There has not been a lot going on this week so this is likely to be a quick post. Most of what we have been doing is just a normal routine. There are a few bits of news, though.

Health for both of us has been an issue; Pam’s bursitis in her left knee has been acting up making it painful to walk. Cold compresses and her TENS machine have helped, along with an anti-inflammatory drug, but getting around is still both slow and painful. Thankfully this episode seems to be on the decline but full recovery seems a way off yet.

I am getting over a nasty cold which has sapped my energy and leads to fits of coughing. As of today I am getting better but let’s just say the last couple weekends have seen little activity outside the minimum necessary to take care of the yard and grocery shopping. Hopefully, by next week, this will be past and I can get started on preparing The Box to take up to The Lot.

Commuting to work has become more difficult due to road construction around Glenwood Springs. A major project to replace the aging bridge over the Colorado River has been on-going for over a year now and will continue for another year. At the moment various access routes into town are being rebuilt or modified to accommodate the new bridge and intersections. The ongoing traffic delays are impacting our ability to get to work.

Typical construction affecting our commute

Access will get much worse starting in August of this year when the physical bridge gets removed and the new bridge installed  (a 90-day process at best) forcing all traffic to get into Glenwood Springs through a 2-lane option that was never designed to handle large trucks and a high volume of traffic. Pam and I are exploring alternate work schedules or other ways to mitigate the construction clog. This will be an on-going topic in future posts!

Other short takes:

Our property assessment came in much lower than we had hoped, pretty much ending our idea of refinancing the place. Biggest problem is comparable properties; there are not many in town that have sold in the last 18 months. Our comparables include a couple of repos that were sold at very low prices, knocking down the value of our place. The property tax valuation from the county shows us losing value in the house since last year’s statement. This part of the country is not recovering from the 2007 – 2008 recession and while this makes buying a house a better deal, refinancing or selling a place means we take a major hit (since we bought in 2006). Bad timing, for sure.

The weather turned cold with fresh snow at our work places this past week. Vail Pass and Eisenhower Tunnel both closed a few times due to the number and severity of accidents attributed to the late snow storms. I emphasize that snow in late April is not at all unusual for us but it has been lovely seasonal weather for quite a while — and people forget it is still winter in the high country.

Pam has located a couple more “interesting” properties through on-line searches:

Hazel Grove Road house in Clatskanie, OR

North 5th Avenue in Stayton, OR

The listing for the Hazel Grove house (listed @ $187,000) had few inside photos, not normally a good thing (it is a bank repo), but there may be a background story to it. The North 5th Ave place (listed @ $199,000) is fairly well upgraded inside and has a detached garage, both appealing aspects of the property. One is in the “boonies” on acreage, one in town on a corner lot.  No water feature or views in either location.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Gonna need to schedule that road trip to Oregon for a retirement house “look-see.” Maybe sometime this Fall, after bringing The Box down from Sanderling, we’ll pack up the dogs in our replacement Honda and do a Pacific Northwest loop. (Still need the replacement Honda…)

Regarding the low appraisal on our present digs (a loss of $43,000 in value over ten years), you were maybe thinking I was overly dramatic in saying De Beque is a dump?  Sad validation.

Happy Trails.