Still in California

While I was supposed to stay a week with Reid here in California, it turned out to be two.  I was supposed to fly to St. Louis to help Zeona furnish a small home she just purchased for an Airbnb rental.  That real estate transaction fell through so I decided to stay with Reid in California since my own real estate transaction won't close until Oct 13th in Durango, CO.

I finally got over my fear of driving his expensive sports car after I paid $100 one day for a rented car through Enterprise.  His car is so low to the ground after my experience driving my RV or even my Jeep Liberty before that.  It feels so vulnerable having so many vehicles hovering over me.  However, once I got behind the wheel and experienced the power and the maneuverability, it might make it difficult to get behind the wheel of the RV again.

Anyway, I drive him to work everyday and then I explore.  The original intent was to help him find a home here to buy but he's in a holding pattern until the end of the year so he might have to continue his nomad existence for another few months traveling back and forth between CA and TX.

We have found several lovely places, but it's hard to get over the sticker shock of the prices here compared to Houston.  Now I know what my friends from Chevron in San Ramon were talking about when they moved to Houston.  First of all, you make more money just because you don't get so much taken out of your check in TX.  Secondly the cost of living especially when it comes to buying a home is so much more affordable in TX.  However, this weather is hard to beat and there are some incredible views that are hard to find in TX.

He's flying to Houston and I'm flying back to Denver on Wednesday.  He'll be visiting his boys and I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing yet.  My flight arrives at 11pm so I may just boon dock in the Navi at the airport when I get back and decide the next morning which way to go.

 

Since last I wrote

After Golden, I had the chance to catch up with Zeona, a lovely young woman I met while visiting the Boulder Creek Co Housing Community.  She's very entrepreneurial and I admire that about her.  She does a variety of things to earn income including massage therapy and buying real estate and renting properties on Airbnb.  I caught up with her over lunch in Boulder.  She's buying her second small home in St. Louis and plans to fly there next week to furnish it after closing.  I told her I'd like to go with her to help and maybe learn a thing or two.

I wasn't sure where I was going to stay after our visit and thankfully she mentioned Shoshoni which is a yoga retreat up in the mountains west of Boulder about 45 minutes.  They allowed me to stay in my RV and pay their "camping" price of $70/night though it's clear they're not used to RV visitors.  For the price, I got a 20 amp electrical hookup, 3 meals, 2 challenging and 1 restorative yoga workout, 2 opportunities for meditation and chanting, and access to several hiking trails on their lovely property.  

While I was simply interested in finding a nice place to stay in my RV (which is hard to do since there is no camping at all in Boulder to discourage the riff-raff), this turned out to be my 11th  intentional community to visit as well.  There are about 15 people who live here full time--all appear to be in their 20's and 30's.  Everyone I met was quite friendly, attentive to guests and open to sharing their way of life.  The property was very well taken care of...it was clean, simple, and understated.  

The yoga was needed.  The chanting was interesting to witness but not my thing.  The meals and trails were absolutely delicious and rejuvenating.

After my one night at Shoshoni, I drove NE through the mountain to Lyons CO for another visit to the Wee Casa, tiny house hotel.  Reid and the boys and Kent and I toured them in July.  Their rates are $169/night to experience what it's like to live in a tiny house.  Even with my curiosity, that sounded a bit steep to me so I instead stayed at a city run, RV park Sat night.  The park host was an old curmudgeon but the price was right at $30/night for full hookups.  I took my bike for a spin around town and had breakfast at a local hangout.  In doing further investigation of the Wee Casas, I found they offer $20/night off when booking online.  That small savings was enough to convince me to try it out.  

There was one unit in particular that I wanted to stay in with aluminum siding that was built by a Durango, tiny home builder (Rocky Mountain Tiny Homes)  so I reserved that one.  While I was on the property, I talked to Blake and Sky who are 2 of the 3 partners who own Wee Casa about their business model.  They take tiny homes on consignment and rent them out and split the profits with the home owner.  At the end of the summer season, they try to help the home owner to sell the tiny home.  It seems to benefit everyone including the Wee Casa partners, the tiny home builders, and people like me who are considering buying a tiny house or two.

I'm so glad I stayed because it did give me a feel for the space.  I found the unit in which I stayed had nice high ceilings which made it feel bigger.  It had a bed in the loft with alternating steps that allowed for storage which were a bit funky.  The bathroom had a toilet and a full shower but the door separating the bathroom from the rest of the living area once closed made it quite difficult to dress.  That should be moved out a bit.  One nice touch was a rope swing couch/bed downstairs in the living area.  Of course I liked all the big windows but felt a bit exposed tripping down the steps in the morning for coffee.  Overall, I liked the unit but would make some changes if I were to buy it.
  

My new found friend--Holly Bidle in Golden who bought the Hummingbird Micro Home for just over $30K told me of a guy in Denver who was selling a tiny home on Craigslist.  He was asking $29K but seems motivated so may take less.  The only problem, the house is in Lubbock and the only way I can see it is to drive to Lubbock.  I'm not sure I'm that interested.  Would you drive to Lubbock to check it out?

While I was at Wee Casa, I saw some sort of woman's cycling event going on.  Two women dressed up in cycling gear and two other women dressed up in catering gear were outside investigating the tiny house that I was staying in so I asked them if they wanted to see inside and of course, they did.  I asked them what was going on and they explained that the event was a bike ride, or yoga class followed by a gourmet meal outside along the river facing the mountain just next to Wee Casa.  

I asked them if I could "play" too and it turns out, it wasn't too late to join them....except for the bike ride....so I chose yoga.  The event was called Tour la fete.  The hour long yoga session under the trees in the cool evening air was one of the best I've done.  The meal required a dress (which was fun for a change) so I put on my dress after doing some more tiny house investigation around Wee Casa and headed over to the river for dinner.  I missed the music and hors d'oeuvres but the rest of the meal was a delight.  New Belgium ale was one of the sponsors so they supplied the beer and explained the pairings with the meal.  Who knew you could pair beer with a gourmet meal.  After dinner, we were treated to some delicious gourmet cupcakes with a dessert beer???? and a film about volunteers (armed with shovels and buckets...calling themselves "mudslingers") who through social media, amassed forces to help with the big flood that occurred 2 years ago in the area. We sat outside in the cool mountain air under the stars watching the film on one of those huge inflatable screens and were inspired by their altruism.

While I treated myself to the unique stay in one of the tiny homes that makes up the Wee Casa hotel and the Women's Tour la fete event in Lyons on Sun night, I was back at the county park on Monday night near Westminster CO.  I needed to do laundry, so after claiming a campsite, I drove into the "burbs" to find a coin operated laundry since the county park had no amenities.  

I had to chuckle at the fact that I treated myself to a $100 meal the night before and an upscale accommodation (relatively speaking) and the very next night, I'm washing my clothes with the masses next door to the Dollar store.  The juxtaposition definitely makes me appreciate both ends of the spectrum.  I appreciate the fact that I can afford to treat myself to a sabbatical, to the occasional splurges on nice accommodations and gourmet meals....that I have a customized, cozy, tiny home on wheels (customized for me...for now) and get to take this adventure while some are constrained to washing their clothes in a communal, somewhat depressing, coin-operated laundry facility--next to the Dollar Store.

After that, I decided to take a last minute flight to San Jose to help Reid with his continued home search.  It turns out that the last minute approach was quite reasonable.  While I'm in the land near Google, I thoroughly appreciate the comfortable surroundings in Reid's temporary, G suite apartment and enjoy looking with him for the perfect house.  This was his weekend to be with his boys, so he flew out yesterday morning for the weekend in Houston while I stay on and continue to search.  

I'm staying at an Airbnb accommodation in Woodside CA and will be heading out soon to explore the open houses in the area this weekend.

Hanging out in lovely Golden, CO

I'm hanging out an an outdoor cafe near downtown Golden today following a 2 night stay at one of my favorite RV parks on Clear Creek.  It's a breezy, sunny 72 degrees.  Sometimes it feels funny because I'm not really on vacation as many others that I see around me are.  This is my life.  However, I'm not, not on vacation either.

There are many benefits having my home and my few possessions with me where ever I go.  Everything is within a few steps from reach.  And, I'm fairly organized so most things I need I am able to find quickly.  I don't like to have a bunch of stuff around me that visually screams too much, too much.

I'm surprised how important my surroundings are to me.  My boyfriend Reid will attest to the fact that whenever we're in a hotel together, one of the first things I do is to put away all marketing material and helpful job aids.  I've been known to move furniture around if it messes up my feng shui.

One issue I'm experiencing now is the issue of moving every day or every other day.  Though I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, I can rarely purchase anything online because I'm not in one location long enough for the 2 day free delivery.  While this saves me money and space in my small home, it's more moving around than I'd like.

Trying to find a place that has the combination of something aesthetically pleasing to look at with decent phone service has been next to impossible.  Since I like checking in with Reid each day, the phone service is important to me.  So, I move.

Speaking of Reid, when I was in Sunnyvale recently, we caught an episode of the old TV drama--the Fugitive.  I can relate to Dr. Richard Kimble.  

While it's great to have my home with me, it can be a challenge parking it for a quick trip to the grocery store.  My preference would be to leave my home at home and drive to the grocery store.  The one time I rented a car when Barbara visited felt nice to have the zipiness and flexibility to go anywhere.  The world at large (at least here in the SW U.S. is not made for 24' vehicles generally speaking.

Of the 5 airports I've visited while I've been on this trip--a few times to pick up or drop off friends who have traveled with me and a few flights I've taken myself, all of them have presented unique challenges for the Navi---either parking spaces that are too compact, too expensive or low clearance issues.

So those are some issues I've discovered with this nomadic lifestyle.

I think I've mentioned previously that I've exchanged my seat in front of my computer for a seat in front of a steering wheel.  So, I've begun to challenge myself to go for a walk as soon as I wake each morning before coffee or checking my email.  I get the exercise I need and spend less time in front of the computer too.

Examples of Hummingbird Micro Homes

I had a chance to see a Hummingbird Micro Home (built in British Columbia and transported to Golden) earlier in the week.  The new tiny house owner, Holly Bidle did her research and like me attended the Tiny House Jamboree.  Even with the transportation costs, it was cheaper to buy this tiny house rather than any of those already here in Colorado.

A little kitchen in a tiny house

We've got a contract

After nine days of negotiating, the sellers of the property on Lake Vallecito and I have finally reached an agreement on price and terms.  It's a little more than I wanted to pay but they did come off their asking price considerably.  I've decided against an appraisal and an overall inspection and closing is set for October 13th.  I've done a lot of research on the property and am waiting to hear back from the Planning department in Durango as to whether or not I can demolish some of the cabins and replace them with tiny houses the same size or smaller.  I've talked to a septic engineer who educated me on what it will take to upgrade the old system should we choose to make improvements to any of the cabins.  Only the house and one of the cabins are suitable for winter living and both are occupied by tenants.  I've asked the seller to give them 30 days notice so they'll be out before closing.  We'd like to get in there before the weather gets cold to clean and to see what we've got to work with.   Both of them were loaded with junk and/or were dirty when we viewed them.   The other summer cabins in varying degrees of condition will need to be winterized.

So, that's exciting news but I'm going to hold off on too much enthusiasm until closing.  And, while I'd like to replace some of the cabins with tiny houses sooner rather than later, I think it would be best to experience the winters there before making any costly changes.

I've been visiting Reid in California since last Thursday.  He's in a holding pattern trying to find a house in California (without much luck).  My goal was to help him find a house but there just isn't anything new on the market for him to look at.  We did see a great place way up a narrow, windy road near Woodside CA but the drive in and out is so treacherous that he decided against it.  The home sits on lovely property that reminds me of a national park.  However, that same windy road is a draw to motorcyclists and cyclists who love to traverse it evenings and weekends.  Turns out, it's not that peaceful listening to the roar of motorcycles going by no matter how lovely the view.  His realtor says she expects new listings to come on the market after Labor Day.

I'm flying back to Salt Lake City on Friday morning and Reid is flying to Houston to spend the long weekend with his boys.  I've got a friend joining me in the Navi for the long weekend.  She'll fly from Colorado Springs into SLC and we'll spend 3 days on the road together hitting some cool spots in Colorado on the way back to her place.  Then, I plan to see some tiny houses in Colorado Springs and Denver before heading once again to Boulder for a visit there.