Our Casita Travel Trailer and Honda Ridgeline Truck.
Mike and I are in the middle of a grand adventure. The adventure is not a trip or a vacation this time, but rather, a big life transition. We’re entering a new chapter in our lives, and we’re not yet sure where the new path is leading. Continue reading
It was 115F degrees outside on a clear June summer afternoon. The hot sun beat down on us as we drove along the dry, dusty, and mostly uninhabited desert road towards Oatman, Arizona.
My husband, Mike, and I were headed on a mini road trip, intent on seeing the famous historic Gold Mine Ghost Town, along Route 66. It took us a little over two hours to get from the Las Vegas Valley to Oatman. We had always wanted to see the tiny western community because we heard that wild burros usually roamed the streets.
Sure enough, when we arrived in Oatman, there were many burros wandering around, carousing alongside the tourists, and hanging out in front of a historic hotel that was built in 1902. The burros were also chilling near cute old touristy shops, and in front of a few restaurants that line the main street through town.
You should have seen the surprise and delight on our faces as we watched these furry cuties approach us with interest. And as we drove our truck down the center of town, the burros strolled confidently ahead of us, taking up the center of the road in their quest for tasty food.
A few locals seemed used to the wildlife; they walked past the animals unimpressed, as if it’s nothing unusual for people and burros to share a small community space together.
We’ve never seen any place like Oatman before. We were very happy we decided to check it out. Because of its unique charm, visiting this historic western town is definitely a worthwhile day trip.
A cute little shop in the charming burro-filled town of Oatman, AZ.
For more information on Oatman, you can check out the below sites:
http://www.welcometooatman.com/
http://www.oatmangoldroad.org/
Driving directions from Las Vegas to Oatman
Have you ever been to Oatman, or a place like it before? Share your stories with us in the comment section below! 🙂
Sincerely,
Kristin
I just wanted to check in and let you know that we’ve been diligently getting our Nevada residence ready for sale so that we can move to Central Oregon this summer.
Consequently, we have not gone exploring recently—as we normally do—because there has been so much work to get through in order to sell the property (i.e. organizing, cleaning, packing up our stuff, and finding a real estate agent in both Nevada and Oregon).
We are hoping to list the house for sale this week. Wish us luck that everything works out!
Once our house sells, we are planning on taking a road trip in our Casita travel trailer up the California Coast, in route to Central Oregon. Once in Oregon, we will find a place to rent while we are looking for a new home.
That’s about it for now! We just wanted to keep everyone in the loop. We’ll be resuming our exploring and Casita adventures again very soon.
Do you have any questions for us? Please let us know. We’re happy to read your comments.
In the meantime, if you haven’t read why we’re moving, and would like to know more about it, here’s a few recent blog posts I published:
Top Ten Reasons Why We’re Moving to Bend
48 Hours in Beautiful Bend, Oregon (very popular post)
Is Bend, Oregon as Nice as They Say?
Sincerely,
Kristin
The city of Las Vegas, from the Stratosphere.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, we’re heading out-of-town soon for a new adventure in Central Oregon. Reflecting back on our time in the Las Vegas Valley over these past few years, I can think of five distinct advantages of living in Southern Nevada that Mike and I will both miss once we move. The points below will stay with us as memories we’ll cherish forever.
Firstly, we’ve experienced wonderful quality time with our family and friends who also live in the Mojave Desert. Backyard BBQ’s, Bingo get-togethers, morning walks, and pool parties are times that we will hold dear in our hearts.
Mike, in Henderson during rare storm.
However, it’s not just the people we know personally that are worth mentioning in Las Vegas.
In the three years we’ve lived in Nevada, our experience with local folks in this area have been very positive. On average, Southern Nevadans have proven to be mostly friendly, laid back, and fun. We felt that the dominant culture out here is welcoming and open.
(Note: The exception would be driving on the freeway. It appeared that many of our fellow laid back Southern Nevadans turned into aggressive, NASCAR racers once in their vehicles).
Mojave Desert Red Rock Canyon
Mike and I like to wear flip-flops and casual wear most of the time; not just in the summers, but nearly all year-long. A lot of people who live in Las Vegas feel the same way.
We’re able to wear flip-flops because the weather is sunny and comfortable, but also, because there’s a lack of pretentiousness in the community.
People out here don’t seem to care what you’re wearing, unless you try to go to a nightclub on the Strip. We dress comfortably almost everywhere we go.
Why be uncomfortable if you don’t have to? Las Vegans get this concept and we’ve appreciated it.
An Ocotillo in Southern Nevada’s blue skies.
We shouldn’t be thinking about buffets to this degree, but we are—because we got accustomed to eating at buffets as locals. Going to buffets out here has become a regular social event that is enjoyed with our family and friends. In fact, we’re going to one next week—and we all have two-for-one coupons!
The buffets in the Las Vegas Valley are truly incredible. The food and drink here is delicious and plentiful. It’s pretty darn cheap too. Boy oh boy, we’ll miss those great food deals. We’ll stop eating at buffets once we move away because it just wouldn’t compare to Las Vegas’ buffets. We’ll be happy to eat at more buffets when we return to Vegas for vacations.
Burro in Nevada
We enjoyed the beautiful desert landscape—The geography out here is something that neither Mike, nor I, were used to before moving to the Las Vegas Valley because we came from regions with different topographies.
Going for hikes in places like Red Rock Canyon were such excellent advantages to living in this area. Red Rock Canyon and the Spring Mountains are just a short drive away from our home, and the scenery—especially the colorful mountains and rock formations—is breathtaking.
While living in the Las Vegas Valley, we learned about distinctive Nevada desert plant life and animals. We will miss seeing strange, but cool looking wiry Ocotillos, the diverse cacti, Joshua Trees, and all the amazing Mojave Desert vegetation. We appreciate that Southern Nevada has a unique look about it.
A Desert Tortoise we came across on our morning walk. The Strip can be seen in the background. Photo by Al S.
We would sometimes spot wild burros as we were hiking or driving down the road. Burros are some of the cutest animals I’ve ever seen! Also, animals such as Big Horn Sheep, who grazed in local neighborhood parks, and large Desert Tortoises who we’d see walking on trails as we went on morning walks with our neighbors, was so interesting and pleasing to see. All of the different flora, animals, and Mojave Desert scenery was something new and different to learn about and encounter. These are all irreplaceable and valued experiences that we enjoyed while living in the Las Vegas Valley.
Mike, looking towards the Strip, Las Vegas, NV.
When you’re a local living in Las Vegas, you can easily take advantage of an abundance of incredible shows and entertainment venues that people from all over the world fly into Vegas to see.
We will miss the hilarious comedy shows, especially. We’ll never forget being able to meet people like ‘Flavor Flav’ and Louie Anderson when we were out and about on regular Friday nights. One of our favorite comedy shows we saw was Steven Wright; he cracked us up.
“Snakes don’t have arms, that’s why they don’t wear vests. Good night.” –Steven Wright
We’ll sure miss Las Vegas! We liked the friendly people, the gorgeous desert scenery, the casual and comfortable vibe, the unique animals, and the world-class entertainment. We appreciate the meaningful and unforgettable experiences we’ve had together while living in Southern Nevada. We’ll treasure the memories.
-Kristin
Guess what! We’re leaving Las Vegas and moving to Bend, Oregon. It was a difficult decision. For a while, we considered moving to Boulder, Colorado, possibly San Diego, and then later, downtown Las Vegas. However, once we visited Bend, all other previous ideas were blown out of the water. We fell for Bend and have decided to move there this summer.
Below are our top ten reasons—besides the obvious beer and outdoor activities that Bend is famous for—on why we are hitting the road soon and heading to Central Oregon.
Bend, Ore.
Firstly, Bend is known for its easy access to nature; lakes, mountains, forests, deserts, rivers—you name it, Bend has it right there. We want to be more active in our daily lifestyle and we believe that living in Bend can help us answer that call. More specifically, we discovered recently when we visited Bend that the Old Bend Neighborhood is walkable to amenities in the area, including downtown.
We’ve been interested in moving to a walkable neighborhood – ever since we read Walkable City by Jeff Speck – for our social and physical health. We’d like to walk and bike to places in our community, rather than drive. You can see why the Old Bend Neighborhood is such a great, walkable location by viewing this walkscore map of the area (overall walkscore of the neighborhood is 80/100).
Kristin feels a call to return home to her family and the Pacific Northwest after being away for many years. Although Central Oregon is not somewhere Kristin has spent much time, she grew up in the Portland area and is excited about returning to her home state with a new perspective and renewed appreciation for Oregon.
Attention Family Members of Oregon and Washington: More summer weekends at Lake Merwin Camper’s Hideaway, here we come! 🙂
Mike and Kristin in the Pacific Northwest.
This might seem strange (we never said we were normal) but to us, clean air is high on our priority list. Now that we’ve seen the layers of smog and dust engulf parts of Las Vegas on a continual basis, with air action alerts and warnings, we’re seeking cleaner air in our next community. Bend is reported to have very clean air. In fact, if you are curious, you can check your own city and state’s air quality HERE.
Mike, standing in front of Mirror Pond, Bend, Ore.
Anyone who has visited Bend will tell you that Bend is a gorgeous place. The town has idyllic scenery; from the Deschutes River running through town, to the large and gorgeous parks everywhere, the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and the old brick historic buildings all over downtown. Bend, Oregon is charming and beautiful. We felt enamored by its beauty.
Drake Park in Bend.
We love going to community events. Activities like TED Talks, Tower Theater shows, film festivals, dog walks, community volunteer events, beer fests, and art fairs are usually high on our list of things we consider to be a lot of fun. We think these Bend events will keep us entertained for a long while. As an added bonus, we’re hoping we can walk or bike to those once we get a house in a prime location there.
The Old Historic Mill Stacks in Bend OR – Now part of an outdoor shopping mall.
We saw a plethora of local, independent businesses and creative types all over Bend, and especially in the charming and vibrant downtown.
For instance, Mike is super excited about an old-school arcade that serves local beer downtown called Vector Volcano Classic Arcade (plus, can you imagine if we could walk to places like this?). Mike says he wants to have his birthday party there, if we make it to Bend by September. You’re all invited!
The unique shops downtown Bend and all around the area inspired us and made us feel like we were hanging out in an authentic, locals-centered, creative community. There’s a lot ingenuity there, which we love.
Our hearts are in Bend now.
A charming house in old Bend. We’d like to buy one like this.
Like many places around the country, there is an affordable housing crisis in Bend. There clearly needs to be more affordable homes, especially more options to rent, for people who live and work in Bend.
However, in regards to purchasing a house in the Old Bend Neighborhood, we found a few homes that were in our price range, albeit very small and old, but that’s okay with us, since it’s just the two of us and our pets.
As a comparison, when we visited Boulder Co., earlier this year and other places like Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, we were disappointed to realize that we were mostly priced out of those housing markets unless we wanted to get a home that didn’t entirely fit our top needs.
In Bend, we are not priced out of the area we liked. We can get a small bungalow, be able to have a yard for the dog, a backyard BBQ, and still be able to walk to tons of amenities.
Coming from the Las Vegas area, as much as we liked the sun and blue skies, the weather gets old if you get too much of anything without major changes to the seasons throughout the year (that’s how we feel anyway). Bend offers unique seasons and a mix of weather that will keep us stimulated.
During the summers, we can envision taking our Casita travel trailer camping on the weekends. During the winters, we imagine having a fire in the fireplace and drinking hot cocoa while watching the snow flurries fall out the window. However, we admit that we’re a little nervous about how we will tolerate the winters and what it will be like to drive in the snow—we shall see; we’re willing to give it a try.
Standing on a bridge in Bend, Ore.
It’s peculiar how much we craved tater tots from places like the McMenamins Old Saint Francis Pub. We absolutely relished all the food and drink in Bend! (I guess in fairness though, we love food and drink practically everywhere we go. Also, this is another reason we have to walk to more places, because we like going out to eat and drink at delicious restaurants and breweries so much.)
Tater Tots, PNW style.
We enjoy exploring and we’re ready to see what it’s like to live as local Bendites. What’s it like living in a smaller community? What’s it like to live in a place that experiences a winter wonderland? What are the nearby trails and recreation like, the lakes, and the nearby towns, such as Sisters, Oregon? We want to check it all out.
It’s been a valuable, eye-opening adventure living in Southern Nevada these past three years. We will miss the strikingly beautiful Mojave Desert, and most of all, our friends and relatives who live in Nevada.
Nevertheless, As Helen Keller aptly said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.” We agree and so we’re headed to Bend!
Sincerely,
Kristin and Mike
Highway to Hoeftland 