February's Snow Challenges

From Riverside, we followed the Johnsons back to their home in Simi Valley where we parked Alpine. The next adventure awaiting us was a trip to Redmond, Washington in order to sell our house that Michael's parents lived in for the past twenty-plus years. It made more sense to leave the Alpine in California, since we would be returning back here, and just drive up in the Jeep.  
Our real estate agents were  planning to list our Redmond house by mid-February primarily because it was a small house (1100 sq ft) and their strategy was to list it ahead of the spring competition. After most of the contents was emptied or transported to Mom in Bend last August, there wasn't much left in the house itself, but the garage was another matter entirely.  Twenty years of accumulated stuff, and Mom's car, due to be passed on to nephew Chris, were still in the garage. The plan was to sell and dispose of everything as quickly as possible, leave the final sale arrangements up to our capable agents, and head back to Alpine waiting for us in Simi Valley. Our fabulous handyman had already been hard at work doing house repairs and a few upgrades these past months, but we still needed to get rid of the remaining items of furniture (and contents of the kitchen) so that new carpets could be installed prior to listing.  

We left the Johnsons in the Jeep first thing Monday morning, January 28th, heading north. Michael's brother in Grass Valley, California, and his sister in Bend, Oregon, were planned stops along the way, conveniently spaced about 450 miles apart. We spent the first night with Kevin and Jennifer then continued on to Bend where we stayed with Pam and Gary for a few days to visit Mom and the rest of the family. It was probably a good thing that while we were in Bend the Jeep got new "shoes" which didn't come too soon as it turned out. These are heavy duty all-terrain tires (rather than street tires) which will work better for our off road trail rides in Arizona. And in snow. 


On Saturday, February 1st, we drove the remaining 340 miles to Redmond, Washington with nephew Chris and wife Chelsea who were picking up Mom's Subaru.  Mother Nature, however, didn't tell us that she had other plans in store. So when Chris and Chelsea woke up on Monday morning to drive back to Bend, they were greeted with a freshly laid blanket of snow!
Snow? In Seattle? In February?!!

Subaru making its escape back to Bend

It's not unheard of to have snow in the Seattle area in winter, it's usually a rare occurrence but quite untypical at this time of year and to this degree. And it seems that our agents who planned to have the house listed by Presidents Day long-weekend didn't check in with Mother Nature either as She proceeded to grace the greater Seattle area with a couple of record-breaking snowfall events that essentially shut down the airport, schools and many businesses.
As soon as Chris and Chelsea saw the snow and read online forecasts of continuing accumulations, they hurriedly left within the hour before it got too bad, and made it back to Bend safely.
We, however, remained, trapped on our hill in Redmond.  The snow kept falling, about 6" on Monday, a little more on Tuesday, and another 6" on Wednesday.  And then some more!  Temperatures were below freezing, so the snow remained.  Our street was a "low priority" so no snowplow came.  No one could come to pick up or view anything we listed on online For Sale sites. Likewise we were unable to transport anything to donation stations or the dump. And so, without TV service or wifi at the house, we watched the snow fall and fall and fall....over periods of days. 
It looked like a picture postcard outside.


I watched the icicles growing daily.


I watched the snow accumulating ever higher on the bird bath.

And on the table on the deck.


Michael shoveled the 120- foot long driveway three times. 

Michael shoveling the 120-foot long driveway

And still the snow fell. There wasn't much else we could do but to wait it out, hoping for a break in the weather. Rain never sounded more appealing.
Luckily I had yarn with me and as I sat gazing in helplessness while the snow fell and fell, I kept my fingers busy and crocheted a baby blanket.
With no TV or wifi, we took advantage of the scanner still there, and Michael scanned our remaining thousand photos still left in photo albums. 


Everyone's schedules were pushed back by over a week: the carpet installers, the cleaners, the stager, the photographer.
Meanwhile with one eye on more incoming storms in the mountain passes we had to drive across, we made a decision, with our agents' blessing and help, to leave before the next storm arrived. Our amazing agents would take care of all the loose ends and dispose of the remaining items for us.
And so, we left a still snow-covered Redmond early on Monday, February 18th, to return to Bend where we stayed a couple of days, then left Bend to escape another incoming storm to continue back to Kevin in Grass Valley. It was a good choice because Bend was gifted with a 100-year snowfall event that also virtually paralyzed the town!

From Grass Valley we made it back to Simi Valley, thankful to be in sun and warmth again. And here we happily stayed at the Johnsons for a few more weeks. 
Michael worked on maintenance items with Sandy's help while we girls played with fabric. Debi and I spent many happy and productive hours completing projects and dreaming up new ones in her sewing room. 
Debi and I also went to an embroidery event one weekend which was fun. 

having fun at the embroidery event, learning new tricks, trying out new machines,
learning about new products

We enjoyed our time with the Johnsons very much and always have a good time together. And we also visited the Figges one afternoon. It's great to meet up with Alpine friends.

As for the house: eventually everything got done and the house was listed by the end of February, followed by a busy and successful Open House at the beginning of March. Apparently there was still some snow lingering even at Open House.  Our amazing agents worked hard to make it all happen for the second time. We received a full-price offer and the closing was completed while we were in Oceano, California on April 5th.

We are now truly "homeless!" The plan evolved over several years and now here we are at the end of it.
Though that does not mean we won't be buying a home again. It's just a matter of when. "Where" will more than likely be in Anacortes. For as we have discovered in our travels, in the end there is "no place like home." And home to us, after having lived there since 1980, will probably remain Washington State, a place that is familiar, a place where we have our basic infrastructure, a place with mild temperatures in comparison with other places in the US. And a place with exquisitely breathtaking scenery. Despite the rain.....

And now as true vagabonds, we will move on tomorrow to our next destination along the central coast. Pismo Beach, here we come!