Launching Retirement/Simplifying Life
What does it take to simplify your life after 50 years of connections to a “normal” lifestyle? I (Roger) have been an officer in the Canadian Navy, a faculty member and dean at a 4 year university college, director of a national office for colleges, a lifelong sailor, hiker, biker and sports enthusiast. My wife (Marie-Claire) has been a homemaker, executive secretary, coordinator of a national programme for colleges, teacher and owner of 4 Montessori bilingual pre-schools and owner of a health sciences marketing business.
It is a huge job that took 5 years to downsize in housing from a large home on a ravine leading to the ocean, to a small rental property with an ocean view, and finally to a 70’ sailboat in British Columbia (BC), Canada, a small motorhome in Europe, and a 1996 (250,000 km) Dodge Caravan (with a bed in the back) to get from the west to east coast of North America and back each year as we travel between BC and New York enroute to and from Europe.
The last 5 months have been a round of activities that never seemed to end – bank accounts, bill paying arrangements, travel insurance, pension arrangements, social engagements, helping one daughter and her family move and assisting a few days in the beginning of their renovations, moving out of our last house, a “final” downsizing (does it ever end?) moving aboard the boat in mid-July, winterizing the boat, moving to the van at the end of September and finally bright and early on the morning of 5 October (4 days behind schedule) driving away from our daughter and son-in-law’s partially renovated house, the family standing in the driveway in their pyjamas, everyone shedding a few tears.
So, here we are, retired, no more meetings, schedules or appointments – save needing to be aboard the Queen Mary 11 in New York on 5 November. The general plan is to zip through Washington state on I-5, turn right at Portland, Oregon on Hwy. 26 and left at Cannon Beach on historic Highway 101 along the Oregon and California coast, turning left at San Francisco and following a temperate route to New York City. Mid-November to mid-March we’ll spend land –cruising in southern France and maybe Spain, Portugal and Italy. No itinerary – we’ll stay as long as we like in any one location – we’re not trying to “do Europe” in 6 months. In late March or April we’ll follow a similar route back to BC, spend 6 months on the boat up and down the coast of BC then back to Europe for more land-cruising.
We’ll sleep in state campgrounds as much as possible, on the way to New York, eat breakfast at the campsite, have a picnic lunch along the way, stop by 2 or 3 pm, explore, have a light supper, read for a couple of hours in the front seats of the van, move our 6 months of luggage for Europe from the bed in the back of the van to the dashboard and front seats, jump in our lovely bed and fall asleep to the sound of the surf, wind in the trees, and on occasion probably highway noise.
Day 1 - White Rock to Cannon Beach
Have you ever wondered what questions you’ll be asked at the border? We’ve got a 6 month supply of USANA supplements, health bars and protein powders for breakfast drinks, not to mention household knives, garlic presses and corkscrews (is that like carrying coals to Newcastle?) Our imagination ran rampant: "So, sir, what are all these drugs, why do you have so many and what are all these cans of brown and white powders?" What actually happened a the US border? “Hi, where are you going?” “New York via San Francisco, and then on to Europe.” “How long will you be gone?” “Six months.” “Have a nice day.” 99% of what you worry about will never happen – so why worry?
An uneventful trip down the I-5, a stop in Portland to check on any problems with Highway 26 and then on to Cannon Beach. 8 hours and 600 km later we arrive in Cannon Beach and get a campsite ½ hour south at the beautiful Nehalem Bay State Park, behind the sand dunes that front the beach on the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon State Parks on Hwy 101 are invariably beautiful, clean and well organized and still a reasonable price at $16-$17 dollars a night with electricity ($13 for a tent site with no electricity). We opt for electricity since we want to read at night and use a small electric heater in the evening and in the morning since it gets down to about 6 Celsius overnight. We have a small electric blender to mix our breakfast drinks, and a small electric kettle to boil water. Our plan is to keep it simple and light. Marie-Claire didn’t even want curtains for sleeping in the van.
But too simple didn’t seem too good after Marie-Claire saw how exposed we would be in bed. So it was back to Cannon Beach for some clothes line, safety pins and 5 beach towels to make curtains.
Back at the campsite after dark we read for an hour in the van, then stuffed all our excess luggage on the dashboard and on the front seats – two large backpacks and 2 large duffel bags, a few miscellaneous bags and boxes. And off to sleep with the sound of surf in the background. Will this be the night of the Tsunami?
Day 2 Cannon Beach to Lincoln City
It wasn’t a Tsunami, but after a beautiful sunny day it rained in the night and was still raining in the morning. Stuffing luggage in the front seats and on the dashboard was getting stale very quickly. Maybe we had tried to be too simple. Ah well, put up the tarp, draped over the hatchback door at the rear of the van, whip up the breakfast drinks, and Marie-Claire’s coffee and the hit the road. But wait a minute – our favourite Cannon Beach restaurant, the Lazy Susan, was closed last night. Can we actually go on without a fix of Lazy Susan quiche? I think not. So back to the Lazy Susan, an excellent quiche, and a serious discussion about the meaning of simplicity. The outcome, a redefinition of simplicity will now include a roof-top, lockable carrier for that excess 6 months of clothes, supplements and breakfast food for Europe, and tent pegs to be able to actually set up the tarp in the event that we see more rain.
The tent pegs were easy – Fred Meyer stores are all over the place and they have almost everything you could ever need ( and clean, free restrooms – why do they call them restrooms, the last thing I want to do there is rest). But they don’t have lockable, water-tight roof-top carriers.
The Oregon coast is beautiful. Part of the beauty is no large cities and no giant shopping centers. Let’s try Tillamook – it looks a little larger on the map. Fred Meyer’s is no help but they suggest 3 auto parts stores and Tillamook Sporting Goods. The auto parts stores can get something for $500-$600 in about a week. Well that’s not very simple. But if you ever pass through Tillamook and want to get a feel for the real Oregon hunting and fishing folk drop in to Tillamook Sporting Goods. Real guns, fake guns, reels, rods, bait, camping gear (including a king-size sleeping bag for 2 or 3 or more, AND one last lockable, water-tight roof-top carrier. Now they’ve had this in stock a long time, it’s high up on a shelve and covered in dust. Marie-Claire, ever the business lady, says –what about a discount? Sure enough, a discount and we’re in business.
Out to the parking lot – how hard can it be to install this? It already has all the holes and different fasteners for different applications. 40 minutes later it becomes abundantly clear that for a Dodge Caravan roof-rack we need two more holes. Our boat has lots of tools including 2 drills and hundreds of bits of different sizes. But in the van we’re travelling simply, right? Surely Tillamook Sporting Goods, the store with everything for the self-reliant fisher and hunter will have a drill and bits we can borrow. Actually they don’t, but they suggest we try the muffler shop behind Subway. Of course why didn’t we think of that? Sandwiches and mufflers always go together.
In this case did we ever luck out. A fully equipped shop with no customers when we arrive and a really nice owner who’s only too willing to help. But he’s screwed up his neck and we’ll have to do it ourselves. He provides a step ladder, portable electric drill and the ¼” bit we need. Drill, drill, hammer, hammer. The attachments fit – tighten them up. “How much do we owe you for the use of your tools?” “Are you kidding, all I did was supervise, you did all the work. I’m glad to help out.” If you’re ever in Tillamook and need a muffler, he’s right there behind the Subway.
SO now we're decked out with bath towel curtains and our carrier. Remember when simple and camping meant a small tent, an axe, some matches and the ocassional post card home to your mother?
Hit the road again, stopping every 10 miles to make sure that our spiffy, new lockable, water-tight roof-top carrier is still there – that the holes haven’t opened up and we haven’t deposited all our European luggage, food and supplements somewhere along historic highway 101.
No problem; we make it to Devil’s Lake State Park in Lincoln City with an hour of daylight to spare. Happy that our “simple” lockable, water-tight roof top carrier now has all the excess stuff out of the van, our lovely designer “curtains” are in place and all is right with the world. Being a bit behind schedule we decide to treat ourselves to supper out. Roger remembers a funky looking Mexican restaurant back in town so we cruise back through the town and stop at the little fake brick restaurant in the picture (La Hacienda?). Excellent salsa, probably the best we’ve had in any restaurant – they make it from scratch: Roger had an outstanding pollo al moele, and Marie-Claire a succulent pork chilli in a green sauce – all for $18. Check it out when you drive through Lincoln City.
What does it take to simplify your life after 50 years of connections to a “normal” lifestyle? I (Roger) have been an officer in the Canadian Navy, a faculty member and dean at a 4 year university college, director of a national office for colleges, a lifelong sailor, hiker, biker and sports enthusiast. My wife (Marie-Claire) has been a homemaker, executive secretary, coordinator of a national programme for colleges, teacher and owner of 4 Montessori bilingual pre-schools and owner of a health sciences marketing business.
It is a huge job that took 5 years to downsize in housing from a large home on a ravine leading to the ocean, to a small rental property with an ocean view, and finally to a 70’ sailboat in British Columbia (BC), Canada, a small motorhome in Europe, and a 1996 (250,000 km) Dodge Caravan (with a bed in the back) to get from the west to east coast of North America and back each year as we travel between BC and New York enroute to and from Europe.
The last 5 months have been a round of activities that never seemed to end – bank accounts, bill paying arrangements, travel insurance, pension arrangements, social engagements, helping one daughter and her family move and assisting a few days in the beginning of their renovations, moving out of our last house, a “final” downsizing (does it ever end?) moving aboard the boat in mid-July, winterizing the boat, moving to the van at the end of September and finally bright and early on the morning of 5 October (4 days behind schedule) driving away from our daughter and son-in-law’s partially renovated house, the family standing in the driveway in their pyjamas, everyone shedding a few tears.
So, here we are, retired, no more meetings, schedules or appointments – save needing to be aboard the Queen Mary 11 in New York on 5 November. The general plan is to zip through Washington state on I-5, turn right at Portland, Oregon on Hwy. 26 and left at Cannon Beach on historic Highway 101 along the Oregon and California coast, turning left at San Francisco and following a temperate route to New York City. Mid-November to mid-March we’ll spend land –cruising in southern France and maybe Spain, Portugal and Italy. No itinerary – we’ll stay as long as we like in any one location – we’re not trying to “do Europe” in 6 months. In late March or April we’ll follow a similar route back to BC, spend 6 months on the boat up and down the coast of BC then back to Europe for more land-cruising.
We’ll sleep in state campgrounds as much as possible, on the way to New York, eat breakfast at the campsite, have a picnic lunch along the way, stop by 2 or 3 pm, explore, have a light supper, read for a couple of hours in the front seats of the van, move our 6 months of luggage for Europe from the bed in the back of the van to the dashboard and front seats, jump in our lovely bed and fall asleep to the sound of the surf, wind in the trees, and on occasion probably highway noise.
Day 1 - White Rock to Cannon Beach
Have you ever wondered what questions you’ll be asked at the border? We’ve got a 6 month supply of USANA supplements, health bars and protein powders for breakfast drinks, not to mention household knives, garlic presses and corkscrews (is that like carrying coals to Newcastle?) Our imagination ran rampant: "So, sir, what are all these drugs, why do you have so many and what are all these cans of brown and white powders?" What actually happened a the US border? “Hi, where are you going?” “New York via San Francisco, and then on to Europe.” “How long will you be gone?” “Six months.” “Have a nice day.” 99% of what you worry about will never happen – so why worry?
An uneventful trip down the I-5, a stop in Portland to check on any problems with Highway 26 and then on to Cannon Beach. 8 hours and 600 km later we arrive in Cannon Beach and get a campsite ½ hour south at the beautiful Nehalem Bay State Park, behind the sand dunes that front the beach on the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon State Parks on Hwy 101 are invariably beautiful, clean and well organized and still a reasonable price at $16-$17 dollars a night with electricity ($13 for a tent site with no electricity). We opt for electricity since we want to read at night and use a small electric heater in the evening and in the morning since it gets down to about 6 Celsius overnight. We have a small electric blender to mix our breakfast drinks, and a small electric kettle to boil water. Our plan is to keep it simple and light. Marie-Claire didn’t even want curtains for sleeping in the van.
But too simple didn’t seem too good after Marie-Claire saw how exposed we would be in bed. So it was back to Cannon Beach for some clothes line, safety pins and 5 beach towels to make curtains.
Back at the campsite after dark we read for an hour in the van, then stuffed all our excess luggage on the dashboard and on the front seats – two large backpacks and 2 large duffel bags, a few miscellaneous bags and boxes. And off to sleep with the sound of surf in the background. Will this be the night of the Tsunami?
Day 2 Cannon Beach to Lincoln City
It wasn’t a Tsunami, but after a beautiful sunny day it rained in the night and was still raining in the morning. Stuffing luggage in the front seats and on the dashboard was getting stale very quickly. Maybe we had tried to be too simple. Ah well, put up the tarp, draped over the hatchback door at the rear of the van, whip up the breakfast drinks, and Marie-Claire’s coffee and the hit the road. But wait a minute – our favourite Cannon Beach restaurant, the Lazy Susan, was closed last night. Can we actually go on without a fix of Lazy Susan quiche? I think not. So back to the Lazy Susan, an excellent quiche, and a serious discussion about the meaning of simplicity. The outcome, a redefinition of simplicity will now include a roof-top, lockable carrier for that excess 6 months of clothes, supplements and breakfast food for Europe, and tent pegs to be able to actually set up the tarp in the event that we see more rain.
The tent pegs were easy – Fred Meyer stores are all over the place and they have almost everything you could ever need ( and clean, free restrooms – why do they call them restrooms, the last thing I want to do there is rest). But they don’t have lockable, water-tight roof-top carriers.
The Oregon coast is beautiful. Part of the beauty is no large cities and no giant shopping centers. Let’s try Tillamook – it looks a little larger on the map. Fred Meyer’s is no help but they suggest 3 auto parts stores and Tillamook Sporting Goods. The auto parts stores can get something for $500-$600 in about a week. Well that’s not very simple. But if you ever pass through Tillamook and want to get a feel for the real Oregon hunting and fishing folk drop in to Tillamook Sporting Goods. Real guns, fake guns, reels, rods, bait, camping gear (including a king-size sleeping bag for 2 or 3 or more, AND one last lockable, water-tight roof-top carrier. Now they’ve had this in stock a long time, it’s high up on a shelve and covered in dust. Marie-Claire, ever the business lady, says –what about a discount? Sure enough, a discount and we’re in business.
Out to the parking lot – how hard can it be to install this? It already has all the holes and different fasteners for different applications. 40 minutes later it becomes abundantly clear that for a Dodge Caravan roof-rack we need two more holes. Our boat has lots of tools including 2 drills and hundreds of bits of different sizes. But in the van we’re travelling simply, right? Surely Tillamook Sporting Goods, the store with everything for the self-reliant fisher and hunter will have a drill and bits we can borrow. Actually they don’t, but they suggest we try the muffler shop behind Subway. Of course why didn’t we think of that? Sandwiches and mufflers always go together.
In this case did we ever luck out. A fully equipped shop with no customers when we arrive and a really nice owner who’s only too willing to help. But he’s screwed up his neck and we’ll have to do it ourselves. He provides a step ladder, portable electric drill and the ¼” bit we need. Drill, drill, hammer, hammer. The attachments fit – tighten them up. “How much do we owe you for the use of your tools?” “Are you kidding, all I did was supervise, you did all the work. I’m glad to help out.” If you’re ever in Tillamook and need a muffler, he’s right there behind the Subway.
SO now we're decked out with bath towel curtains and our carrier. Remember when simple and camping meant a small tent, an axe, some matches and the ocassional post card home to your mother?Hit the road again, stopping every 10 miles to make sure that our spiffy, new lockable, water-tight roof-top carrier is still there – that the holes haven’t opened up and we haven’t deposited all our European luggage, food and supplements somewhere along historic highway 101.
No problem; we make it to Devil’s Lake State Park in Lincoln City with an hour of daylight to spare. Happy that our “simple” lockable, water-tight roof top carrier now has all the excess stuff out of the van, our lovely designer “curtains” are in place and all is right with the world. Being a bit behind schedule we decide to treat ourselves to supper out. Roger remembers a funky looking Mexican restaurant back in town so we cruise back through the town and stop at the little fake brick restaurant in the picture (La Hacienda?). Excellent salsa, probably the best we’ve had in any restaurant – they make it from scratch: Roger had an outstanding pollo al moele, and Marie-Claire a succulent pork chilli in a green sauce – all for $18. Check it out when you drive through Lincoln City.
posted by Retired and on the Move | 12:17 PM
1 Comments:
Hi MC & Roger
Looks like you are having a wonderful time. Very interesting and informative narration. Just got back from our trip with a month of beautiful weather to storms here in Vancouver. Oh well we had a fabulous trip.
When I get pictures organized will send some to you.
Take care
Love
Carol
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