For the past 6 months, I have taken a break from coding and embarked on a fun adventure with my wife and two-year old daughter. We left the scorching heat of Arizona behind and moved to a small town nestled in the heart of the Redwoods in northern California. It was amazing! But, alas, we had to return sooner than expected.

Tall Trees

I grew up in love with the Redwoods. Likely because I was raised in the dry desert of Arizona, the sheer size of the trees never fails to amaze me. Similarly, I have romanticized the ocean for a long time - its immense power and unexplored depths always humble me. So, having never lived out-of-state for my entire life, you can imagine my joy when we landed in the town of Rio Dell, surrounded by mountains and only 30 minutes away from the beach!

The Recipe for Moving Out of State

We never thought we would move out-of-state. Here are the key ingredients that led to our 1,000-mile journey:

• We do not own a house (thanks, housing bubble)
• We want to live in a rural area, and I can work remotely.
• Our daughter is still young, and we wanted to do something sort of "out there" before we have to nest.
• We were feeling a bit restless, and we wanted to shake things up.

Small Town Livin'

Rio Dell was quite the change from Arizona. The rain, the trees, the nightly fog; it was all so dreamy. Hiking in the Redwoods or playing on the beach was a weekly occurrence. I even found that my sinuses felt better with the moisture in the air. And let us not forget the perfect temperature and our fantastic backyard, complete with an apple tree that my daughter loved. We even had to be lumberjacks and chop wood for the wood-burning stove during the colder months, which was a hoot! It was such a marvelous place to be. I absolutely miss it.

The Triple Junction

Soooooo, unknowingly, we moved to the most seismically active place in California - The Lost Coast, which I wish our property manager had informed us about before moving. The first earthquake was a fun little jolt - a cute adrenaline rush. But soon after, we learned that we weren't in Arizona anymore. Just before Christmas, and right after the New Year, two 5.0 earthquakes shook us up so much that we "noped" ourselves back to Arizona. The power went out for days, the water was tainted, and worst of all, we had to run to our daughter at 2 am, hoping the house wouldn't collapse on us. And after that, we experienced literally hundreds of small earthquakes while preparing to leave. See ya!

Home sweet home

Now we're back, living in Flagstaff, Arizona, enjoying the forested part of the state. It's no Redwoods, but we are much happier on stable ground. Let's keep The Redwoods as a vacation spot. We're exploring other places like Colorado, so who knows where we'll end up. I'll just need to do a little more research before the next move. ;P