Hello Friends and Art Enthusiasts,
This bold journey of selling my house in Lake Oswego Oregon and traveling around the country in search of a new home left me exhausted, distracted, confused and lonely.
The adventure changed me in ways I did not expect. I am no longer thinking of my past life in Oregon in the same way. This road trip gave me a lot of time to think about so many things.
Trying to find a melting pot and an art community better than Portland’s lousy, lame art market, I thought about moving to Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Santa Fe, Montana, Texas, or even Colorado, where my brother lives, whom I love and I’m grateful for.
The drive across the USA is spectacular and beautiful. I drove around various regions and several times I flew to different places trying to get a sense of what possibilities the area offered for my new life. I was searching for a better place, frequency, vibe and a better energy that would inspire me to paint. I was also scoping out the local dance studios looking for a new social life and the potential for finding a soulmate. I didn’t find my heart and soul drawn to any of the many places I visited. A few spots were worth a vacation or revisit, and I enjoyed some of the museums, where I took photographs that I will share on Facebook.
Nothing really wrong with Florida, it’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there without a mate. The heat in Florida surprised me. I knew it would be hot, but it was so muggy, like wearing wet laundry! I got tired of spinning my wheels there. The suburbs are everywhere, covering almost the entire state, and there are dangerous, maniac drivers on the road. I’m not afraid of Covid, but I am afraid of crazy, dangerous maniacs on roads!
The population density in Oregon is 41.4 people per square mile. In Florida, it is 405.45 people per square mile. Yikes! What a difference! I was shocked, but Florida does have some beautiful sweet spots. I enjoyed staying at Belleair Beach. It reminded me of Rockaway Beach at the Oregon coast where the shoreline is very simple. In Belleair Beach it is the same, more built up and populated, and only the gulf shore is quiet. I stayed at a classic mid-century motel and there were a few Ma-and-Pa restaurants a mile down the road. I woke up one morning to walk the beach, and the gulf waters were so calm, almost like a small lake. I was blown away by how still the water was with very few waves lapping the shore. An excellent place for a quiet vacation with a mate. An old family friend from Oyster Bay has lived in the Belleair neighborhood we haven’t seen each other since the 1980’s, and we had dinner to catch up. Also, a friend from Oregon has been looking for land in the southwest Florida area, and I drove down to meet her for dinner and had a few laughs.
I had a pleasant visit with two other friends, a couple from Portland, who had moved to the Villages in Florida. The villages, three of them I think, are amazing, vibrant, over 50, active adult golf cart communities located just 90 minutes north of Orlando and not far from Ocala. They have been touted by many as America’s best and most popular retirement communities: live music every evening in the courtyard of each of the villages. It was excellent to watch a live band.
Golf carts buzzing all over the place. Watch out here they come! LOL. We all went to see improvisational comedy one night to have a few good laughs. Another night we went out ballroom dancing. Practically no one wore a mask.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area seemed nothing but a cement dry jungle. Spaghetti freeways. DFW is huge. The “metroplex”, as it is called, is the fourth largest metro area in the USA with 7.1 million people. Given the ongoing collapse of global society, I would not relocate to a large city where there will be issues of keeping the peace, maintaining water and with the supply chain for food and other consumer items necessary for life.
A place worth revisiting would be the area in southwest Wyoming around Green River. The terrain is beautiful, rugged and unusual and would be excellent for artists to do plein air landscapes.
I will be sharing some of my favorites and visuals worth noting on FB.
After a long and enlightening journey of discovery, I have decided to come back to the Pacific Northwest wonderland, and start over in a new way. The horse has returned to the barn! I bought a house in Vancouver, Washington, and I plan to settle in and get back in the studio to paint.