Completed my camp hosting job

I completed my camp hosting job on Sep 9 but decided to stay there a bit longer until the water ran out.  It was nice not having the daily chores and collecting money.  For a few days there was nobody in the campground, but the first weekend they filled up the park once again.  Of course it didn’t cost the campers any money and they did not have toilet paper in the bathrooms.  Also the handle to the water pump was removed so they had to supply their own water.  But the camping was FREE so that brought them in.

My original plans had changed (will get into that later) so I decided to check out the Clackamus River RV Park about 6 miles outside of Estacada, OR.  I drove down there and to my surprise I almost couldn’t get a site because it was totally full.  I told them I would be here at least one month and maybe two.  They were able to find me a spot in the back where another person won’t be coming in until Dec 1.  I signed up for a month and got moved in.

Changing residency

I am changing my state of residency from Texas to Oregon and I needed an address to begin the process.  Once I moved in I applied for Medicare Senior Advantage and Senior Advantage Plus through Kaiser Permanente.  I was enrolled in Kaiser Permanente in Southern California prior to beginning my full-time adventures, but had to cancel since I was on the road more then 6 months.

I was accepted by KP and received my card in time for my first appointment to renew all my prescriptions.

Why change residency?

I guess you asking why I am changing my residency.  Throughout my travels I have always knew that one day I would be wanting to settle down and not travel quite so much.  When I crossed into Oregon back in May I stayed at the Rogue River RV Park right on the Rogue River.  What a beautiful place!

I thought that is where I wanted to settle down.  However looking at property I realized it was way out of my price range.  Anything on a river in Oregon is usually VERY expensive.  So I stopped thinking of that for a while.

Then back in August I took a 2 day fly fishing course through The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches, OR.  Part of the course was to go fishing both days.  The first day was on the Swift River and the second day we fished on the Salmon River.  You take these little one lane back roads to get to the river.  All along the river are these beautiful homes out in a forest setting.  I thought that would be a great place to live so I googled “real estate Welches, OR”.  I came up with one site that showed a cabin located within the Mt Hood Resort Village.  It was small but perfect for me and right within my price range.  So on my day off I headed up there to check it out.

Liked what I saw

I liked it except for the fact that it was close to Highway 26 and there was substantial road noise.  This is a gated community and when I went in to get a pass code I picked up a flyer at the desk that told them about the cabins for sale.  Little did I know that this would change my life.  When I got back to Lake Harriet I read the flyer and decided to check it out further.

To make a long story short I put a deposit on a lot that is further back from the road (no road noise whatsoever).  Plus it was just a few hundred feet from the Salmon River.

Approved by lender TWICE

I put in an application to the lender and was approved not only once, but twice.  The original application was taken over the phone and the app was all screwed up.  They had it down that I was working full time for PGE (Portland General Electric – my camp host employer) and not just part time in the summer.  I didn’t see the original application until they sent me the approval.  

I brought it to their attention and they informed me that they would have to run the app again.  After much negotiation I finally got approved again.  I just had to come up with the down payment.  I cashed in my PGE 401k and my mutual fund and savings and just paid them the down payment last week.  

Now I am waiting for it to be built.  This is a single wide modular home built by Cavco in Woodburn, Or just about 63 miles away.  It probably won’t be ready for me to move into until after the first of the year.

Future Travel Plans

I don’t plan on living in my new home all the time.  I am still going to work in the summer at Lake Harriet for the next few years.  Plus I still intend to travel in the winter months of December and January/February.  Then plan to spend relaxing time in my new home the rest of the year.  I will still maintain my RV and store it at the Village when not using it.  So once I move in I will be a part-timer and not a full-timer.  

More to come on this later.  Just wanted to let everyone know what I have been up to.