Wanderlust… The call of the open road… Mid-life crisis… Insanity.
Maybe.

Mostly for us it was a chance to see, feel, and experience the wonders of the world without the stress of time constraints. We packed a lot into our lives; years of intense hours of work and stress; years of volunteering; years of frantic vacations wedged into the whirlwind. We hit a wall. We talked about retiring. We loved the Pacific Northwest and felt it was the place we wanted to be. Vacations to other perfect places did not sway us. Friends questioned our sanity in choosing a place so grey and dreary during the winter. But we had a desire to find a nesting spot where we can buy or build our home to live out our days. The urge hit us early as the clock seemed to be ticking. We could no longer do everything we wanted to. Health histories on both sides had indicators of shortened lifespans. We had saved money for retirement all our years. It was time.