Living in the Country

When we selected our new home in Beaverton in 1984 we were on the edge of housing developments. We could look to the west and the north and see empty fields and farms.


Here is our new home with empty lots around us.

The major north-south street adjacent to our neighborhood was a lonely country road that ended in a T-intersection.

A few years later a housing development went up to the west, another to the north (with a golf course), and the lonely country road was extended and renamed from 158th St. to Bethany Blvd.

In spite of all the development, we are still on the edge of the country, with rural roads and farmlands beginning just a mile away. I routinely hop on my bike and head out from my house for pleasant rides on the rural roads. Here is a random picture from a day I got caught in a February snowstorm on a Saturday ride.

We pick corn, strawberries, and peaches within 8 miles of our house (not counting our garden).

We drive about four miles to a tree farm to cut our Christmas tree. Here we are with our hot chocolate on a hay ride to the tree cutting area.

I would say we have the best of both worlds in the neighborhood where we live. The conveniences of the city and positives of the country close at hand.