City dwelling vs Country living

Traffic in PDX has been steadily increasing especially on the freeways (I5, I84, I205). However, driving the day before Thanksgiving during the busiest travel day of the year is not the best indicator for an average commute within city limits.

With that said, I personally think living in the country is far better than the city if you can manage and afford a reasonable lifestyle.

 

I like living in small towns over "the country" I don't mind living here in Stayton because I'm 15 minutes from Salem (aka place with actual stores) and I can avoid I-5 by taking 213 to connect to I-205 to get to Portland. Takes about an hour.

 

There is no right or wrong to city vs. country living. Only what is right or wrong for each individual. I have known people that got bored looking at a beautiful mountain setting, and was far more comfortable in a shopping mall or night club. That is when I knew I married the wrong woman for me.

For the past 3 years, I have lived in both worlds, city and country. I spend about half my time in my long time home in Vancouver, and the other half at my “cave”. For me, the experiment is over; I have less stress and far more peace of mind in the country. I plan to sell my Vancouver home and move full time to the country. But with most choices in life, there are compromises.

The size of the county where my cave is located (Clearwater Country, Idaho) is one of the largest in the entire USA. The county is larger than some states. However, the entire population is less than 10,000. The little village I am part of only has about 400 people, in the entire zip code. The nearest Wal-mart, McDonalds and Home Depot are a 1 ½ hour drive away, “IF” the roads are clear. You would think supplies are hard to come by, not so, with a little planning.

One day a week we make a trip to the county seat that has decent supplies. We load up on fresh veggies and other items needed, and have a nice restaurant meal. We make a day of it. Then once a month we make the 1 ½ hour drive each way to Wal-mart and other large stores.

But that is not the end of the story. With the internet, we can order many items and have them delivered to our home, often freight free, and at better prices than the big city stores. Then there is a lot of small town sharing. Need eggs, contact the neighbor that raise chickens. The next time they drive by they will deliver farm fresh range chicken eggs to my cave. The freezer is stocked full of fresh elk and venison meat.

I could go on, but remote country living is not that difficult. The biggest problem I have had is with the deer. They keep eating my fruit trees and berry plants. It cost me more than I wanted to put up a high enough fence to keep them out.

Oh, and my cave is really a comfortable stick built home with 3 bedrooms, two baths, large kitchen and large laundry room, all with 6” walls, plus several large out buildings. I call it the cave because it does not have internet, TV, or phone service. Another experiment that taught me much about what I need and what makes me happy. I could have all of those things, but not sure I ever will. My life is so much better without all of the distractions and interruptions. I read/learn instead of watching TV. Communicate via email, I go to the library (on my ATV) a couple of times a week to take care of computer stuff.

I am not going to miss city living, but will miss some of the good people living there. However, they can always visit me in the country, and take my ATV for a drive on the endless trails through some of the most beautiful country in the world, without malls, and NO TRAFFIC.

 

I learned a trick to help solve that....went to the zoo and got some lion manure, spread it around the orchard and the deer won't go near it...I also planted a foraging garden for the deer away outside my garden fence of kale, chard, etc....now they just eat outside the fence and move on

 

I should have checked before posting, Clearwater County is not in the top 100 largest USA counties. Sorry for the exaggeration. I must have been thinking about the county just south of us, Idaho County.

Clearwater County is larger than 2 states. It is about the same size as Connecticut.


Again sorry for my mistake, it was not intentional. And thank you for the friendly tune-up.

 

No shit? I will have to look for some lion scat.

 

Understood, however, I wanted to correct my mistake, and your post helped me find it.

I am trying to do two things on the computer at once, and not doing either very well.

 

ummm, well Freddie's was my preferred store. But they did this just last week, changed the price of my regular prescriptions by 470%. They may say it is for profit reasons, and they did, but
that is just bullshit and I doubt many people would or will stand for a gouge of that magnitude. You may though, if you wish. It was just a heads up.

 

I love Fred Meyers as a store for what they have but they're not even close to competitive in prices to the competition. Just like Market of Choice...good quality but don't look for bargains there.

 

Ah! No need to apologize there OFM. You're message was clear to anyone capable of seeing your image.

 

You can get all the cheap meth you want in the country!

 

When I was shopping for my country home, it was amazing how many homes for sale had been used as meth labs. You could tell by the strong cat like smell they leave behind. If not sure, I would ask the neighbors, they know.

Most of the meth lab houses for sale where repossessed HUD homes the Govt. was trying to dump. Our Govt. can resell their repossessed meth homes without cleaning them up, something a private person or bank can not do. The HUD inspectors and their estimates to repair their homes are a joke. We would go to jail for making a false home condition report the way HUD does.

Once you buy a HUD home, even one used as a meth lab, you are responsible for all repairs. There is no recourse against HUD, you sign that away when you buy the home.

 

I do most of my store brand weekly shopping at Safeway, because the employees at the one by my house are exceptional and friendly. Most Safeways have not been so pleasant. However, I go to a different grocery store for meats that have lots of local farm selections, or a local butcher Blue Valley Meats. As far as produce, I buy some at Andy's Market which is a 7th day adventist owned store that has very good produce, or at a patisserie by my house with a fridge stocked with fresh produce from a local farm that's incredible. You never know what produce will be there on any day, usually about 8-12 choices is all, but the quality is spectacular. Eggs I get either from the butcher, direct from the farm, or from a coworker who has a few chickens at her house. It takes longer to get the different ingredients from all the different locations, but since I never have traffic or travel hassles, I usually enjoy the extra trip to get exactly what I want.

 

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods bro

 

Too many people!

 

Market of Choice!