, the steps I need to do it in, and how to do each step.   Web links where needed etc.   So far about 35 pages long.  The steps to getting our drivers licenses is about 2 pages.   

Proof of identities and proof of address.   I need to show proof of address to do this, but I can't get this proof of address until I have proof of address.  I've gone in a few circles but finally solved that.  (I think)

There will be a lot more on that as we move forward and should make for some interesting posts. 

Maybe next I'll do a post and show you where we'll be living.

As for now, we still have to finish our summer here on the coast so stay tuned..