Author Topic: Best Place to Retire (Read 80623 times)

donn · « **Reply #150 on:** February 05, 2015, 10:07:53 AM »

"Really hot" means different things to different people. Very obvious here in Seattle, a good place people who hate hot weather. 80°F will be a big problem for these people. For me, that's some nice weather ... unless we're talking about riding a motorcycle in full armor, in which case I'm kind of sorry to see it get over 60°.

smartin108 · « **Reply #151 on:** February 05, 2015, 10:14:25 AM »

I agree it's all subjective. My favorite 4 seasons are spring, early summer, mid summer and late summer.

rboe · « **Reply #152 on:** February 05, 2015, 10:45:37 AM »

I handle heat better than humidity; another reason to avoid Minnesota in the summer. Not as bad as some parts of the States but when you grow up in an arid area, humidity, wait for it, puts a real dampner on things.

jetmechmarty · « **Reply #153 on:** February 05, 2015, 11:01:46 AM »

Quote from: OMG on February 05, 2015, 09:24:16 AM

The bad part is that the really hot part of the summer lasts a LONG time. About two months, compared to Ohio's two weeks.

From Dahlonega, it's only takes a few minutes to ride to over 3000 feet or get your feet into a very cold trout stream. 90 degree days seem to be few, but I'm heat tolerant. I've had to work outside in the winter and summer all over the world and I'd rather be too hot, than too cold. Kuwait hot is better than Greenland cold. (Just don't ask me that while I'm enjoying either one.)

LowRyter · « **Reply #154 on:** February 05, 2015, 11:33:44 AM »

Quote from: Vince in Milwaukee on February 05, 2015, 12:32:37 AM

Knew a guy from Texas who said his home was God's country. I'd say he was off by a good 1000 plus miles. There's something about the Great Lakes that just draws me in. I'd love to move to the U.P. of Michigan when I retire, but Barb wont have any of that.

I took this photo in Grand Marias. Quite a beautiful place to visit in the Summer.

LowRyter · « **Reply #155 on:** February 05, 2015, 11:38:03 AM »

Quote from: Lannis on February 05, 2015, 08:16:48 AM

Whoever he is, I wonder if he often thought (as I do) that the recreational whining about supposed "political content" on the list is often more intrusive and distracting from the subject than the actual content itself?

I'll bet there's less of it on the Isle of Man. I'm off, I'm emigrating ....

Lannis

Dale Carnegie: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

:winer

gary martin · « **Reply #156 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:05:07 PM »

Quote from: oldbike54 on February 05, 2015, 08:39:58 AM

Gary , I read nice things about Pittsburgh . Interesting places to eat , museums , good live music .

Dusty

I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!

Lannis · « **Reply #157 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:08:57 PM »

Quote from: LowRyter on February 05, 2015, 11:38:03 AM

Dale Carnegie: "How to Win Friends and Influence People"

:winer

Never took his class, I'm afraid. I rely strictly on natural charm and empathy .... ;)

jetmechmarty · « **Reply #158 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:12:42 PM »

I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.

Cheese · « **Reply #159 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:19:52 PM »

Quote from: jetmechmarty on February 05, 2015, 12:12:42 PM

I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.

Bringing your own money is pretty much central to the retirement plan for me. Hope not to need to work again..

Peter

Dean Rose · « **Reply #160 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:29:01 PM »

Quote from: jetmechmarty on February 05, 2015, 12:12:42 PM

I took this photo from my dinner table in March of 2009. This is Chania, Crete. I was there many times, courtesy of my former employer. I believe I could get used to this place on a permanent basis as long as I wasn't dependent upon the local economy for income. It's magnificent. It's also more motorcycle friendly than anywhere in the US. People here use motorcycles as basic transportation.

Looks nice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chania+crete&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=685&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CbbTVIquJYyngwT_igM&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Wayne Orwig · « **Reply #161 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:30:36 PM »

Quote from: gary martin on February 05, 2015, 12:05:07 PM

I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!

For me it was November through April. That half of the year was just too gloomy for me.
But then, everything is gloom and doom for me. ~;

jetmechmarty · « **Reply #162 on:** February 05, 2015, 12:48:49 PM »

Quote from: Dean Rose on February 05, 2015, 12:29:01 PM

Looks nice.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chania+crete&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=685&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CbbTVIquJYyngwT_igM&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Darn right! This is my favorite restaurant on the entire planet. (so far)

Also on the water, but not the same one as my previous picture.

rodekyll · « **Reply #163 on:** February 05, 2015, 01:03:00 PM »

Quote from: donn on February 05, 2015, 10:07:53 AM

"Really hot" means different things to different people. Very obvious here in Seattle, a good place people who hate hot weather. 80°F will be a big problem for these people. For me, that's some nice weather ... unless we're talking about riding a motorcycle in full armor, in which case I'm kind of sorry to see it get over 60°.

You're the first candidate for retiring to Sitka. Mean temp is 43f. A good summer day is In the 60s. In 25 years I can remember three days over 80f -- not in the same year. Winter lows hover in the low/mid +30s with rain rather than snow most of the time. This (Feb) is our really cold period, and we're headed there now, with mid +teens for the next couple of nights, a foot+ of the white stuff promised, and this:

...Significant winter weather to impact Southeast Alaska through this weekend...

Cold temperatures and strong winds will create near blizzard conditions along The Klondike Highway with blowing snow and dangerous wind chills. Very gusty outflow winds will reach as high as 90 mph in downtown Juneau and Douglas. Latest model guidance is also indicating the potential for significant snowfall across portions of the central Panhandle and Hyder Thursday night into Friday and then over the northern Panhandle into the weekend. However...if latest model trends continue the significant snowfall on Friday could expand northward to Juneau and Hoonah.

But none of it compares to what those poor folks in nor'easter country have been getting, and it almost never does.

The downsides to life on the rock is that it's life on a rock. No roads out of town. You ferry or fly anywhere. This makes a trip to Costco a planned event, involving an 8-hour ferry ride and maybe several days in Juneau waiting for the ferry to take you home.

Gas has just dropped below $4/gal. The fuel folks are gougers. Real estate is unreal. My hovel is worth about $200k, and it has no foundation. That's because we're penned between the Tongass National Forest and the deep blue sea. There's no more room to build. The upside is that the town can't get much bigger than it is.

I just looked at ground beef the other day $6.35/lb. Milk is also $6.35/gal. Sometimes I think they leave the little sticker gun on the same price and just randomly run up and down the shelves pasting $6.35 on everything. This time of year groceries freeze en-route to town and can taste funny when it thaws. The milk aisle is occasionally empty.

And there's the rain. We are in a rain forest. We get well over 100"/yr. The Japan current effect is responsible for the precip, and also responsible for defining our two seasons: the season of cold rain and that of colder rain. It's a constant, much like the sun is in SoCal or the wind in KS. No, I mean really.

But if you can reconcile all that to your retirement goals, there is world-class x-country skiing, snowshoeing, and hunting in the winter, world class hiking, kayaking and sail/powerboating in the summer, world-class fishing of world-class fish, 1:AM Tee times (Down the line in Fairbanks), and photo ops wherever you look. The lifestyle choices include subsistence, which is where you are allowed to eat anything slower than you are. It is said that if we lost our supply link, the town could live nicely on the harvest between the tides, until the booze runs out.

donn · « **Reply #164 on:** February 05, 2015, 01:21:55 PM »

Are there mosquitos? Any mosquitos and I'm out.

rodekyll · « **Reply #165 on:** February 05, 2015, 02:02:28 PM »

Quote from: donn on February 05, 2015, 01:21:55 PM

Are there mosquitos? Any mosquitos and I'm out.

No ginormous clouds of 'skeeters like you're thinking of. We have two varieties, both of which are big enough to slow down enough with a shotgun that you can run away from them. There's not a lot of them. They like it warmer than we are and between the fish and ducks eating the larvae and the birds, fish, and other insects catching the flyers they stay pretty well under control. We do have biting gnats. They are grounded at light windspeeds, so above about 8knts of wind you don't have bugs.

gary martin · « **Reply #166 on:** February 05, 2015, 06:26:54 PM »

my nephew in the Coast Guard was recently transferred from Seattle to Ketchikan, AK. So I did a little internet search for info about his new station and was surprised to learn the record low temp for Ketchikan is -1 deg. F. Hell, the record low for Pittsburgh is -22 deg. F.!!!

rodekyll · « **Reply #167 on:** February 05, 2015, 06:49:55 PM »

I was in Ketchikan on Monday. It had snow to within a couple hundred feet of sea level, but the town itself was bare and dry. Temps in the mid 30s, about the same as Sitka. KTN is a town of about 15k people, and is in both economic and social decline.

jhrodd · « **Reply #168 on:** February 05, 2015, 07:50:45 PM »

I'm thinking about Friday Harbor, WA We stay in the marina quite often :

Easy access to my favorite food - Pacific Spot Prawns

fotoguzzi · « **Reply #169 on:** February 05, 2015, 08:01:03 PM »

3 more votes for Grand Marias,

groundhog105 · « **Reply #170 on:** February 05, 2015, 10:37:35 PM »

Fotoguzzi. What year and model Guzzi is that in the picture.

oldbike54 · « **Reply #171 on:** February 05, 2015, 10:38:57 PM »

'99 Bassa .

Dusty

NorthRider · « **Reply #172 on:** February 06, 2015, 06:49:20 AM »

Grand Marais Minnisota or Michigan in the Winter?! No thanks! 😳😀

rboe · « **Reply #173 on:** February 06, 2015, 07:46:27 AM »

Quote from: fotoguzzi on February 05, 2015, 08:01:03 PM

3 more votes for Grand Marias,

Sven and Oli's Pizza too.....

blackcat · « **Reply #174 on:** February 06, 2015, 08:10:03 AM »

Quote from: gary martin on February 05, 2015, 12:05:07 PM

I know people who have moved to California or Florida then moved back here. From January to the end of March they can have it!

Yes, I really don't like Florida and yes the property taxes are low but whatever I save in taxes I give to the insurance companies for high auto,wind and liability policy's which are almost always climbing. Yes, the property taxes don't go up because the system is rigged to screw the new people as they almost never reassess everyone's property so once in your taxes are set until death,etc. or until you sell then the next sucker takes the hit.

It would be worth it if there was someplace to ride.