Home Base and Jordie’s Accident

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

When we moved into our site at Woodland we only paid for one night because we weren’t quite sure what the next day would bring.  We figured we’d probably need two nights but for a change, we didn’t pay for two.  This is what happened.

Can you imagine hauling groceries up 3 flights of stairs .... or, you could just eat out and not bother.

Monday morning we were supposed to be at our daughter’s new apartment in Vancouver.  The moving truck with all their belongings was scheduled to arrive between 8 AM and 10 AM.  That’s the time frame she was given.  We figured we’d probably need one more night at the RV park as we were sure we wouldn’t be able to get it all done by check-out time.  However, just maybe that might happen so we didn’t pay.  Usually we pay in advance for all the nights we think we might need and then leave early.   That’s  not the way we want it to work.



Citronella bucket we bought at the festival for Tammi's birthday gift.



A phone call was received close to 8:30.  Evidently, the moving truck broke down in South Dakota on Saturday.  I’m sure you know what that meant.  There was not going to be a delivery that day or for several days afterwards. Oops!  Thanks for the notice, Atlas.  However, in the end ... it worked out best.

Lots of twins this year.

Next stop … back to the motorhome.  It doesn’t take long to get that thing ready to move anymore.  We were closed up and on our way to our property just a few miles away.

Just the small pile of the gravel we had delivered.  There were more piles.  Want to help?

There certainly is a lot of work to do when you only visit once or twice a year.  The 4 yards of gravel needed to be moved, dust and debris needed to be cleaned up but at least the deer were happy to see us.

Home Base

We settled in and started doing what we needed to do.  The place looks a lot better today but we still have a couple yards of gravel to finish spreading.  Tammi came out and helped spread.  Jordan volunteered but we figured we’d try to get her to help a little when she a few of her friends showed up on the weekend to spend a few days with us.  Well, we know they aren’t really coming to spend the time with us.  We do know that.  Don’t we?  And, they aren’t staying in the motorhome with us.  We got the cots out for the cabin.  The only thing left to do is go grocery shopping.  We know they aren’t bringing their own food.  Teenagers don’t do that.

Out our window ... Bambi wants to know where the wet cob is.

Tuesday we worked most of the day.  It actually felt good.  It was a little physical labor but no stress.  This place is so nice and peaceful during the week.  There are no trains, no freeways and very few people around.  However, on the weekends it can get pretty crazy as a lot of folks from the city bring their boats and want to party.

Boy, did we ever need a nap after all that work …. and, then, the phone rang.  “Have you talked to my husband?  Jordie’s been in an accident!”  We don’t like those phone calls.  I was out of that bed with shoes on and ready to head back into town in no time.

The frame was definitely sprung.

The good thing is that no one was hurt.  However, the bad thing is that  both cars were totaled.   Jordie’s fine but she has only had her license for a short few weeks and may not be driving for a while.  She’s safe and that’s what’s most important.  (We later found out the estimate to repair her car would be $10K ... the car wasn't worth that much so they totaled it.)

The airbags worked in both vehicles.

It must have been the day for accidents.  On the way back to the motorhome, there was another big one and the whole road was shut down.  These people weren’t so lucky.

-- August 16th

Assisted Living in an RV

More often than not when we think of day care, we think of minors needing adult supervision  while parents work but there are other day care facilities.  Some Pet Smart stores offer doggie day care.  Many local senior centers offer day care services for older adults when other family members are not available.

Over the last few weeks I’ve become more and more familiar with day cares and assisted living facilities.  Some of these facilities are called active living or  retirement centers.   They are intended to provide some services that aging individuals don’t want to do or cannot do any longer.   The idea is that as a person becomes older their needs may continue to change.   They may move in originally looking only for a safe place to live  and three hot meals a day knowing that there are other services  available if they ever need them.  

These assisted living centers offer the basics of an apartment and board along with lots of activities, companionship and even some housekeeping services.  The fee?  Well, it can certainly be very expensive especially since many resemble  all-inclusive resorts.  The more the services needed, the more the price goes up from the beginning monthly fee. 

My brother had decided it was time for him to search out an assisted living center.  Thus, I’ve done a little homework and visited a few homes in the area.  His needs aren’t many at this time but six months from now he’s afraid he may need more.  Once our body starts going downhill, it can really go downhill.  This has been the case with him since an automobile accident he was in last year.  A few months ago he was soaking up the winter sunshine in his Class A motorhome while parked with other snowbirds in Yuma.  Now he needs the stability of a walker and has difficulty shopping and cooking for himself.  The answer … an assisted living home where he would receive light housekeeping and three hot meals a day.  Costs for a small one-bedroom apartment in the Portland area at one of these places is pretty expensive.  

Many of the homes offer employees a commission when new residents move in.  The problem with this is that the employees have no training in available Medicare, Medicaid or VA programs.  It’s not that they need the training unless they use it as a tool to obtain those new residents.  However, some of them do.  We discovered that aging seniors are sometimes “pre-qualified” or “pre-approved” for financial help that actually is not available or they do not qualify for.   In the meantime, contracts are signed by the prospective new tenant, the move-in occurs but the additional funds do not come.  This is what happened to “brother”.  However, in this case we did find a solution and will be moving him into his new home this week. 

 

If he had been in Texas, it would have been easy.  There they have an alternative for RV’ers looking for a little assistance and still remaining in their RV at a much lower cost.  The Escapee Care Center is in Livingston, Texas  and it offers assisted living alternatives for its Escapee members.  I had heard about it before but never really thought much about the facility until now.

 

There are many people who retired to an RV with hopes of traveling until they no longer could. Some have no exit plans and others plan on settling down eventually close to grown children or other family members.  The Care Center offers an RV space, utilities, three full meals a day, weekly housekeeping services, medical transportation and activities.  The fee at this time is only $800 a month!  The Escapees Center is absolutely the best deal out there.  If you aren’t familiar with it, check it out!  If you can and are in the area, offer to volunteer and help.  One day you might be thankful someone cared enough to volunteer their time to help you!  We have certainly put this on our bucket list!  

For information on their day care program or their CARE program, click here:  Escapees Care Center Information