By Living Room Realty, September 5, 2018
“OMG!…O…M…G.”
These are the exclamations of my friends, reacting to the sale of our small, sweet, ugly, love shack in Hood River. It was our first, second home. We thought we would own it forever, but it’s only been two years. I have all the architect’s renderings for the remodel, the plans to turn a plain-jane 50’s ranch into a mid-mod-mini retreat.
So what gives? Are we fickle? Careless spendthrifts who waste hard-earned savings? Possibly, though I hope not.
The Hood River house opened a new chapter for us. We escaped Portland every weekend, making us feel like free-range kids who could do what we pleased, when we pleased. Paddle, hike, bike, golf, ski, eat, sleep and repeat. We were giddy teenagers in love all over again.
But the next thing you know, we wanted more. We wanted more space for family and friends, more space for a backyard plunge pool. More storage for our growing pile of outdoor toys. We also wanted less. Less wind so I could paddle board all the time, less of the cold winter months, less of the grey skies that hold back the arrival of Spring, and less of the rain that turns golf courses into bogs.
As we considered this first-world conundrum, events took a turn. Early this summer we found ourselves in Northern California at a funeral. While saying good-bye to a long-lived family member, we said ‘Hello!’ to a new small town. Like a meet cute in a movie, here it was. More water, less wind. More sun, less winter. Further away, but closer to San Francisco. More affordable homes, less remodeling required. We fell for it, both the more and the less.
So long Hood River. You’ll always be the place we return to—when we can’t escape to our second, second home.
