The 'PERFECT' REtirement Spot

[MRGALT2U]

I have 2 confessions. First of all. when I said I had been
all over Texas, that was not quite right, but I think I have been everywhere (all corners, borders and central
parts) except for the Brownsville/Corpus area. I figure
in a state the size of Texas that's pretty much all over.
Secondly, if I had not been drawn there by some contractual work after I semiretired, I am sure we would
have been looking elsewhere for our warm weather
digs. Truly, I liked almost everything about Texas and
especially the Texans. And, I am pretty well traveled in the USA. I think I've been in every state except maybe 5 or 6. Texas is flat, but the variations in the
landscape from one end to the other are huge.
It really is "like a whole 'nother country!"

If you think the max elevation is only 4500 feet, then you truly haven't been everywhere in Texas. Alpine, a funky little town, is at 5800 feet and has the cooler temps to go with it. In fact, the Davis Mountains range from 5000-8000+ feet. It's not the Rockies but it is pretty.

[Telly]

Some mighty pretty country. Highest point is Guadalupe Peak @ 8749. Just west of where I-10 & I-20 come together is Gomez Peak. there is a road 'round the backside of Gomez, route 118, that is very scenic. It winds through some of the Davis Mts. there is a turnoff on it up to Mount Locke, where McDonanld Observatory is. We piggybacked onto a small gifted and talented kids in-depth tour that was going on once there. Then can continue on to Ft. Davis historic site. The rock formations there are really wild, never saw anything like those in CO, UT, WY, etc. Really unusual.

We need to make it out to Marfa, I still haven't seen the Marfa lights. Thats a must-do sometime. A lot to see in the Trans-Pecos area.
Down in the Valley, we honeymooned in Brownsville/South Padre/Port Isabel area. It was real quiet then, long before it was discovered by the spring breakers. The road up S.P. into the Nat. Seashore area had just some businesses on the far south end, it was all open after that up to the Nat. Seashore!

An excellent map book is "The Roads of Texas", it is a large-form soft cover book. Has detail that Rand McNally, etc. doesn't have. The older copy that I have has 170 pages. It is set up in a grid system with adjacent page numbers in the margins, so its easy to follow along page to page.

Some mighty pretty country. *Highest point is Guadalupe Peak @ 8749. *

And to TG.

Guadalupe is the highest point in Texas. I mis-spoke. I have been along the I-10 corridor on the way west, but didn't see anything of interest (except for what appears to be some volcanic rocks just west of Van Horn) Sorry for the confusion. West Texas is not my idea of what mountains should look like - they're missing the white stuff.

But from Houston I still have to drive a day to get there so it's not like I can do that in a weekend. And if I'm going to drive that far, I might as well just go on over to New Mexico or Colorado that has real mountains.

In Colorado, the mountains would be in my backyard.

I'm still moving.

Thanks,

[MRGALT2U]

Cut-Throat touched on a issue that has always bothered me, i.e. losing touch with people I like and
who were an important part of my life. I have moved
a lot. When I semiretired I moved back to Illinois where
I was born and raised and where I still had family.
Unfortunately, all this moving around meant that many
friends that I valued highly drifted away. I am pretty good at
keeping in touch, but have only so much time to do it.
Now, Cut-Throat lives in Minnesota. It's a nice state, but
much too cold for my taste. Ditto for Illinois, plus I can't
adjust to the political climate. Just yesterday on the radio they mentioned the high taxes and bad weather
and noted that people wanted to leave here.
Helloooooooooo! High taxes, bad weather, corrupt
government and an antigun climate is no place for me to live. On the other hand there is the friends/roots/relatives thing. It's a conundrum folks.
I say listen to what Ricky Nelson said on the subject.
"You can't please everyone so you've got to please yourself!"

[Ted]

Here's a story that illustrates why Wisconsin would be ideal for some of you. *You can decide for yourself if you are one.

*A Texan, a guy from Illinois, and a Wisconsinite are riding horses out on the range. The Texan, just to show off, pulls an expensive bottle of whiskey out of his saddlebag, takes a couple drinks, throws the bottle in
the air, pulls out his gun and shoots it in mid-air.

*The guy from Illinois is shocked and asks, "What are you doing? That's a perfectly good bottle of whiskey!" The Texan replies, "In Texas, there's plenty of whiskey and bottles are cheap!"

* *A little while later, not wanting to be outdone, the guy from Illinois pulls out a bottle of champagne, takes a few sips, throws the bottle into the air, pulls out his gun and shoots it, just like the Texan.

* *The guy from Wisconsin can't believe it. "What are you doing? That was a very expensive bottle of champagne!" *With a wink to the Texan he says "In
Chicago, there's plenty of champagne and bottles are cheap."

* *About 15 minutes later, the Wisconsinite pulls out a bottle of beer. *He opens it and takes a sip. Then another sip. Then he chugs the rest of the bottle. He then places the bottle back in his saddlebag, pulls out his gun and shoots the guy from Illinois.

*The Texan is visibly shaken. "What did you do that for?!?!" The Wisconsinite replies, "Well, in Wisconsin, we have plenty of people from Illinois, and bottles are returnable."

This was sent to me by a friend who grew up in Wisconsin and now lives in Washington State. *He's not looking for new neighbors there either.

[unclemick]

Anybody old enough to remember the Oregon governor who said come visit but don't move here - he wasn't joking. Glad I grew up in Washigton State - although we had our fair share of 'strange' people also.

[Ted]

Unclemick,

Yeah, that was Tom McCall. I remember him well because I lived in Washington from 1968 to 1973 and was rather active in politics. I was a moderate Republican and campaigned for Dan Evans.

People in Oregon (and, to a lesser extent, Washington)view Californians the same way that people in Wisconsin view people from Illinois (especially, Chicago).
In addition to that, there is the "cultural divide" between east and west of the Cascades, in both Oregon and Washington.

It's interesting to speculate how state boundaries might be re-drawn along political lines if we re-started from scratch. For example, I think the upper peninsula of Michigan would be in Wisconsin, and New York City would be in the Atlantic Ocean. But that's irrelevant in this forum because I can't imagine any early retiree moving to either place.

[unclemick]

Ted
You hit the nail on the head. Born on the western side 'God would get me' if I even 'thought' of voting republican - easterners drank bad water or something. Dan Evans was 'nice guy' but in the wrong party. As for California - I still remember some bad jokes.

I have 'ancient ancestors' who emigrated from Upper Michigan and New York. After WW II my father felt the Pacific NW was a reasonable suburb of Brooklyn.

I left at the end of 1969 - 'before the lights were turned off in Seattle' - now that was a 'depression'.

[MRGALT2U]

I used to think upper Michigan was paradise. Then I moved there and stayed 10 years. It still has appeal,
but I wouldn't go back.

[Billy]

After 13 years of retirement, we are STILL looking for that "perfect" place....there are sooooo many nice places to spend time.
Billy
Web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264/

[haha]

Billy my man, you and Akaisha are setting a pretty high standard of retirement. Quit at 38, and live on a scale just short of the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor. We can't all be rich, but we can appreciate success when we see it.

BTW, I ate once at the Maisonette. Very nice experience!

Mikey

[Billy]

Mikey,

LOL…about setting a high standard….yes, we are fortunate,….a lot of hard work paid off.

The fact that I learned how to cook well, and Akaisha loves to eat my mistakes, makes for fun times. Plus, our skills have allowed us to meet many interesting folks along our journey.

Yes, the Maisonette is very nice…and I recommend everyone to eat there at least once.

Are you retired?

Thanks for the complements.
Billy
Web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264/

[Brit]

Billy, From your PBS bio you invested $500,000 and live on $30,000 a year, is that still the case. Are you based out of a home in the USA or are you like the Terhorst and live anywhere you want.
Regards the Brit

[Billy]

Hi Brit,
Yeah, that’s pretty much the case….We have a base in the US and one in Mexico, but still travel and live in many locations…last winter we spent 5 months in Asia. We know the Terhorsts well, and meet up with them from time to time.

Regards,
Billy
Web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264/

[Billy]

QUESTION?

My Perfect Place
population 60-150,000
Weather...moderate climate, no snow, lots of sunshine
low crime rate
good shopping and restaurants
GREAT public transport...so that a car is not necessary
close to international airport, (45 min max)
cost of living....reasonable
many outdoor activities, tennis, swimming, hiking etc.
Good library system
University town is a plus

Any suggestions?
Thanks, Billy
Web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264

[Billy]

Cut-throat,
I know of many outside the US, but the problem is in the US....Public transport being the main hurdle...

That list is my "wish list"...

And in case you didn't notice...Minn gets COLD!

We need a place way south of there...

Thanks, Billy
Web-site http://www.geocities.com/ba264

Billy,

I was not recommending Minnesota at all to you. For that matter anyone. It is cold here and there is nothing nice about Dec, Jan and Feb except leaving town!

We have a saying in Minnesota that the only nice thing about the cold weather is that it keeps a lot of the rif-raf out of here.

I was only describing our resturant situation here. It is good, but still lacking even in a city of 2.2 Million.

[haha]

We have a saying in Minnesota that the only nice thing about the cold weather is that it keeps a lot of the rif-raf out of here.

Hi Cut Throat,

IMO, the absolute best thing about Minnesota is Minnesotans. I lot of places I have been the place has been fine, but the people something of an acquired taste. Not so with Minnesota. More the reverse!

Mikey

[renferme]

Personally I like AZ. Sedona is awesome, but very , very expensive. Phoenix and surrounding areas are nice, not too expensive, great weather. Even better are places like Prescott and Cottonwood - 4 seasons but winters are mild, average highs in the 50s in January.
When I retire, very soon, will have to stay in the Pittsburgh area, as my wife still works and has a great job. But, when she retires, I hope to convince her to move to AZ.
BUT, hope to visit New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe this year. Maybe I'll like NM too!
Pittsburgh is nice, but like most northern cities, the winter weather is awful - horrible right now, 18 degrees and snow on the ground.