We will be up there next month, too!
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@anxiousmom and @Youdon_tsay this will be our first winter in Twin Cities. Not going to lie - we had our first snowfall yesterday (just a dusting, it melted by mid day). It was a record for earliest snowfall, usually waits until November.
That said, I am anxious to see how the winter will be overall (and can keep you posted). I already have 2 trips planned - end of December (after Christmas) with S, then H and I will be gone for 2 weeks plus end of Jan- Feb. Might need to book a short trip in March as I have heard that is the worst month as everyone is sick of the snow then.
Thing is, if I had moved south like a lot of my friends, I would have had to plan escapes all summer as I really dislike heat/humidity.
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Iâm glad we didnât buy last year as we were dipping our toes in the water in Sanibel Island. We have gone there every winter as my in-laws have a house there. We wonât inherit that and thought maybe we should purchase there or in the Longboat/Sarasota area. We will have to help my MIL rebuild â sheâs got no problems financially but it would be impossible for her to manage the process, even though she has a very good relationship with her handyman/jack-of-all-trades and his brother who is a General Contractor.
Now, Iâm less sure where to go for winters. Both the vitriolic politics and increasing likelihood/magnitude of major storms make Florida less appealing. ShawWife didnât like Tucson â she likes water, didnât like the vitriolic politics and thought it was too hot even in winter. With climate change, I think a fair bit of the Southwest is going to have problems with water shortages. We tried Sausalito for three winters. It was lovely â lived on a houseboat in Richardson Bay â but a bit far for us especially if we were renters and it wasnât that warm. And a bit expensive to own two homes.
@FallGirl and @anxiousmom, Iâve done a couple of extended consulting projects in Minneapolis. Generally a nicer city than most, but I think the length and severity of winters there would drive me bonkers.
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Check Palm Coast, Florida. We have friends who relocated there. Something about how a past President (maybe one of the Roosevelts) researched places in FL with the least likelihood of hurricanes. So far my friends have had zero weather related issues.
@thumper1, thanks. Research hat on.
Love Lancaster, and have driven through Lewes a couple of times after disembarking from the Cape May ferry (ferries are one of my favorite modes of travel) and thought it was really charming! Enjoy!
Weâve determined we like the Caribbean better than FL, but for us, scuba opportunities are a big factor. FL has springs and some scuba in the keys, but thatâs about it.
We still have to figure out if we want a condo (hurricane + climate change issues), which island if so, or if we opt for a boat (hardly a payback investment, plus we have to figure out what to do with it when we arenât around), RV (ditto boat) or just renting (ditto on the payback, but allows for the most freedom).
We have about two more years to explore before I feel fairly comfortable financially to do something.
If we opt for just renting, we might buy an investment property up north (Great Lakes or St Lawrence) as I mentioned before. Those places are awesome in the summer and shouldnât have water issues like other places can have. As summer expands its timeframe, even better.
As we age, we like following mid 70 to low 80 degree highs, but I also still like seeing the seasons change so our home base is likely to be here in PA for a few years yet.
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Perhaps around Savannah, GA or thereabouts? It seems as though you might be a preference for the eastern half of the U.S., Georgia is more evenly split politically than Florida is, and this article from UGA has some interesting info on hurricane season for Georgia.
We are in coastal Virginia, not known for tons of hurricanes but we have experienced coastal and tidal flooding and a major hurricane down the line is not out of the question⊠Iâm wary of Florida in general. Maybe not fair but Iâm kind of done worrying about the possibility of hurricanes and donât want to be worrying about evacuating when Iâm even older. We are already in an evacuation zone because of our nearness to a river and frankly should have evacuated a few years ago when we were encouraged to with a potential approaching hurricane. Didnât evacuate but it was stressful figuring out what we should do, where we would go.
One of my thoughts for moving in retirement involves getting out of any potential hurricane areas. Donât want to worry about it anymore and donât want family to worry about us either.
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My âActs of Godâ worries are tornados and earthquakes, so we stay away from areas known to be at risk for bad ones of those. At least with hurricanes you see them coming and construction has improved considerably.
You know hurricanes are potentially coming and that is part of the anxiety! The news goes on and on and you donât really know if itâs really going to hit you. Until it does. Or doesnât.
The hurricane season lasts for months. I feel for those in potential wildfire, tornado, earthquake areas as well.
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Itâs what you get used to dealing with. I live here in California for 47 years and Iâm not afraid of earthquakes. They get over quick. But we start to be aware of fires now. I didnât in the past.
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I live in the SF Bay Area. Weâve not had a major earthquake since 1989. We may be due for big one though, someday, but building codes have changed dramatically over the years since then.
I lived in SF in 1989, the house built in the early 1900âs, where I lived was virtually unaffected. Some minor drywall cracking.
Most older homes have been seismically retrofitted and new houses and buildings are built to withstand a big one.
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I too live in in the Bay Area and was in high school for the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. That was a doozy! I think the aftershocks were more anxiety-producing for me because we were on guard for them. We happened to be filling our familyâs brand new pool that dayâit cracked in the quake and delayed our first swim by a few weeks. Otherwise it was just a mess of stuff to pick up.
There hasnât been such a big one since. I figure itâs coming. But the thought of it doesnât affect my daily life. Itâs always surprising to me when people tell me they wouldnât live here bc of earthquakes. There are certain things you do as a Californian knowing that quakes are possible. Donât put your bed below a window, know how to shut off your gas line, keep a go bag in the garage, etc. then you go about your daily life and donât think about it. To each their own, though!
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We lived in FL for 5 years including when Andrew went through just one county south of where my grandmother lived (for decades). I guess we think about those the way others who live in X areas think about earthquakes or tornadoes. They can be horrible, but one can see them coming, so they are less scary, esp since we werenât opposed to evacuating if needed. Our house was just 9â above sea level, so we were in Zone A (first to evacuate).
My concerns are based on the current increase in severe weather events, damage in areas lately that never even flooded before, and my age now. We are in an A evacuation zone . Just done with it but everyone is different. Flood insurance costs are increasing ( we have it) and many donât even have it , including many in the sad recent Florida event. Even getting rid of flood insurance costs is appealing!
We have no family here that might keep us here so I am just looking forward to moving on in retirement.
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Minneapolis in Nov is âwinter lightâ. To get the real flavor, you need to be there for 6 weeks in Jan and Feb, and there has to be a blizzard.
The lakes arenât even frozen in Nov.
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We are going for Tgiving so we get what we get. We actually are spending the holiday in northern Wisconsin. The town got snow this weekend. Totally excited and probs will be happy to leave after a week, too!
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I looked it up, gun season for deer is November 19-27 in Wisconsin. Itâs November 15-December 1 in Michigan. MN November 5-20
I donât know exactly where in northern Wisconsin or how far north you will be but know that deer hunting is big in the UP of Michigan, northern Wisconsin and rural Minnesota.
Be careful, there will be hunters! Do not hike in the woods unless you are very sure there wonât be hunters. Be prepared to see deer in the back of pick ups. Wear orange!
And go bowling! When my son lived in Osh Kosh for a year, he said everyone bowls!
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Oh, ds1 will BE hunting with his FIL and wifeâs uncle. Thatâs part of the reason we arenât staying in Minneapolis for the whole week.
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