Goldilocks and the Three (hundred) Houses

This house:

• is too small
• has no back yard
• only has a tiny bathroom
• needs appliances
• is too dark
• only has a one-car garage
• is too close to the freeway and is noisy

This house:

• is too big
• has too much yard to maintain
• has too many bedrooms, that are all too small!
• is too tall with too many steps
• is too far from the kids

This house is just right!

After selling our home in Colorado we turned the wheels of the motorhome toward San Francisco. Our son and daughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandson-to-be live in Oakland, and have indicated they would enjoy having us nearby, at least part of the year.

The hunt for a home began. Well, actually, we had been looking at homes for sale in the area long before we arrived using online sources. However, once we arrived it gave us the opportunity to see neighborhoods and explore areas near our son. The motorhome and our Florida RV lot gave us a lot of latitude. We didn’t have to find something right away. We had the luxury of time. We could even wait until next spring to find our next home. Basically we said if it doesn’t “float our boat” we don’t want it. 

As we visited homes for sale and talked about what we liked or disliked about each one we began to create a list of criteria (in no particular order) that we were looking for in a home. We desired:

• a small village feel with walkability
• enough back “yard” for the dogs to potty when (insert one) 
• it was raining. 
• I was too lazy to take them for a walk.
• I didn’t feel well.
• I was out for the evening. 
• I was too busy doing something else.
• We wanted a carefree front yard so we did not have to hire a landscape maintenance company in our absence.
• a garage with space for Mr. Dreamy to stash his tools and create a bit of a workshop, oh… and to park at least one car.
• an extra bedroom or extra space that could be a sewing/craft room for me
• a location within reasonable distance to our son and his family
• space to park the RV

And then…. just like Tony seeing Maria across the dance floor in West Side Story, we saw it. It dazzled our eyes. Love at first sight. And even now with a contract on the house, I can’t say exactly why we fell in love with this house. 

It could be the quiet neighborhood with virtually no traffic..

It could be that outside of rush hour we are only 15-20 minutes from the kids.

It could be the bright, spacious rooms. 

It could be the view from the “Romeo & Juliet” balcony.

It could be the historic town around the point, two miles from us.

It could be the walking trails in the hills above us.

Who knows?

Could be..… 

But, the house ticks a lot of our boxes. It has an amazing “away from the city” feel about it, and we are looking forward to moving in.

Screen shots of the staged home:

(apologies for the arrows and extra "stuff")

Delta Breeze

We first learned of “The Delta Breeze” when we were looking at California property in June. We were exploring 55+ communities near San Francisco. The communities were all inland from the Bay and we were told the climate was much warmer, well, to be honest, they were much hotter. But… the Trilogy community in Rio Vista assured us that despite the high temperatures, “The Delta Breeze” tempers the heat and makes life in the town much more comfortable. While visiting the community and standing on an empty lot, dreaming of the home we could build there, we Dreamers noticed the trees on the verge of the golf course. The trees that were all leaning 30° to the left. The trees that were shaped by the “breeze”.  

This tree at the campground is similar to those we saw on the golf course.

To understand the “breeze” one needs to know a bit about the topography of this area in California. To the west we have the huge bay in San Francisco, with the cold, Pacific Ocean feeding into it. Then we have a large delta area surrounding the Sacramento River and other tributaries on the east side of the bay, all surrounded by hills. As the sun beats down on the inland hills it warms the land, and the air. The hot air rises. As the hot air rises, it leaves a vacuum and pulls surrounding air into the area. The air along the river delta funnels into the void, creating a breeze. The breeze made up of cooler air from the bay funnels through the hills along the delta…. thus the name. 

From the Internet

We have been hop-scotching from campground to campground in the bay area. I originally made reservations at three of the campgrounds just north of San Francisco figuring we would use the campgrounds as a “jumping off” points for exploring communities in the area. Recently we stayed at a beautiful park on Sherman Island, just north of Antioch and a good bit south of Sacramento. The reviews for the park were all positive… with the exception of comments about the wind:

• If you like the wind this is the place for you
• It can get very windy here
• For starters, yes, it is very windy here

There are wind farms across the river, and watching the blades slowly turn is relaxing. 

The park is remote, and yes, the road to the park is very narrow and bumpy, but it is also rarely traveled. We love the park, which has roomy sites and roads covered in pavers. It is quiet… well, except for the wind and the flapping of the toppers over our slide-outs! 

Mr. Dreamy has an anemometer for his phone. This is the screen shot from one reading he took. Gusts up to 30 mph! Generally the wind was anywhere from 10-20 mph. We measured one gust at 41 mph! Wow! After walking dogs in the winds it makes me appreciate just how strong the winds were for Hurricane Irma.

The Aftermath

We watched in horror as Hurricane Irma slammed into Marco Island on the gulf coast of Florida. This was expected but being a dreamer, I always hold out hope for a last minute change. In the week before the storm as I watched projections, I had finally begun to relax as I saw that Irma was going to skirt along the western edge of Florida, the projections inching ever so slowly westward. But as we watched, Irma took a turn to the east, bearing down on the RV resort that we call home. NO! This wasn’t the last minute change I wanted. She wasn’t supposed to go that way!  What was left of the eye of the storm, now Category 2,  passed right over the resort. 

The RV Resort is just west of Labelle, FL.
This is a screen shot of the storm on Sunday at 8:29 EDT

There were 11 (or was it 13?) residents of the resort who stayed and rode out the storm in the club house, which was built as a hurricane shelter. 

We received a few updates on FaceBook:

Sunday 6:28 PM “The eye will pass over Ft. Myers in the next 1-2 hrs. Wind about 70 mph here at 6:15PM. Big tree blew down in front of the clubhouse but because wind was from east fell away from clubhouse. Power went out 2 1/2 hours ago. The emergency gen started but did not transfer power to the clubhouse. Lots of debris. Lakes over flowing.”

Sunday 9:09 PM “We’re OK here but we got clobbered. Will let u know when we can see tomorrow.”

Monday 3:31 PM “… sometime after 6:30 the worse of the storm went by. We had gusts in excess of 100 mph, you could not see through the rain going sideways out the back windows of the clubhouse. These gusts I believed did the most damage. They tore at already weakened trees, bushes, awnings and anything round. We watched as leaves disappeared from tops of trees and branches continued to fall. When we went out this morning, it explains why there was so much more damage then they saw around 3:30. The Royals, bigger trees uprooted, some awnings completed torn from coach houses not just the canvas. It will be a massive clean up job.”

We have had a few more reports and some pictures. One property owner was able to share pictures on Facebook. 

Another property owner managed to upload some videos showing damage in Fort Myers and at our resort. How comforting for us to see so much that wasn't damaged, but how sad to see the trees.

We are all anxious to see our individual lots to reassure ourselves that everything is OK. All of this will come, in time, as power is restored. 

But, the good news is that we are safe and our friends are safe. Life is good!

Unsettled Anticipation

Hurricane Irma represents a horrific fascination for me. Harvey was the same. I am drawn to watching the progress of the storms. I experience visceral reactions as I watch the plight of people caught up in the dramas brought about by the storms. I believe this intrigue is partially because I lived in coastal SC for 34 years where we experienced more than one close call with storms. It may also be what I call the “rubber-necking” phenomenon where humans seem to be drawn to stare at tragedies, even though we don’t really want to look. And of course, the path of Irma could impact Mr. Dreamy’s family on Amelia Island, many of our friends in SC and Georgia, and…. our property near Labelle, FL and friends who live there and those along the gulf.

No matter which way the storm turns, someone I know loses.

 I’ve often said I’d rather experience a hurricane over tornadoes as there is plenty of warning about the arrival of hurricanes (which often spawn tornadoes, too!). But…. living through days of projections means days of angst.

Hurricanes are driven by highs and lows…
And where Irma lands only time will tell!

Some Like it Hot

…. but not this hot!

We arrived at the Petaluma KOA for Labor Day weekend, along with a recorded-breaking heatwave and at least one half of San Francisco. Okay, thats a bit of an exaggeration! There were a few empty sites, but not many. There were more than a few sites with more than their share of people on them. There were kids and dogs everywhere. Parents were partying and kids were running wild on bikes, trikes, scooters and battery powered cars. Walking the dogs was an exercise in self-preservation as we dodged toddlers with popsicles, the bikes, cars and other dogs. Tucker was an emotional wreck. The commotion around him triggered his herding and protection instincts.

On Friday the temps climbed toward 100. That was just a hint of what was to come. On Saturday we were at 109, and Mr. Dreamy saw the car thermometer hit 114 on Sunday. Along with the exceptional heat came exceptional use of electricity in the Bay Area. The campground experienced brown-outs, and the aging transformers at the camp began overheating from the load put on them. Power (and water) came…. and went off. On Sunday the campground shut down power for 30–60 minutes in different areas of the campground, rotating from one area to the next so no one went without for extended periods of time. This area of California is known for its cool nights. Most homes don’t have air conditioning. There was a run on air conditioners and fans and local stores ran out by mid-day Friday.

On Monday the temperature dropped into the high 80’s, the campers packed up their bicycles, coolers, sleeping bags and kids, and began the trek back to their homes. By Monday evening we Dreamers were among the few campers left. We enjoyed sitting outside and listening to the quiet, broken only by the songs of the birds.