where to next?

[gmerkt]

west of Springfield MO

Years ago, I was considering a relocation to this area. I could've transferred there as a civilian federal employee. Earlier, I'd been stationed at Fort Lost in the Woods in the army and I knew the area some. I took my young wife back there for a look-see. It was a year when the cicadas were out. When evening came, they were singing away like crazy. My wife asked me, 'What's that sound?" I told her. She then said, "You didn't tell me there were bugs in the trees here. I'm not moving here." End of moving to Springfield idea. I never did get around to telling her about the ticks.

SW Missouri gets stinking humid hot in Summer. They get some real Winter. They are in the path of tornadoes (like through Joplin in 2011). But people manage to get through life there as anywhere. I don't know the real estate market these days but when I was interested, prices were comparatively low. You can imagine, with a lower cost of living, generally the local people have less money to spend on real estate. You go in there with a fat wallet, you can live high in that respect.

One thing to remember. If you're not from there and move in, you will always be an outsider. You may live there 20 years, you will still be thought of by locals as an outsider. If you bring a thick wallet and buy property there, some will resent it. It's your right to do it; you can't help what people think. They are welcoming of military service members in their community; they know soldiers likely will be going away.

Small town life is a funny thing. You can grow up in a small town, move away, yet you are always welcomed back upon return. So long as you're not a felon. But to never have lived there before, different story. Whereas In the city, you can live there all your life, it counts for nothing. You can arrive as a stranger in the city, nobody thinks a thing about it.

 

[CoastRange57]

Christmas valley area i watch land for sale there regularly and you can get a nice isolated 80 acres for $50k or less whick leaves plenty left over to build with. Id do a well, septic, pv, generator and a combo container/ stick built house and shop.

You don't want to be close to the town of Christmas Valley. It is a complete sh*thole. I was there last week, and drove around a bit. It costs a fair amount to build and limited contractors go out there. If you have no need to go to town very often it is fine. 55 miles to LaPine and 70 plus to Bend. Being out away like you mentioned is the ticket.

There are a lot of platted areas out there, people do buy the ground dirt cheap, and a lot never build out there.

Sage rat hunting is freaking awesome though.

 

[titsonritz]

I would park my butt in Gdale right next to @Cerberus Group And shoot every day.

I've considered it and it may come to that.

 

[Cerberus Group]

@titsonritz , you're always welcome to the campfire should you have to flee any debacle down that way.

Goldendale is just far enough away from the Portland / Vancouver area, not to have any immediate spill over problems.

 

[ATCclears]

The wife and daughter just returned from a trip to Sheridan, WY. Wifey described it as a small American city of the past, with friendly people and clean streets.

The only challenge would be the small city of 17K people and access to various or infrequent medical-care services as one ages.

It does have me thinking about it though as the West side of WA State tips further into craziness.

 

[HaveGun]

Years ago, I was considering a relocation to this area. I could've transferred there as a civilian federal employee. Earlier, I'd been stationed at Fort Lost in the Woods in the army and I knew the area some. I took my young wife back there for a look-see. It was a year when the cicadas were out. When evening came, they were singing away like crazy. My wife asked me, 'What's that sound?" I told her. She then said, "You didn't tell me there were bugs in the trees here. I'm not moving here." End of moving to Springfield idea. I never did get around to telling her about the ticks.

SW Missouri gets stinking humid hot in Summer. They get some real Winter. They are in the path of tornadoes (like through Joplin in 2011). But people manage to get through life there as anywhere. I don't know the real estate market these days but when I was interested, prices were comparatively low. You can imagine, with a lower cost of living, generally the local people have less money to spend on real estate. You go in there with a fat wallet, you can live high in that respect.

One thing to remember. If you're not from there and move in, you will always be an outsider. You may live there 20 years, you will still be thought of by locals as an outsider. If you bring a thick wallet and buy property there, some will resent it. It's your right to do it; you can't help what people think. They are welcoming of military service members in their community; they know soldiers likely will be going away.

Small town life is a funny thing. You can grow up in a small town, move away, yet you are always welcomed back upon return. So long as you're not a felon. But to never have lived there before, different story. Whereas In the city, you can live there all your life, it counts for nothing. You can arrive as a stranger in the city, nobody thinks a thing about it.

Lot of truth there.

I moved to my current small town 5 years ago. My grandparents moved here in 1946 from Wisconsin. My dad graduated from high school here. Then they moved 15 miles to Idaho in the 60's.

When I bought my house, I was shocked to find out it is one block South of where my grandparents and dad lived. So, I have roots here. But I still get treated as an outsider by the locals that are members of farm families that settled the area in the 1800's.

I lived in Iowa for a while and the Midwest is just a weird place. I lived in a small, charming, and picturesque town and worked as a corrections officer.

The rumor going around town was that I was a drug dealer because I drove a new Jap car with a spoiler, and my wife was a lesbian because her best friend had short hair and jogged.

Just truly ignorant and weird people out there.

 

[HaveGun]

I know the OP wanted to stay in Oregon, but the leftists on the coast rule the state, just like Washington. Even though you may move to a very nice, rural area, the liberal legislature will still impose draconian gun laws on you.

That's what happened in Washington. I'm in a lovely small town in a rural area, but I have to put up will all of the insane BS from Seattle.

Though I plan to move across the border into Idaho, I don't know if we will not see some sort of severe balkanization of the states, if not outright civil war, in the next few years. I could see a new free independent nation being formed out of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon.

 

[teflon6string]

...
We lived outside Condon for a spell. And we traveled all over that area and then some back in that day. It is some of the most beautiful, wild country I've seen on this green Earth, and I've been around. Though I was working hard while recovering from surgeries to address injuries in that era, it was some of the happiest days of my adulthood. Absolutely breathtaking wide open spaces and good people. Loved it.
...
/QUOTE]

We ended up at the bar in Condon. Not necessarily to drink, but because they had pizza (decent) and a modest salad bar. Everything else was closed at 6pm. Chatting with the bartender, we shared our plan to see Mitchell the next day. The only other customer suggested we take an alternate route (slightly longer on the map) so we did. My most vivid memories of that road trip are the STUNNING canyons, cliffs and valleys. It's a beautiful, unspoiled part of the world, for now.

Even given all the hard work it takes to live way out there, it's paradise for those who make that choice and embrace the responsibilities. Meanwhile, city-dwelling voters (with little/no concept of what happens 20 miles from their favorite Starbucks) support power-addicted legislators in Salem with partisan pet-interests. Career hacks working full time to over-regulate, tax, change, restrict and control people they will never know.

 

[1371JarHead]

Yeah, I loved small town living, miss it alot, we lived in Amity OR way back in the early 70`s, it was great, you could grab your .22 and head to a farmers field and plink away all day, try doing that today, im sure the black-hawks would be circling overhead now as the uber left cringes at the thought of 10 year olds with rifles, lolololol.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I was thinking Idaho might work until I read more of the OP and saw a desire to remain in Oregon. Kind of a moot point since Idaho will suck just as badly as CA, WA and OR as soon as all the libs flocking to Boise turn that state into yet another hyper-restricted, tax/spend, anti-gun, anti-police state too. They're working hard on making that disaster materialize as we speak.

Took an Oregon road trip a couple years ago through Condon, Mitchell, Antelope, Burns, La Grande, Ontario, Baker City, etc. We've always loved open spaces, and you can really stretch your eyeballs out there. What struck us as we drove was how remote some of the homesteads were, basically requiring an all-day round trip to pick up groceries (or just a tube of toothpaste). It's a very different life there.

The desirable properties we saw all had a lot of farmland, too, which I'm guessing would be expensive to acquire and keep hydrated. And you gotta work that land to pay the mortgage. Will our remote fellow-Oregonians be first on the list when the dems send storm troopers to confiscate AR-15s and magazines from productive citizens minding their own damn business? Maybe not, probably last in fact. But it will still be a blue state because of Portland, Salem and Eugene. Very sad that.

From the outside looking in, Idaho is under attack and seems to look like it's headed liberal. But Idaho is full of strong, fists first people. They aren't going down without a major conflict.
We need to remember that all states are under the attack. People can't look at just the state. We the people are grouping up wherever we live to outcast whoever doesn't fit our beliefs. Covid fast tracked this.

 

[joken]

Eastern Oregon, move out in the sticks and stop watching the news

 

[lovemy38]

I own 5 acres in Nevada out in the sticks but Nevada is also turning out crazy

 

[MannyGlocks]

Patagonia is looking more and more attractive.

 

[JRuby]

I will never leave my country because some other country has a few perks. This country is worth fighting for.

 

[BPOR11]

Though I plan to move across the border into Idaho, I don't know if we will not see some sort of severe balkanization of the states, if not outright civil war, in the next few years. I could see a new free independent nation being formed out of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon.

Make it ALL of Oregon and Washington and I'm in! Maybe throw in Nevada and California...

 

[HaveGun]

Make it ALL of Oregon and Washington and I'm in! Maybe throw in Nevada and California...

Nope. Trying to avoid the dirty hippies on the coasts.

 

[Diamondback]

Buy a tramp freighter and turn it into a floating commune. Have to look for people with maintenance/ops skills when selling the condos aboard, but...

I swear, build a Star Destroyer then take off and nuke this rock from orbit sounds better every day.

 

[BPOR11]

Nope. Trying to avoid the dirty hippies on the coasts.

Avoid? No, I'm talking ship them out on a rail car...towards the rising sun. The ones that refuse to go...God have mercy on their souls

Not fighting a civil war to leave the ports under left control.

 

[kbf64]

Western Montana is great, even into Bozeman... drive from spokane to CDA, to Bozeman in the summer it's a great drive. Montana might work...

 

[kbf64]