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MtnSurfer, you taunt me with those pictures The last one especially makes me home sick .
Deezus, the Santa Cruz mountains are one of my favorite areas in Cali precisely because it reminds me of the dense forests where I was raised in Oregon. Unfortunately, we can't even begin to afford the cost of living there. We tried years ago to live in another area with high cost of living, but failed. Santa Cruz's cost of living is even higher.
And while I do find grasslands dotted with live oak very attractive, I prefer the dense conifer or conifer mix forests I grew up with. There is just something about it that just enlivens me. My mother said I would stare up at the conifer trees even as a little baby, I don't know how far back I remember, but I do remember doing that as a child. I still get that same sense when I'm in dense conifer forest, It's wonderful and I miss it.
Yes, I like both types of environments. It's funny because when I first moved to Northern Oregon after living in Southern Oregon for 4 years, I was amazed at how lush everything was. It felt like a jungle with the ferns and the dense trees after living down in the relatively dry Rogue Valley(although the hills above town were pretty forested).
The nice thing about the Santa Cruz Mountains is that you have a lot of redwoods and ferns in places and dense greenery, but you're not far away from coastal hills and wide open meadows and oak filled ridges as well. It's kind of a nice mix. I love the Sea-to-Sky Trail that goes from Waddell Beach to Big Basin State Park.
But yeah, it's much too expensive to live in much of the area these days. My parents bought their house in the 1970s so they pay very little in income tax---but for a new resident to buy anything in that area you're paying an arm and a leg. Even further up in the mountains past Boulder Creek--it's much more expensive these days.
One answer to wallowing in all that both the NW and California have to offer is to wander, as I do ... living months here and then months there, rinse and repeat. Yes, pretty hard to do when raising a family and / or having to maintain a job that requires a set location.
I have a very close friend who also lives as I do, and who raised his little family (2 kids -- I had four) on boats that he and wife built, and for a few years out of the back of a medium sized bread van. Right. Doesn't appeal to many people. You can call it hippie, too. But he was / is still a good carpenter who always found reliable employment. They'd work a while, then move on like gypsies. They did this in the S.F. area living aboard in Richardson Bay for about 6 years. They lived for several years in Florence, Oregon. They lived in Hawaii (yes, they sailed across with a toddler and an infant in the boat they built) a couple years. They lived in the Sea of Cortez for over a year. They lived many years in Puget Sound, both aboard the boat, which they also sailed to Alaska and back, and in a couple of houses. His kids are grown now, and he, like me, lost his wife at a relatively young age. Now he lives part on the Olympic Peninsula and part in Florida ... and lingers at length in Santa Cruz area where his son resides. He enjoys the van lifestyle, as I do. And he has about eight residential properties he rents and maintains for income ... as do I.
Life can still be an adventure if that's what you are up for.
One answer to wallowing in all that both the NW and California have to offer is to wander, as I do ... living months here and then months there, rinse and repeat. Yes, pretty hard to do when raising a family and / or having to maintain a job that requires a set location.
I have a very close friend who also lives as I do, and who raised his little family (2 kids -- I had four) on boats that he and wife built, and for a few years out of the back of a medium sized bread van. Right. Doesn't appeal to many people. You can call it hippie, too. But he was / is still a good carpenter who always found reliable employment. They'd work a while, then move on like gypsies. They did this in the S.F. area living aboard in Richardson Bay for about 6 years. They lived for several years in Florence, Oregon. They lived in Hawaii (yes, they sailed across with a toddler and an infant in the boat they built) a couple years. They lived in the Sea of Cortez for over a year. They lived many years in Puget Sound, both aboard the boat, which they also sailed to Alaska and back, and in a couple of houses. His kids are grown now, and he, like me, lost his wife at a relatively young age. Now he lives part on the Olympic Peninsula and part in Florida ... and lingers at length in Santa Cruz area where his son resides. He enjoys the van lifestyle, as I do. And he has about eight residential properties he rents and maintains for income ... as do I.
Life can still be an adventure if that's what you are up for.
I bet those kids have some pretty great memories living in such fun places. I told my wife I'd love to have a vacation home in the PNW. Though it could get expensive maintaining it, especially from out of state.
So you have me really curious now about what kind of van you could live in for lets say weeks on end? Are you talking about a van conversion, VW Bus or ???? We've got a minivan which I used for campin' out with the kiddos at times. We can pull the seats out so there is more room. If its snowing out or really cold we'll just sleep in the van. It sure beats a tent when its raining or snowing outside. But it would take something a lot larger to live in for longer periods.
Hey YellowHorse, sorry to taunt you so!!! Man, if I grew in the PNW I know I would be thinking about it too, especially this time of the year. Some friends of ours from Oregon lived in Monterey for a while. And although they enjoyed the area while here, for them there was no place like home. Actually the husband's family is from there, not the wife. But she likes it up there as well. Anyway they moved back over a year ago and are really happily livin' the PNW lifestyle now. So I agree with the notion that there is no 'One Size Fits All.' If the PNW is home to you then your heart may be there as well. Hopefully you can return some day if that's what you really want. There are certain things you just come to realize on a gut level in terms of where you belong. Though work and other responsibilities can make it a challenge to get there at times.
Here's one more to give you your daily PNW fix. Does anyplace have more shades of green with hundreds gorgeous of waterfalls all around it?
Derek
Those waterfall pictures remind me a lot of Ricketts Glen State Park in PA, there is a total of 20+ waterfalls down along a very slippery mountainside trail, as I recall.
I bet those kids have some pretty great memories living in such fun places. I told my wife I'd love to have a vacation home in the PNW. Though it could get expensive maintaining it, especially from out of state.
So you have me really curious now about what kind of van you could live in for lets say weeks on end? Are you talking about a van conversion, VW Bus or ???? We've got a minivan which I used for campin' out with the kiddos at times. We can pull the seats out so there is more room. If its snowing out or really cold we'll just sleep in the van. It sure beats a tent when its raining or snowing outside. But it would take something a lot larger to live in for longer periods.
Derek
I traveled and camped for many years in vans ... actually started when I was a sprout and my father bought one of the first VW Micro-buses to land on U.S. shores ... we camped as a family of six, plus dog, from one end of the country to another. 36hp, climbed the Rockies in 1st and 2nd gear Prior to the VW bus we camped out of a four-door 1948 Dodge sedan with a roof rack ... Dad later built a small luggage trailer to go with. Camping back then, in the 50's, didn't require reservations even at Yellowstone (!). It was also real primitive: tents, hammocks, and campfire cooking, and Coleman ice chests, bathing in mountain streams (brrrrr! but invigorating fun!). By the time I was 13, I had been to 43 states and half the Canadian provinces.
Recently I gave my mini-van to one son -- 265,000 miles and still going strong. I had created a custom interior for myself and large dog. When wife and her two dogs came with, we carried a tent. But I lived in the mini-van for months on end. Traveled one year from Puget Sound to Nova Scotia, with many stops between, 9,000 miles. As I said, I had removed the interior and built bunk and stove and stowage, small catalytic heater, wash basin ... happy as a clam at high tide. Turned the passenger front seat around on its base and called it my Bark-O-Lounger for the copilot dog and as a lounge chair at camp for me if it was cold or rainy out.
Now I have an old Air Force tarmac van with a short 10' long, stand up box body. My conversion is again stealth. Looks like a plumber's or carpenter's van with a couple of extra windows (dark tinted) and a side-slider door, and double barn doors in back which I throw open at parks and seashores for panorama living. . The exterior is okay but not shiny. So it doesn't attract any attention one way or another. I now literally live full time in this van, even on home properties -- I am just a full-time camper. Second wife is younger by quite a bit, and still has teaching and artistic projects of her own, plus our grandkids to hang with. So she lives in one of my little cabin homes and spends part of winter with me aboard the boat in Hawaii, and I spend all summer on the property with her in the Sound. Spring and fall she joins me catch as catch can for camping and we have plenty of room for all inside the box truck.
Overall, the box van is remarkable ... it is only a total of 18.5 feet nose to tail, so same length as a standard family van. It is about 9" or 10"wider in back. Diesel. Stand up (barely) in back. Everybody who looks inside says "Whoa! -- cool!" I built it myself Mini-oven, two-burner stove (I'm moving up in the world), mini-sink, water purifier, vented catalytic heater. Full-sized bunk, plus side bunk for the dogs. But no real modern systems like the RV crowd spend their hard earned $ on. Use a bucket for a head. Did make a shower though. I have a dog-bath outdoor gas water instant-heater and an extendable hose. I rigged it inside the van ... where you step in I cut away a square of flooring and set in a 30" x 30" plastic tray with a drain in the middle. I rig a shower curtain from the ceiling and use the retractable shower hose to the heater. Propane heat, naturally. Slicker than cat slobber in a bait bucket. Mostly though, the shower pan is just an entry with towel for wet shoes and paws to wipe off.
Can't beat it with a stick ... and still small enough to wheel around town easily in traffic and unobtrusively. It is my only vehicle. Not just a camper.
One answer to wallowing in all that both the NW and California have to offer is to wander, as I do ... living months here and then months there, rinse and repeat. Yes, pretty hard to do when raising a family and / or having to maintain a job that requires a set location.
I have a very close friend who also lives as I do, and who raised his little family (2 kids -- I had four) on boats that he and wife built, and for a few years out of the back of a medium sized bread van. Right. Doesn't appeal to many people. You can call it hippie, too. But he was / is still a good carpenter who always found reliable employment. They'd work a while, then move on like gypsies. They did this in the S.F. area living aboard in Richardson Bay for about 6 years. They lived for several years in Florence, Oregon. They lived in Hawaii (yes, they sailed across with a toddler and an infant in the boat they built) a couple years. They lived in the Sea of Cortez for over a year. They lived many years in Puget Sound, both aboard the boat, which they also sailed to Alaska and back, and in a couple of houses. His kids are grown now, and he, like me, lost his wife at a relatively young age. Now he lives part on the Olympic Peninsula and part in Florida ... and lingers at length in Santa Cruz area where his son resides. He enjoys the van lifestyle, as I do. And he has about eight residential properties he rents and maintains for income ... as do I.
Life can still be an adventure if that's what you are up for.
Nice to dream, but it would never fit my profession, besides I have enough problems trying to manage my property up north in PA.
I bet those kids have some pretty great memories living in such fun places. I told my wife I'd love to have a vacation home in the PNW. Though it could get expensive maintaining it, especially from out of state.
So you have me really curious now about what kind of van you could live in for lets say weeks on end? Are you talking about a van conversion, VW Bus or ???? We've got a minivan which I used for campin' out with the kiddos at times. We can pull the seats out so there is more room. If its snowing out or really cold we'll just sleep in the van. It sure beats a tent when its raining or snowing outside. But it would take something a lot larger to live in for longer periods.
Derek
Our first motorhome is the 1978 American Clipper type C, about 21'. They were made in Morgan Hill, CA by Irv Perch' company Clipper and RV Related Links
She has the Dodge 440 engine.
Generac 4000kw generator
1 Duo-Therm rooftop A/C/dash- A/C
Admiral microwave
cooktop/oven
water heater
Dometic frig
shower
toilet
Duo-Therm heater
etc, etc
Over the years we, as a family with our young'uns experienced much joy boonie camping around the western states mostly, fishing, exploring the BLM lands, in awe of beauty, of the forest/desert/mountain/beach critters.
Hey YellowHorse, sorry to taunt you so!!! Man, if I grew in the PNW I know I would be thinking about it too, especially this time of the year. Some friends of ours from Oregon lived in Monterey for a while. And although they enjoyed the area while here, for them there was no place like home. Actually the husband's family is from there, not the wife. But she likes it up there as well. Anyway they moved back over a year ago and are really happily livin' the PNW lifestyle now. So I agree with the notion that there is no 'One Size Fits All.' If the PNW is home to you then your heart may be there as well. Hopefully you can return some day if that's what you really want. There are certain things you just come to realize on a gut level in terms of where you belong. Though work and other responsibilities can make it a challenge to get there at times.
Here's one more to give you your daily PNW fix. Does anyplace have more shades of green with hundreds gorgeous of waterfalls all around it?
Derek
Thanks for the lovely picture. No, I don't think I've ever seen so many water falls as what you see in the PNW, and the "shades of green" rank right up there at the top
No, one size does not fit all, lol. I gave up my home state for my husband and family, but I miss it more and more with each passing year. It's been nearly 2 decades since I left and I really want to go back. My kids really like it up there too and ask if we can move up there. Thought I had hubby convinced a few times, with a job lined up once, to move to Oregon, but he always ended up backing out (I think his mom has something to do with keeping him here, lol). Every time I take my kids to visit my family up there, I have half a mind to tell hubby I'm staying there and he better figure a way to follow, lol. It's depressing to come back to the arid landscape after soaking in all those "shades of green"
nullgeo, My dad loved them ole' VW buses, and he is as far away from being a "hippie" as you can be, lol. I remember him taking us camping in his VW he owned over the years we were growing up. That was the only vehicle we had for a long time, I remember it being like a club, we'd all wave at any other VW Bus we'd meet on the road, lol. Whenever I see a VW micro-bus, it brings back very warm memories of my dad and the fun we had traveling around
Thanks for the lovely picture. No, I don't think I've ever seen so many water falls as what you see in the PNW, and the "shades of green" rank right up there at the top
No, one size does not fit all, lol. I gave up my home state for my husband and family, but I miss it more and more with each passing year. It's been nearly 2 decades since I left and I really want to go back. My kids really like it up there too and ask if we can move up there. Thought I had hubby convinced a few times, with a job lined up once, to move to Oregon, but he always ended up backing out (I think his mom has something to do with keeping him here, lol). Every time I take my kids to visit my family up there, I have half a mind to tell hubby I'm staying there and he better figure a way to follow, lol. It's depressing to come back to the arid landscape after soaking in all those "shades of green"
nullgeo, My dad loved them ole' VW buses, and he is as far away from being a "hippie" as you can be, lol. I remember him taking us camping in his VW he owned over the years we were growing up. That was the only vehicle we had for a long time, I remember it being like a club, we'd all wave at any other VW Bus we'd meet on the road, lol. Whenever I see a VW micro-bus, it brings back very warm memories of my dad and the fun we had traveling around
YellowHorse, I like your status! Yeah, I can relate to what you are saying. My wife has the majority of her family in San Diego. So Monterey was as far north as she wanted to move. However before making this decision we were very close to moving to Portland. I mean we were looking at houses and at various companies I could work at there. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. So we have continued to visit/vacation in the PNW. Ah well, the things we do for love and family.
I can't imagine living in Kern County while dreaming about the PNW. When you enter that almost tropcial rainforest like region it is so refreshing. By contrast it must be really hot and dry in Kern this time of the year. Is there any chance of at least getting to a greener, cooler part of CA? Hopefully one day you will get your turn. Any chance his mom could move along with you guys? My mom tends to follow us where ever we move to.
I traveled and camped for many years in vans ... actually started when I was a sprout and my father bought one of the first VW Micro-buses to land on U.S. shores ... we camped as a family of six, plus dog, from one end of the country to another. 36hp, climbed the Rockies in 1st and 2nd gear Prior to the VW bus we camped out of a four-door 1948 Dodge sedan with a roof rack ... Dad later built a small luggage trailer to go with. Camping back then, in the 50's, didn't require reservations even at Yellowstone (!). It was also real primitive: tents, hammocks, and campfire cooking, and Coleman ice chests, bathing in mountain streams (brrrrr! but invigorating fun!). By the time I was 13, I had been to 43 states and half the Canadian provinces.
Recently I gave my mini-van to one son -- 265,000 miles and still going strong. I had created a custom interior for myself and large dog. When wife and her two dogs came with, we carried a tent. But I lived in the mini-van for months on end. Traveled one year from Puget Sound to Nova Scotia, with many stops between, 9,000 miles. As I said, I had removed the interior and built bunk and stove and stowage, small catalytic heater, wash basin ... happy as a clam at high tide. Turned the passenger front seat around on its base and called it my Bark-O-Lounger for the copilot dog and as a lounge chair at camp for me if it was cold or rainy out.
Now I have an old Air Force tarmac van with a short 10' long, stand up box body. My conversion is again stealth. Looks like a plumber's or carpenter's van with a couple of extra windows (dark tinted) and a side-slider door, and double barn doors in back which I throw open at parks and seashores for panorama living. . The exterior is okay but not shiny. So it doesn't attract any attention one way or another. I now literally live full time in this van, even on home properties -- I am just a full-time camper. Second wife is younger by quite a bit, and still has teaching and artistic projects of her own, plus our grandkids to hang with. So she lives in one of my little cabin homes and spends part of winter with me aboard the boat in Hawaii, and I spend all summer on the property with her in the Sound. Spring and fall she joins me catch as catch can for camping and we have plenty of room for all inside the box truck.
Overall, the box van is remarkable ... it is only a total of 18.5 feet nose to tail, so same length as a standard family van. It is about 9" or 10"wider in back. Diesel. Stand up (barely) in back. Everybody who looks inside says "Whoa! -- cool!" I built it myself Mini-oven, two-burner stove (I'm moving up in the world), mini-sink, water purifier, vented catalytic heater. Full-sized bunk, plus side bunk for the dogs. But no real modern systems like the RV crowd spend their hard earned $ on. Use a bucket for a head. Did make a shower though. I have a dog-bath outdoor gas water instant-heater and an extendable hose. I rigged it inside the van ... where you step in I cut away a square of flooring and set in a 30" x 30" plastic tray with a drain in the middle. I rig a shower curtain from the ceiling and use the retractable shower hose to the heater. Propane heat, naturally. Slicker than cat slobber in a bait bucket. Mostly though, the shower pan is just an entry with towel for wet shoes and paws to wipe off.
Can't beat it with a stick ... and still small enough to wheel around town easily in traffic and unobtrusively. It is my only vehicle. Not just a camper.
nullgeo, that sounds like a really cool rig. I may eventually have to get somthing like this for our family. I find it interesting that while you own a number of properties you enjoy being more mobile vs. stationary living in one of those properties. That kind of simplified life sounds appealing.
Derek
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The last one especially makes me home sick 
.
There are certain things you just come to realize on a gut level in terms of where you belong. Though work and other responsibilities can make it a challenge to get there at times.
Yeah, I can relate to what you are saying. My wife has the majority of her family in San Diego. So Monterey was as far north as she wanted to move. However before making this decision we were very close to moving to Portland. I mean we were looking at houses and at various companies I could work at there. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. So we have continued to visit/vacation in the PNW. Ah well, the things we do for love and family. 
