After saying goodbye to family in Oregon, we packed up and headed just a bit further South, just over the border into Northern California. Last Christmas we purchased a lot near Crescent City and were eager to see it in the summer.

The purchase is an investment in the future. Maybe one day we’ll want to send the kids to school in the US? Maybe one day we’ll want to spend more time in the mountains and trees? (My husband is already ready for that!)

We started out camping in Crescent City and exploring the clam chowder restaurants, the beach parks, and brewery, while Kim made daily drives out to our lot. He had purchased an electric chainsaw and was loving running around on our lot, clearing brush, getting ideas for building, meeting with engineers and the planning department, and getting to know the neighbors. I’m so used to localism that we expected the neighbors to be wary of newbies, especially in such a small community. Much to my surprise, the neighbors were all very friendly and excited about new energy (and kids!) coming to the neighborhood.

One awesome neighbor that we met offered to let us camp in the house he recently bought – a fixer-upper with a long list of needs, but with a few benefits we didn’t have camping in Crescent City (a fridge, a bed, a flush toilet, but mostly the location!) – so we packed up camp and moved in so we could be closer to our lot and get a better feel for the neighborhood.

 

After a week or so we finally pulled away and drove down to visit friends in Arcata and check out the North County Fair. 

Luna was mesmerized by the dancing at the fair.

Back near our lot, we took Luna to check out the local elementary school. She excitedly put her new collection of colored pencils, erasers, and glitter pens in her backpack, ready for class! Unfortunately by the time we arrived all the students had already left and the teachers were busy in a staff meeting. There was no one around to show us anything and after poking around ourselves for a bit, we started to leave. Luna was NOT happy about that. She really wanted to go to school.

It was a quick trip – or so it felt. But we are excited to have a place to visit next summer and maybe try to make some more progress on our lot.