Mid-sized city, America

I am sure almost anywhere would do. Once you get to 70k population you will have anything you need, including and this is important, good health care. I always remembering my grandparents having to drive 50 miles to Green Bay to get health care. Both died from medical conditions, 50+ miles from home. I would suggest outside a mid-sized town that is not too far from a much bigger city, where more serious health care concerns can be dealt with by real experts.

 

Hey, thanks, paS2K! Yeah, Bu's a cutie.

 

[QUOTE=Boomvang,Dec 18 2005, 03:02 PM] BU is beautiful, but a little out of our price range. Also, the sun is on the wrong side of the ocean.

 

Bitsa, while true that some areas are going for outrageous sums, my area (with the exception of waterfront) is not one of them. Some of the ideas on this thread are worthy of consideration. We had considered the left coast, but we would like to stay a little closer to family. We may think this over, as I for one do not wish to feel "provincial".

 

Uh, to clarify, my use of "provincial" was meant to refer to the regional scope of suggestions to that point (and I hope it was clear that I was goofing people about NE elitism).

At the same time, it's a big continent and if you haven't considered the wide open spaces out west (for example), you're shortchanging yourself. I've even come to appreciate that there are places east of the Mississippi (and not stuck out on a subtropical peninsula) that have considerable attractiveness. HPH

 

Dr. Cloud, you are more than correct, I hope I did not sound too defensive. There are many areas to be explored, so please keep the suggestions coming, including anywhere that meets some if not all of the criteria.

 

I lived in Miami during the '70s and crewed for a variety of people both on excursions to the Bahamas and the Keys and in beer-can races, so when I moved to Colorado I ached for the ocean. Now, after nearly a quarter century in the mountains, I ache for them (although not for the winter weather. Yet.).

I mentioned (by implication) the Olympic Peninsula because it offers both ocean and mountains -- but you've got to like water falling out of the sky.

During our drive from Santa Fe to here, we kept our minds as open as possible. Still, Kansas didn't fare too well. The Ozarks, on the other hand, appeared to have potential (although what water there is seems full of bass boats) as did the southern Appalachians.

That idea to hit the road for a while in a motor home seems better and better, as I think about it. I must be having a serious geezer attack. HPH

 

I've read many of these responses with great interest. I've been retired for 9 years and +1 and I travel a lot. I've moved 15 times. I've been to 49 of the states and 44 foreign countries. Let me be bold.
I live on the shores or the Western Basin of Lake Erie. I sail, boat and fish in the summer. I live on a peninsula, and except during the 4-5 months we call summer there is nothing here but 38,000 empty boat slips. The winters are very long and unkind and you got to get out of here.
Some of my favorite places: Upper New Hamphire and Vermont for camping and driving. Annapolis, MD is pretty special. Just south of Wilmington, NC and Charleston, SC are nice weather, water and right coast places. I like St. Augustine and Tarpon Springs and Melbourne as more laid back, great winter weather Florida places. I visit the Destin / Fort Walton Beach area of Florida every year. The Ashville, NC area must be visited to be appreciated, plus the Dragon and some other great roads are nearby.
My son went to college in Charlottesville, VA and that town and the surrounding area near the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway is very special with its walking downtown area and restaurants and college atmosphere. Go south toward Roanoke and you will find some unbelievable properties and upscale areas to live. Little further south is Mount Airy, NC an upscale versiion of Mayberry picked as a #1 place to live in a magazine I can't remember.
One of my favorite places is upper east Michigan around Frankfort, Petovsky and particularly Charliveaux - upscale, reasonably priced, beautiful, water wonderlands, and cold as hell in the winter.
If empty and great driving and motorcylce roads, rolling terrain, plus cheap living hits the spot, then northern Arkansas must be visited to be appreciated. The Hill country west and south of Ausin, TX is quite trendy and hot in the summers.
The area around Flagstaff, AZ and southwest of there around Prescott is quite scenic, as is the canyon and national park(s) area of southern Utah. While in Utah, visiting and enjoying the upscale but not alough small town of Park City is a must.
I go to Elkart Lake, WI every year and its small town upscale old resort area.
My daughter went to school in Bellingham., WA and the area around the Puget Sound and Bremerton and the inland mountain areas near Mt Ranier are breathtaking. The Olympic Peninsula is like a secret place but it's kind of quiet there. However, jump the ferries and go to Victoria, BC and similar special places. North is Vancouver, BC and not far west of there is the area both well worth visiting.
You want to play a bit of pioneer then Idaho (where men are men and sheep are scared) offers endless road, mountains and reasonable costs. Similarly, not far away are Jackson Hole, WY and the Bitterroots of western Montana which are stunning as well as cold.
Don't miss Eugene, OR for its college and near water and yuppie atmospere, which can be very infectious.
I saved perhaps the best for last. The last 4 years I've spent a lot of time exploring California. Simply said, if you travel around it just plain has the most and best of everything. It's like most of the great places in the world to visist all within driving distance. From Fort Bragg, and Hwy 1 and Shasta up North to Tahoe in the Northeast and Yosemite and and Sequoa/King Parks in the East, to San Diego, to Santa Barbara, to Monterey, and Hwy 1 south to Hearst Mansion, and Napa/Sonoma and Russian River areas. Lots and lots of good roads in between. I still get goose bumps from the time spent in the Mojavi Desert, mostly for being different than anticipated. Unfortunately, though I love spending time in CA, there are relatively few places there that I would want to live permanently and it is even more expensive than you think.
Sorry for mispellings and rambling on. If you want to know more specific about a particular place, I'll try to please. There really is so much that you have to go and see for yourself. I'm probably partial to west of the Miss River because of the beauty, the vast expanse, and the independent-mindedness, give-a-shit attitude of the people.

 

Hey, I enjoyed every line of your rambling....as a traveler @ heart I'll take you up on the offer to expand:

I'm particularly interested in southern Oregon ....Bend, Sisters, maybe Eugene, the Rogue 'wild and scenic' River I've only visited once and spent most of that time on the Pacific Coast (which I understand gets too much rain/ not enough sun). What are your thoughts in more detail about that area

 

Great post, RC. Have you been to the Seattle/Vancover(sp) area? What are your thoughts? Anyone?