Wheels on Her Butt

I have always made a joke about the origin of my mobility. I love Road Trips and since retiring have lived in more places than anyone my age should have lived. It's not an isolated trait. As I track my family history for the past couple of generations I find a family that doesn't really stay put for long.

Speaking for my generation (and my experience only) the following will trace the various 'nests' I've lived in.

When my very young parents (16 and 18) were married they built an adobe house on land owned by my dad's sister @  El Tejon in Oildale. It was the first house I have pictures of living in and the adobe still stands today. It is slightly modifed from the original structure but has held up well for 75 years.

For awhile we lived in Highland Park, near Standard School, where I remember something about a white picket fence and Peggy's introduction to cactus needles. 

I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Hatfield in Fairfield the summer before moving to Francis Street. We moved into the little house about the time I started Elementary School 1942 and moved to 1016 Woodrow in Oildale around 1947.

We left Oildale in 1949. Mom and us kids stayed with the Hatfields in Vallejo while dad lived with his brother Ed in Mountain View and found a job working in sheet rock. 6 months later dad found a rental home on Selo Drive and we lived in Sunnyvale beginning in 1950. Peggy and I left home when we got married. Bob went into the Air Force around 1960.

Frank and I moved to Casmalia to work at Vandenburg AFB in 1960-1963. Mom and dad moved into our home on Canyon Road in Los Altos Hills then bought the house at 1010 Linda Drive when we came home to finish up at San Jose State.

In 1965 Frank and I bought the house where Karin was born on Stonebrook in Los Altos Hills.

In 1974 Frank and I separated and I moved to a rental property we owned on Quince Avenue in Sunnyvale then a year later I bought the house on Metler Court in Saratoga.

In 1987 I sold Metler Court and moved to Pollard Road in Los Gatos where I lived until retiring in 1995. From 1995 to 1996 I lived in a 36' RV shuttling between Campbell and Morgan Hill. And in November 1996 I moved to Carole's in Milwaukie, Oregon then to Village on 7th, Vancouver, Washington.

Village on 7th was my home from December 1996 to August 2000 when I took a sabbatical to help as a caregiver for Frank. After returning to Vancouver 9 months later I seemed to be happy until August 2002 when in response to the death of a close friend I made an ill reasoned decision and moved to Dayton, Washington for 9 months. From there I moved to Dayton, Nevada for a year or more before moving back to Autumn Chase in Vancouver, Washington. 

Vancouver was good until 2009. When my lease expired in April I moved to the Arcata Townhouse we'd bought when Karin went to Humboldt State. Karin and I renovated the townhouse where I'd planned to stay put but when Karin married and moved to Sacramento I saw my chance to live in civilization again. Karin and Phil bought the townhouse I now live in here in Citrus Heights.

I don't want to EVER move again. I'm finding it hard to believe I am here for the long term but eventually I will accept reality and settle down properly.

I can satisfy my mobility needs by taking those long road trips that I love as both the meditation opportunity they provide and the adventure of discovery.