RE: Colorado

[firefighterjake]

Starting to consider places to live when I retire . . . looking for info about southern Colorado . . . specifically what are the seasons like, available wood sources (yeah, I know . . . only to a woodburner would this be a major issue), ATV trail access, etc.

Ideally I would love to live in a small town -- well out in the country with access to a small town or city (bearing in mind that here in Maine a "city" is loosely defined as any place with more than 10,000 or so people) -- some place with trees so I could heat with wood, a place with access to ATV trails and (for my wife) a place where the winters are not as long or as cold as they are here in Maine.

Any suggestions?

 

[Beetle-Kill]

jake, if I had my choice, and employment was not an issue, I'd be living in or around the "Uncompahgre Plateau". Western slope, below Grand Junction. A few small towns on the west side, larger ones on the east. My favorite part of the state, maybe the country ( area around mackay(?) Idaho is a close second.

 

[bogydave]

Here is a site to look over:
http://www.retirementliving.com/RLstate1.html

SE Colorado has mild winters, hot summers. Good location. central location to drive almost anywhere.

This Story helps:
1st neighbor moves in & asks a neighbor " how is the community, are the neighbors nice, are folks friendly etc?
Neighbor replies: " how were they in the area you just move from?"
New guy says" neighbors were impossible to get along with, bunch of idiots around me, one of the reasons I moved"
Neighbor replies: "you'll probably find the same thing here"

2nd new neighbor moves in & asks neighbor :" how is the community, are the neighbors nice, are folks friendly etc?
Neighbor replies: " how were they in the area you just move from?"
2nd new guys says: " things were great there, neighbors got along great , helped each other & I hated to leave"
Neighbor replies: "you'll probably find the same thing here"

Moral: What you bring is what you get.

Jake, you'll do fine where ever you go.

 

[drewmo]

Check out Guffey, Colorado. Puts you in the foothills and not far from Colorado Springs. I visited a ranch there several years ago for just a couple of hours, so really can't say much about it. I think the more south you go in Colo, the more arid it becomes, perhaps limiting activities associated with wood burning. I lived in Denver for a number of years and loved every aspect of the city and state. While you can get walloped with snow anywhere in Colo, you'll find winters are much more enjoyable than in Maine. Very dry and fluffy snow compared to the wet sludge you got hit with yesterday. Good luck.

 

[semipro]

That's a beautiful area. My wife and I used to take vacations there every summer. We usually visited Durango, Pagosa Springs, Silverton, Ouray, etc. I'm not sure about living there though. Summers were awesome, cool air, few insects, clear water. Its not as green and wet as the east though and that's something that's a little hard to get used to. We love the mountains but like green and water so we settled in the Appalacians.

There's not much difference between that area and and parts of northern New Mexico so you may want to compare laws, taxes, etc.

 

[gzecc]

I would think about the boise Idaho area for the climate. I believe humidity is much lower than the northeast and I just need a change from living in the north east. Can anyone speak about the climate in the boise area? Of course the wood species I assume is of the soft variety?

 

[Delta-T]

be aware jake.....they dont have very many beaches in Colorado, and a totally different type of oyster.

 

[James Gautsch]

Lived in Pueblo for 5 years. Might look at the area around Walsenburg and Trinidad. Both on on the eastern slope. Another area would be Canon City. Easy access to Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

 

[jeromehdmc]

Colorado is the most beautiful place on earth to me. I really love the Southwest, Ouray, the best. Here is a link to a small article in Mother Earth about Paonia. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2007-08-01/Great-Places-Paonia-Colorado.aspx

 

[smokinj]

Durango!

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Yeah, anywhere along the 50/550 stretch would work. Banana belt area, plenty of area to ATV, sled, camp, gather wood, wildlife, whathaveyou. Montrose has a decent airport. Winters are good. Lots of good stuff over there. I shy away from the front range for retirement, cities are changing, population is increasing, and to get away from it all takes a lot longer drive. Better to situate where you want to be, not where you have to drive to be where you want to be.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Jake, that is some good thinking about the future. But beware that there will be lots of advice and most folks have their favorite places.

One thing I might suggest for you would be to do like my wife and I did. We had a large motor home and we spent 5 winters near Yuma, AZ. We'd get there in November or December and stay until April and then start heading home. It would usually take us a couple months to get home! If we liked an area, we'd just set up camp for a while.

In the spring of the year we'd then gradually make our way back home but most times would go north through Arizona and Utah before turning east to go through Colorado, taking different routes each time. This allowed us to spend a little time in several areas. If we liked it, we'd stay a week or two.

During this time we really did consider moving out there full time and occasionally still do but now doubt we'll ever move again. We just like our little place in the country as it has most things we want. However, if we were to move, I would certainly consider Utah first. There are some beautiful area around St. George, Cedar City and several areas along I-70 just east of I-15. Also Moab would be very high on our list. One big reason for looking at Utah is we love the red rock areas and Utah has plenty. There is also some good areas for hunting.

You love to atv and snowmobile so I have to tell you about some folks we once knew who spent their time from April through October near the Big Rock Candy Mountain, which is near the junction of I-70 and US-89. They camped out during this time and spent most of their time riding atv's. They told us that Utah was the most friendly atv state they knew about. But when I asked about the heat of the summer they replied that if it got hot, they went high. If it got cool, they went down lower. Makes sense to me.

If you ever get to Utah, be sure to visit some of the National Parks. Arches, Canyonland, Bryce, and Zion. Then there are some National Monuments like Cedar Breaks and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Yes, Utah has some beautiful areas.

Climate for most areas is dry so if you want wooded areas you must go to higher elevations. Winters can be real winter in the higher elevations, especially near Salt Lake City but in areas like St. George they are more moderate. But St. George can get pretty hot in the summer. However, I found the higher temperatures easier to live in that even here in Michigan simply because of the lack of humidity. Some of the higher ground can have very late winters. For instance, in 2008 we drove I-70 from Denver to I-15 before turning south. Before we got to I-15 we ran into lots of snow! That was the case until almost to Cedar City. This was in early June. I was surprised that when we got to St. George and later to Las Vegas the temperature was higher but very comfortable.

Colorado is hard to beat for beauty if you like mountains. There are some awesome places. Durango was mentioned and that is one area we really liked too. However, Durango and surrounding areas are also very popular tourist areas so it can get a bit crowded at times. Biking and canoeing or kayaking is very popular. But there are dozens of great areas in Colorado so one would naturally want to compare taxes and cost of living of the different areas and states.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

...and a totally different type of oyster.

Good ol' Rocky Mountain Oysters

 

[firefighterjake]

...and a totally different type of oyster.

Good ol' Rocky Mountain Oysters

More of a scallops and clams guy myself . . . don't see too many places up this away serving oysters.

 

[drewmo]

...and a totally different type of oyster.

Good ol' Rocky Mountain Oysters

More of a scallops and clams guy myself . . . don't see too many places up this away serving oysters.

Should we tell Jake what Rocky Mountain oysters are really, or should we let him figure it out on his own??? :°

 

[Delta-T]

...and a totally different type of oyster.

Good ol' Rocky Mountain Oysters

More of a scallops and clams guy myself . . . don't see too many places up this away serving oysters.

Should we tell Jake what Rocky Mountain oysters are really, or should we let him figure it out on his own??? :°

They're like quahogs..yeah, just like a quahog. ;-)

 

[firefighterjake]

...and a totally different type of oyster.

Good ol' Rocky Mountain Oysters

More of a scallops and clams guy myself . . . don't see too many places up this away serving oysters.

Should we tell Jake what Rocky Mountain oysters are really, or should we let him figure it out on his own??? :°

If I remember correctly aren't they bull or sheep testicles or something like that?

Here's a restaurant in Maine with some interesting menu items . . . check out the Mooseballs under "Strips, Fips . . ." . . . guessing this is just put on the menu for fun.

http://www.theblackfrog.com/bf_menu.html

 

[Biglumber]

I can think of 50 places right now. Check out LaVeta, Walsenburg for southern colorado.
Pagosa, Cortez, Durango for southwest and Delta, Montrose to the west. All could have mountain potential.
Guffey, Woodland Park definately offer mountain living.

I'm partial to the Roaring Fork valley.

Peace