Living in Wyoming, From the NW, now wanting to relocate to rural Oregon (Portland: foreclosure, houses)

[WyomingFarmLady57]

Hey everyone,
I'm a new member and I'm honestly seeking the right situation, and am at a crossroads.
Please help me with any comments you may have-huge or minor. Maybe I need a geo-psychotherapist.....but I welcome you all!! Here is my dilemma:

I grew up in the NW-Seattle area mostly-- lovely Mukilteo WA and then moved to Clatskanie OR. Loved the communities and all they were about. Went to college in LaGrande OR; loved the rural life and small community and the dry climate.
Married and lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 30 years....and never thrived as a city girl. Missed horses and dirt and growing things and real people, not fakes. Divorced and moved to western Wyoming and found my dream life on a small ranch with horses and ATVs, and lots of wildlife, like moose and deer who roam through everyday....however: the little 9 year old granddaughter I am raising needs to be in a private Christian school. There is nothing around here. My 80 year old parents want to live near me so I can take care of them but not here in this very harsh climate (and I mean totally brutal in the winter...30 below and blizzards galore with 5 feet of snow) I'm OK with it but they aren't.......!

I've traveled around Oregon extensively. I could totally live there again. Please someone tell me where a great compromise would be for all of us. I like small rural communities and so do my parents. My sister is disabled with severe arthritis and she would come too and we would need to be within a 50 mile distance from a hospital. I need to find a small ranch for our horses and live that kind of life in order to thrive. The community I live in now has 100 people and is 10 miles from a town with services and schools and I'm good with that again. If I sold my place here in WY, I would have about 600K to spend on a new purchase.

Please if someone has some good suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thank you everyone who reads this and wants to throw in their input!!! Love to all of you for doing that and taking the time!

Linda

[StealthRabbit]

I am a WY / CO ranch kid. (stuck in drizzle for 30+ yrs) Are you in Star Valley?! I go to Afton on occasion, and spent every weekend in Tetons / Jackson for 10 yrs... trucking delivery route / Denver to Jackson > Buffalo > Rapid City > Ft Collins... nice drive in the 8 months of winter!)

I like the Columbia Gorge as a more accessible to services and more moderate climate (not EZ for we_tsiders (wind), but a piece-of-cake for WY folks!).

Corbett, OR would be my choice for you, as they have a very good elementary school (rare in OR) and 20 min to Portland airport area (Plenty of hospitals east side, Adventist medical is GREAT and has elder care facility), ~ 30 min to downtown.

If you want to venture to the north (WA), just across from Corbett is Washougal / Cape Horn. There are a lot of NICE horse properties on Cape Horn, an excellent one sold last yr for $330k (10 acres with barn and older daylight home with 2 living spaces) excellent views, 600+ next door acres of National Forest!

Canyon Creek and Mt Pleasant schools are decent, and when age 15... take a college entrance examine and get FREE full time college in WA. (instead of wasting time in HS).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Start

Hood River / Parkdale, OR (or White Salmon / Trout Lake, WA) would be other choices. (with limited services and medical, and TIGHT property availability). (national forest + National Scenic Area).

Boring, OR will have a nice Christian School choice! and a few VERY solid Churches! (rare in OR / WA)
Several great Christian Colleges in Portland (5 on east side).

I did 32 yrs of 'caregiving' for a disabled parent, so if you want to chat... PM me... We also open our home to travelers, we have out-of-USA guests for the next 2 weeks who are scouting the Columbia Gorge for a potential site the live. (we are 20 min to PDX)
$10 / night travel worldwide staying with locals... it is VERY safe (especially handy for for single moms) and a great way to scout areas. Been doing it for 25+ yrs)
Hospitality exchange - Wikitravel

Nice thing about Portland is PDX... You can ESCAPE! $25 Frontier flights to DEN at the moment!

See what you can fetch out of SLC on SWA and get on out here for a look-see! (oh I miss the Hot Springs of WY, ID, and CO)

[Robsteel17]

Corbett/Troutdale is nice because it is just on the outskirts of Portland but without actually being in a city atmosphere.

You might look in the Willamette Valley. The area around Newberg is nice. If you go a little further south there's St. Paul which has an annual rodeo.

If you want less rain and more sun in the summer, check out the Applegate Valley. It's beautiful, somewhat secluded, and only about ten miles to Medford with its abundant healthcare options.

[StealthRabbit]

Do you need VA medical for Parents or Sister? (That will limit your options). There is a OR State VA elderly home in The Dalles, OR. Roseburg, OR is quite 'ranchy', better weather and good medical. My FIL sold a horse property there for $450k last yr. It was 14 Acres w/ river view & adjacent to 400 acres of riding + 10 min to town and Jr College. LOTS of grapes / gardening.

These places are out there.

Let us know what and where you want. (where are your parents desiring to live / have lived?) Sometimes age 80+ becomes tough to leave their friends / church / drs. I have moved 2 older couples from rural places to care centers and they didn't last long. FIL moved to Bend and has done OK, but not too happy (90 yr old "farm kid" stuck in town).

Do be advised of horse care issues in the wet climate. (which I am sure you are).

[j_k_k]

If you've lived in LaGrande, you've probably been through Pendleton. It would probably have a religious school, can't think of a place more attuned to horses, climate nowhere near as harsh as Wyoberia, small local hospital and three bigger ones an hour away, and $600K ought to buy you something you'd like. Might also look north of there in the Wallowas, though I suspect touristy buying has probably pushed land prices up (no direct knowledge).

[Terryj]

Here is a list of Private schools through out Oregon, it will give you and idea of where to look. http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/directory/nonpubls.pdf

If you like the Wyoming area you might want to look east of the Cascades, Bend, Redmond, Prineville and LaPine.

[PNW-type-gal]

Oregon west of the Cascades is pretty expensive, especially for horse property - not by San Francisco standards but by Wyoming standards. East of the Cascades, with the exception of Bend, is much more affordable. For horses, farming you might try looking at Pendelton or Hermiston in Oregon and Tri-Cities or Walla Walla in Washington. A little hot and dusty in summer, but they'd all have the rural feel you are looking for.

Also Redmond, Madras, Prineville, La Pine in Central Oregon, although those areas might be a little more expensive. Gardening can be harder in the high desert of Cenral Oregon, but it can be done with greenhouses, raised beds and cold frames.

[WyomingFarmLady57]

Stealth Rabbit, thank you for the very helpful information. What a gold mine you are! Yes I am in Star Valley- the Bedford/Turnerville area right up against the Wyoming range. Had to completely redo this rundown property, which was a foreclosure that sat empty for years. I love Wyoming like crazy. I love the snow and blizzards and my big tractor with a loader. I've now lived here full time for a year and a half (after coming out here for summers, winters etc. since 2007.)

Part of the drive to live near my family is loneliness. I can certainly exist by myself, and have for some time, but don't want to forever. The community here is very connected and supportive and everyone helps everyone. I'd like to find that again. I'll look at Corbett and the other places you suggested.

[WyomingFarmLady57]

And yes I need VA hospitals nearby for my dad.

[WyomingFarmLady57]

Thank you to everyone who replied to me. I will look at everything you all said and suggested. East of the Cascades might be a good option too-thanks TerryJ. for that and the website to private schools RobSteele 17 yes the Applegate area is really nice, I agree.........PNW yes I love Pendleton-but Hermiston and the Tri Cities are just a tad too dry and flat for my taste......however I miss the entire region. I passed through there a month ago-lots of good memories. JKK I wish I could afford the Wallowa area-spent lots of time there while in college but you are right-the tourists have driven the costs up.