<p>garland – A poker career! How fun. Sounds like there might be a story behind that!</p>
<p>Well, yeah, the story, which I may get into sometime here on CC, is that he just dropped out of his senior year at Columbia…tune in next week for our next installment…</p>
<p>Garland is post #42 true?</p>
<p>We already live in South Florida. So I guess when we retire we should move up north and drive slow?</p>
<p>Really, I would like to have two residences: a Florida house on the ocean for Oct until May and a home somewhere cooler…also on water (maybe Lake Tahoe) for June until Sept.</p>
<p>I could also easily have a home on the Jersey Shore (Long Beach Island). We go every summer (since I was a little girl growing up in North Jersey).</p>
<p>Here’s my impossible dream:</p>
<p>Keep this house for all of us. If everything every crashes it’s five bedrooms, big enough for kids and their kids and us.</p>
<p>Squinting view of LI sound, beaches, lovely town, theater and university.</p>
<p>AND NYC apartment.</p>
<p>And indoor pool for swimming. Hm. Fantasy!</p>
<p>I like the idea of NYC when I’m tired of my garden, but I’ve made a lot of friends and connections in the town where we live. </p>
<p>My parents originally retired/had a second job in Lexington VA. They thought they’d stay, they had a gorgeous house designed by me on a horse farm (they leased the horse barn). But it ended up being too isolated, so they’ve moved to Peterborough, NH. My Dad periodically says “Aren’t you supposed to go south?” But they are near family and they get help for all the northern things that they can’t handle - like shoveling snow.</p>
<p>Edad, the Medford/Ashland/Phoenix/Talent corridor of southern Oregon (AKA the Rogue Valley) is indeed gorgeous. Winters are relatively mild, and summers can be hot (not unusual for there to be temperatures in the high 90s/low 100s). No sales taxes and the cost of housing, especially in Phoenix and Talent, is reasonable. Ashland has a university called Southern Oregon University (a “hidden gem”, according the New York Times), and a wonderful park, Lithia Park, with walking trails. If you are into Shakespearean Threatre, there is an entire season of theater. There is also a film festival that brings interesting films to the area, and a music festival in nearby Jacksonville. During the winter, if you are so inclined, you can go skiing in Mount Ashland.
Couple all of this with two major hospitals in Medford, the I-5 Freeway to get you to San Francisco in less than six hours, and a small airport with a good choice of flights. All-in-all, I would say that it is a really nice area to retire to.</p>
<p>I knew of a fellow who retired to San Diego, but in the winters (when San Diego got “too cold”), he would go to his home in Maui.</p>
<p>That set up must be an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top!</p>
<p>Yeah, dstark, it is . Probably not the place to ha ve dropped that. I may start a thread, not sure yet.</p>
<p>garland</p>
<p>We never know quite what they are going to do next, or what they “should” do. My view is that it tends to work out.</p>
<p>We’re here in Madison WI for our first retirement. Don’t know where we’ll be after this. Depends on where are our son winds up. Meanwhile, this is a pretty good place. Medical care, a very important issue at our age, is outstanding. Consider that when you talk about living on the side of a mountain.</p>
<p>My parents are in a retirement home in Madison. It’s so great, I can imagine living there someday.</p>
<p>Like ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, I already live in San Diego, so in my opinion there’s no reason to go elsewhere! We also just bought a small cabin near skiing in the mountains, less than three hours away, so if I want snow I can visit. I’ve lived in Wisconsin and grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, and San Diego beats both! No real bugs (at least no giant or man-eating ones), great weather, lots of outdoor activities and parks where I can run, water, and friendly people…what more do I need???</p>
<p>Incidently, ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, my older D is currently a junior at UCSD.</p>
<p>cgarrett:</p>
<p>I agree - I can sometimes see snow in the mountains from my deck while I’m in my shorts and t-shirt. I can head to La Jolla and pick up my D and eat burritos in La Jolla at the beach, head out hiking/biking close to my house or in the desert, mountains, or coast. I also like the year-round growth of plants and trees and the sunshine. The San Diego area’s great.</p>
<p>I hope your D’s enjoying UCSD.</p>
<p>I would love to stay right here, minus about a month of winter. I’d also like some sort of assurance that the kids would live within 90 minutes. (sigh *) We moved here 10 years ago because this is the place we were looking for. Just don’t like the winters after about this time of year - I’m ready for Spring. If we could afford to go to Arizona (not a huge Florida fan) for a couple of months, that would be perfect. </p>
<p>Hey, Garland - get on over to Sanctuary and tell us your news!</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad- is your D at UCSD? Mine is a junior…just transferred in (from LMU) to cox for men’s crew and so far loves it. She missed San Diego and wasn’t especially fond of L.A. I love having her here…we can even have lunch!</p>
<p>Oh, I’m in Point Loma…which I also love…</p>
<p>My MIL does the trailer thing on a permanent basis. After selling a lovely house, kept a condo for a couple of years and hauled the trailer with king size bed for a couple of months visits twice a year to various places. Then, decided to give up the condo, bought a bigger trailer and has just taken her home with her for about 5 years now. </p>
<p>The last couple of years she has wintered in the Hill Country area between San Antonio and Austin Texas and then as the weather warms up a bit too much, heads to Ruidosa/ Albuquerque NM area to hole up for the summer. Many of the same people return to these same places each year so she has friends, a community, etc that only changes when people die or new retirees join the ranks of these nomads. </p>
<p>Sometimes takes trailer to visit family for a couple of weeks. Without the trailer, she would be ansy to leave within 4-5 days. As for family visiting her, she figures that’s what hotels are for. When she needs more health facilities than these options provide, she will sell the trailer and buy a condo in one of the areas she has visited. So far, has given her the best of many worlds. Only problem has been deciding which cell phone service as not all companies get the same service in all areas.</p>
<p>Kind of think we’ll be staying put in our paid off house and putting all extra income into grad school tuition and first homes for our kids. Just can’t see beyond that at this point. In my fantasy it would be a summer place in the mountains (Georgia has nice sections) and a winter place at the beach. And of course an immense travel budget to see lots of other places. Dream on . . .</p>
<p>Anyone else here thought of Mexico? Historically has been a less expensive option, and I like being out of the USA. Have not yet had a chance to formally investigate the option however, as will probably be years. Get kids through college and then fund myself for a change. I’ve also considered working in national parks, with the option to hike and explore. The concessions are run by retirees to a certain extent.</p>