What About Virginia?

 

Most days and evenings as we sit by the bay, there is a solitary male loon who keeps himself busy with diving and fishing. This must be his home for he rarely strays from in front of us and he doesn’t often call either. 

This place is a bird watchers Mecca, especially the raptors. We daily see numerous osprey dipping, coming up with small bait fish gripped in wicked talons, flapping over our heads and off to the pine treetops. There are other types of hawks and one bald eagle, diver ducks, gulls, terns, and inland, songbirds. They twitter and sing all day long. In between watching all the bird life, we watch the plethora of boats and ships. Container ships, ferries, fishing boats, go-fast pleasure boats, sailboats and very occasionally, a brave kayaker. We are on the open bay side of Gwynn’s Island and with the windy conditions, it often gets rough. We have become used to it booming right beside us at night, lulling us to sleep. 

Every morning at 6 a.m. as we enjoy beautiful sunrises, a couple of fishermen work a gill net line, which is strung parallel to shore for about a half mile length. Twice, we have watched pods of dolphins also swimming along the line to harvest any leftovers. This bay is alive with life but is still in recuperation mode from being highly polluted decades ago. It is well used and well loved by those who live, work, and play here. Me too; I am in love with it and hate to leave. We highly enjoy the seafood we have splurged on: fresh oysters we barbecue accompanied with cold beer, and another meal of delicious grouper. 

It was a long way to get here; many boring freeway miles and ad hoc camping every night. The first two nights were OK at an Illinois state park and the next at an Indiana state park but the third night in West Virginia was nearly a disaster. 

Nothing was yet open in that state despite it being around 70 degrees and we finally found a small camping sign which we followed down a narrow road. Committed, we saw a tunnel up ahead gored out of solid rock with height restrictions of 10 feet along the sides and 14 feet in the middle. The problem was, the tunnel was dark and unlit and it wasn’t apparent until we were in it that along with the roadway, there was also power lines and a creek running through the tunnel! There was a narrow path of paving with a footing wall so people didn’t drive off into the creek which Marc had to crowd within inches. We heard noise at the end and thought for sure we had lost our a/c unit so stopped to check. It turned out to be our jack stand levers which had scraped the knee wall. 

 After two miles of skinny, winding road we came to the dreaded metal arm in down position at the “campground closed” sign. Marc parked and started walking up the continuing road, hopeful for any kind of wide spot. Thankfully, he met some locals who indicated it was national forest land and there was a small parking lot by a creek just up the way. It became camp for the night and we weren’t bothered and were too tired by then to go any farther even if we were. Marc said there was no way he was attempting that tunnel again in the dark! 

This all came on the heels of a miserable day traversing West Virginia. Hoping to avoid the toll freeway, Marc decided on the old Hwy. 60 which for a time paralleled the freeway. The map indicated it was a state route but it looked very curvy to me. Yes indeed. It took hours of twists and turns as we climbed hair-raising cliffsides with thousand-foot drop-offs. It ended up delaying us mightily so my suggestion is to never take an RV over Hwy. 60 in WV! Actually, we have never been impressed with WV and have decided to try and avoid it in the future as much as possible. Camping is impossible there, the roads are miserable, and much of the countryside scenery filled with abject signs of poverty and desolation. Home yards were filled with the detritus of an entire lifetime worth of junk, dead vehicles, trash and peeling paint. It made us so thankful to be living in a clean, relatively prosperous state like WI. Returning home, we do have to route through WV but have done so to avoid having to spend the night there.

Here on Gwynn’s Island our weather has mostly been favorable. Like any marine climate, which we love, it will often be still, sunny, and calm during morning hours, then showery and windy in the afternoon. We enjoyed our new screen tent, which can seal out much of the wind; and especially had a wonderful time visiting with Marc’s sister there as we listened to the waves. It was the first time they have seen each other in ten years and it was her birthday and she loved the cutting board Marc had made for her.

We’ve gotten to know this area fairly well in a short period of time. It’s rural on one hand, yet strangely busy on the other—lots of traffic as compared to WI and the roads are insanely narrow. They believe in saving asphalt here I guess, as there are no shoulders whatsoever on back roads, plus both sides are lined with deep culverts to accommodate the runoff and tidal waters of this low-lying country. There is no where to turn off, no where to pull over in an emergency and with each oncoming car you just hope to hell the driver isn’t texting on his phone. For the amount of traffic, the roads are a total incongruity.

We looked at some interesting property and some losers. My favorite was an acre+ piece near to Gloucester and close to the York River. It had all utilities at the road, including high speed cable (internet access here is very spotty), a must have for us, was level and usable with great soil.

We looked at a four acre wooded piece with huge trees.

We also looked at a couple of two-acre parcels on the island (I could really dig living on the island!) but found the alternative septic system required would be extremely costly at around $30,000, making the low-cost lot not so attractive. We figure out that anything directly waterfront is too expensive for us. The climate and countryside are attractive to me and I could live here, but truth be told, nothing here save having the ocean close, is as good as what we have in Wisconsin. Which presents a conundrum doesn’t it?

 It’s a huge decision and one which may have to wait for a time to percolate. Meantime, when we arrive home, we’re going to be able to pay off our mortgage entirely—a major step we worked hard towards for the past six years since it was built. The relief that comes with having a free and clear new home may just have us remain. 

With each passing day, the pundits seem to express more doom and gloom about the forthcoming economy and the real possibility of runaway inflation, which of course hits retired people very hard. Lumber and building pricing are at an all time high, making building affordably an impossibility; best not even contemplated right now. Times are just too uncertain—take the bird in the hand, the patch of green grass that is already ours and be thankful we have it as a safe haven. Marc will be returning to work out of state on another large assisted living facility; more on that next time. 

Here’s some further pictures of our explorations, including some old-time sea captain homes in the small town of Reedville, where the road ends and the ocean beckons. Gracious volunteers welcomed us at a closed boat museum which wasn’t opening until May 1. They had built a replica of the boat used by John Smith in the Jamestown founding of America, which had later been used in movies, so they were quite proud! (The last pic).

Unknown birds loudly chirped and sang; the water was tranquil and the overall feeling was one of total peace if one lived here.  Virginia sports some magnificent old mansions and housing stock (it’s quite common for homes to date from the early to mid-1800’s, some even the 1700’s), but mixed in are old and abandoned vine covered dilapidated shacks and very rusted out single wide trailers. People are friendly and many speak with a southern accent. Flying the confederate flag here is more than a little popular. 

Finally, our stay at the RV park on Gwynn’s Island was a treat. It is filled with mostly seasonal RVs and park models, whose owners come only on weekends for the most part. During the week it remained quiet, but we had very poor WIFI and cell service, despite the fact there is high speed on the island. Our spot was particularly delightful as it’s on the end and our slide picture windows looked right out at ocean 30 feet away over the rock jetty. We couldn’t have asked for a better site for ocean-lovers. It’s expensive, as all commercial RV parks are now, but for a blowout vacation, well worth it for the location.

(The swing bridge to the island)

We decided upon a different return route, which took us through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in VA, a portion of Maryland (who knew Maryland was mountainous?), just a smidgen of WV (Wheeling), Pennsylvania and Ohio and then back on our original route through Indiana and Illinois. We were totally exhausted by the time we got home (I hate back-to-back long travel days) but it was reassuring to get home and note how happy the cats were to be home; I swear they were all wearing grins.

 

Contemplating Change: Over Wisconsin?

 It took about three weeks after my fall for my worst achy parts to mitigate their painful moves. I now understand better how falls are so devastating to older  people. 

I love Wisconsin; actually, we both do. We enjoy the laid-back lifestyle, the people, the ruralness of almost the entire state, the quirkiness of the culture, the low cost of living. I do enjoy the change of seasons and I don’t mind the depth of the cold, but something that is bothering me more and more is the length of the winters. It’s still tolerable now, but what about as we age? Being shut in due to the pandemic has only magnified the feeling. 

Marc complains that I just like to move every so often, and he likely has me there! My grass is always greener somewhere else. I have learned there is no perfect place though; there is probably going to be a season which will be uncomfortable—too hot or too cold. The question now becomes is there a shorter uncomfortable season somewhere? 

When one is doing research on places to retire to, it seems like with so many states there should be numerous ones that could jump out as “potentials”. That’s what it was like for me when I started delving in to real estate cost, sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes, DMV fees, utility costs and all the other costs associated with maintaining life in an area. That only covers the practical considerations and doesn’t address the more esoteric things like lifestyle, climate, ambiance of the scenery, recreational activities, proximity of good health care, and lastly, decent people we may have something in common with. 

So, as I go through the process with several states that seem to be popular with the Boomer retirement crowd, I find I am whittling the list down rapidly. One driving factor for us is preferring to be by major water bodies or an ocean yet still finding affordable property. The two don’t seem to go hand in hand in very many locales. And no, Florida is not in contention! Actually, anything too southern is not in the running for us; it’s just too hot and humid for our tastes. The southwest is too arid and hot and I suspect may experience severe draught and water shortages in the near-term future, which won’t bode well for its millions of residents. Not someplace we want to have our worldly wealth tied to either, in the event of catastrophic water problems. The recent political problems and the astronomical real estate prices in the PNW and west, definitely rule out that swath of the country. Actually, real estate pricing is just a runaway train right now in any location it seems. 

We thought about Maine for a long time but then wondered, other than the ocean, why exchange one wintery location for another just the same? One consideration is that our daughter and son-in-law just moved near Greenville, SC and I figure being somewhat close to them in future years as we age could be of benefit. But after looking at SC and NC, neither one really appealed to me and were much more expensive than I had suspected. 

A place I keep bouncing back to is the area near Williamsburg, VA where we spent about a five-week stint in back in ’12. Across to the middle peninsula via toll bridge from York is the very historic Gloucester County, first settled in the early 1600’s. The area is rural; farming and fishing based, yet has excellent proximity to water recreation, good shopping and medical care. Bare land parcels are fairly reasonable in price considering they can be so close to the ocean. We’ve decided it deserves a closer look again so we made reservations for two weeks at a shoreside campground in April. Maybe that will answer some questions. 

The one major hurdle to VA is the personal property tax there, which is punitive to newer vehicles since it goes as a percentage of value. It is somewhat offset however, by extremely low real estate property taxes (as compared to WI). I just have to keep reminding myself that there is no free lunch; you pay one way or another. VA is also much more densely populated but in this corner of the world outside of the hustle of big cities I don’t think it would be noticed too much. Where we would notice it would be in comparing outdoor recreation—it would take long driving days to get to any remote wilderness camping like we can experience in the Upper Peninsula living here. On the other hand, it would allow Marc to do his favorite activities of harvesting seafood, kayaking, and fishing only minutes away. And there could be new types of recreation in visiting and touring all the historical attractions, including visiting all of DC’s offerings. 

Looming as the biggest concern of all, is do we have it in us to build another place from scratch? Even the thought at our age is extremely daunting. We have the rough outline of what we want. Marc wants a large pole barn type shop where all his stuff and the vehicles can be safely tucked away out of sight. I want a very small cottage style home ranging 700 to no more than 1000 square feet. This will work best for that final home which should allow us to age in place for as long as possible, require minimal maintenance and upkeep, and be low on utilities and taxes. As a last resort if we are not capable of an entire build, we could always place a manufactured home and have someone build Marc a pole barn shell which he could finish out as he desired. 

I’ll update the blog on vacation if we have internet or sometime after arrival back home to keep you apprised of our thoughts! Here’s our new better built screen room we’ll be taking along…

 

Let the Demo Begin

 At some point this winter it dawned on Marc that the old Travel Supreme contained lots of useful real maple wood for his various projects. He's virtually been using it as a free lumber store as he's robbed the veneer sheets and drawers and drawer faces for his basement workshop. It may all look a hodgepodge but he swears it brings better order to his mania! In addition to the storage, he has worked tirelessly to get his dust collection system operative and that has helped to finally mitigate the flying dust upstairs and also eased his ability to breathe downstairs. 

The Travel Supreme meantime, now looks a total mess. Once we have all the interior parts scavenged, we should be able to get the exterior sawn into small pieces and hauled to the dump at some point this summer. The major portion then remaining will be the frame and axles which we'll sell. 

Wisconsin has certainly partaken of the ice box temperatures affecting much of the rest of the nation this month. We've had many -35 degree nights and days not reaching even double digits. We often don't even leave the house for a week at a time. 

Part of the reason for that however, is also because I suffered a bad fall on the ice one day. We were out delivering auction items to the winners of the Humane Society online auction, when both hands full of bags, I stepped on clear ice on the cement walkway and watched in horror as my feet flew up in front of my face and down I went flat on my back and tailbone. Writhing in extreme pain, I screamed for Marc as I couldn't even catch my breath, let alone get myself up. 

I'm pretty sure I suffered a concussion, my wrist was badly sprained, elbows bruised, chest muscles torn apart, and tailbone prevented barely any movement. I was a mess and couldn't move for nearly two days. Things are improving but very slowly, particularly the tailbone and wrist. I had an xray of the wrist and it's not broken but it still remains weak and badly swollen and it's been almost two weeks. Naturally it's my dominant hand. The only saving grace is that all of the items Marc and I contributed to the auction, including his birdhouses, brought in $416 to the shelter so that part was very heartwarming and worthwhile. 

It may be time for a re-evaluation around here. We love Wisconsin, but is it a good choice for a "forever" home?

Happy Holidays!

 

Here's hoping everyone finds a little joy and peace this holiday season! Let's look ahead to a new and better year....

Going to the Dark Side

 

Ah, the winter of our discontent continues, stuck inside by Covid protocol, even if not by winter weather.

Any time that happens, I seem to move to thoughts of rearranging furniture or changing things up. I’ve often heard it said if one chooses to go bold with décor do it in a small room where the impact either won’t be huge or is easily changed. To that end, I decided to paint my small half bath off our master bedroom. Yes, I know; who in this day and age only has a half bath rather than a sumptuous spa master loaded with deep soaking tub, clear frameless tiled walk-in shower, two sinks, furniture-like linen closet and window which looks out to some garden oasis? I spend very little time in the bathroom so a fancy one has very little priority in my life. This house was built on a strict budget with the idea we don’t need that much space, but as we age, we will need low utility bills, lower taxes, low maintenance and low upkeep. The last thing I want to do in my 70’s and 80’s is clean a huge house!

So, my tiny half bath went from a mild pastel aqua and seashore décor to a deep charcoal grey/brown with white ceiling and cabinetry. And man, does it now pop! I love the change! See for yourself.

Decor is yet to be determined and I need to replace the aqua paisley rug to something more suitable. It's strange that the dark color actually accentuated the tall ceiling even more (we have nine foot ceilings). Starting with the color choice:

No turning back now:

It's not all been about me remodeling either! Marc's been hard at work on several projects at once. He finally decided to move forward with building our pantry off our hallway, which sits over the basement stairwell. And while he was at it, he got busy enclosing the stairs with a backplate and completed the sheetrock, taping and mudding of the stairwell. He still needs to build a faceplate and doors for the pantry but we are already using it and it is so much handier than running down into the basement all the time. 

The Humane Society that I volunteer for has had a tough time this year with its fundraising activities, since all major events have been cancelled, so we brainstorm every month via Zoom as to what we can do instead. Coming up in January will be a large online auction of craft items, to which I will be donating many of my handmade items: jewelry, fabric baskets, and art quilts. I suggested Marc join in with his handmade bird houses, which he makes out of all his scrap lumber. 

Still needing to add more to our yard, he literally started a production line of bird houses and has had fun embellishing them. We will be donating three to the shelter cause, two of which will be his cork creations. I made a joke to him one day: "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You've gone from building 100,000 square foot assisted living facilities to bird houses!" Ain't life a bitch sometimes.