Retirement Reconnoiter Trip

[SShore]

The wife and I are at that stage where we are seriously starting to plan where to retire/semi-retire. Must haves are being close to fly fishing and skiing, access go good medical facilities, reasonably close to civilization but away from major urban areas (16 years in the Atlanta area is enough to make anyone hate even a hint of traffic) and reasonable access to an commercial airport. Very nice to haves are decent places to eat and imbibe in the bartenders art, art and cultural activities, and local wineries, breweries and distilleries. A university town is also a big plus.

So this fall we are planning a tour of likely cities that are on our list. We will fly to Denver (not on the list) and hit Laramie, WY, then up to Bozeman and Butte, MT (love Bozeman but housing is expensive, Butte is a very different kind of place but cost of living is cheap and it has easy access to the worlds best fly fishing and my kind of laid back ski areas), then on to Spokane and Boise (both probably on the margin of being too large but I won't know until I visit them), then back to Denver.

Also on the list are towns that we have already spent a bit of time in and won't revisit on this trip; Bend (love it and @newfydog lives there so that is a big plus), Salida, CO (love the town and love Monarch but it may be too small) and Durango (where our daughter goes to school).

What hidden Gems am I missing?

 

[scott43]

Give me your results please!!!

 

[jmeb]

Victor / Driggs Idaho? The mellow side of the Tetons, Targhee as your everyday hill and Jackson for when you need some variety.
Whitefish? If you don't mind the remoteness.
Crested Butte/Gunnison?
Steamboat? But maybe too pricey.
Taos is actually kind of a funky and cool town if you like the desert vibe. Sante Fe ain't too far away.

 

[VickiK]

Great topic. I'm daydreaming about it myself. Towns and areas I'd like to investigate are:
Missoula, MT
Bellingham, WA
Pagoda Springs, CO
Eden/Huntsville, UT (near Ogden)
Couer d'Alene, ID

This might be useful: http://www.greatplacestoretire.com/compare-cities.php
Please keep us posted.

 

[newfydog]

I spent some time in Missoula with a friend who moved there from Bend. We both liked it. Whitefish is a wonderful town. Helena seems pretty good, Sandpoint Idaho too.

Getting away from the Montana winter, Cheryl always loved Silver City, New Mexico. It is a nice town but a bit far from the skiing. We stayed in Montpelier Vt. last fall, and it sure is a bargain compared to the trendy towns. Grand Junction has great access to wonderful spots and is less trendy and less snowed in than the resort towns.

I wouldn't say this in public, but this is still a small forum and I like the people here. We have had a number of friends retire here recently, and they all are happy with the choice. Most settled for a smaller place close-in, where we can all walk in to downtown, enjoy all the local beer and Pinot Noir we want, and waddle home. We have several meters of snow up the road, but only a few inches in town. Today I skied off the back of Bachelor in fresh powder and blue skies above the clouds. Ski in ski out parking and no lift lines. Earlier in the week I rode my fatbike on trails packed and groomed by a bike club, skied XC on trails groomed by an eccentric volunteer, and yesterday I fished in a desert canyon where I hit a midge hatch and could cast to rising fish. Oh yeah, and Tuesday I shot this photo, right in the middle of the day, right in the middle of town.

 

[John Webb]

Many many awesome microbrewerys in Bend.
10 Barrel there makes "Pray For Snow" Sadly they got bought by the evil Bud/InBev conglomerate.

Surprised Phil hasn't chimed in for Reno.
We like Nevada City CA though airport access and medical facilities are a bit weak. Auburn CA could be better.
These 3 are an hour or so from Tahoe.

Denver & SLC can have periods of bad inversion smog in winter.

 

[Philpug]

Surprised Phil hasn't chimed in for Reno.
We like Nevada City CA though airport access and medical facilities are a bit weak. Auburn CA could be better.
These 3 are an hour or so from Tahoe.

He said he doesn't was a city, Reno is a small city or as we call it, a big town. But that is the only part that does not meet his requirements. I will add, low cost of living and no state income tax.

 

[SShore]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Victor/Dreggs is certainly worth considering. Close to the Henry's Fork and the upper reaches of the Madison, Ruby and Beaverhead as well as the skiing.

I've always considered Missoula and Bozeman as both very similar and very different; similar size and both college towns with a local ski hill and ample world class fishing opportunities nearby. As a local realtor told me about Bozeman when we were there last year, the housing prices are being driven up by California Trust Funders (not a positive contribution to the neighborhood IMO) and that does seem to be a vibe in that town, while I get more of a mountain hippie vibe from Missoula. My problem with Missoula (and probably Whitefish too although I haven't been there) is sitting right at the western edge of the divide and getting the warmer, wetter, foggier winters, than a city like Bozeman that sits on the other side and gets colder drier winters.

And yes Phil, while Reno would fit most criteria, it has even MORE Cali's than Bozeman.

Newfy mentioned Grand Junction and that is a place the meets almost all of my criteria, but my daughter (who lives in Durango) pukes every time I mention Grand Junction saying it is the meth capital of the world. Don't know how much of that is fact and how much is intra-state bias.

 

[Philpug]

And yes Phil, while Reno would fit most criteria, it has even MORE Cali's than Bozeman.

Yes, but less than Portland or maybe even Bend. Give these Cali's a break, they were smart enough to get out.

 

[SShore]

I heard at one time someone in Oregon put up a big billboard on the border with California that said, Welcome to Oregon, Enjoy your stay then GO HOME.

 

[SBrown]

...
Newfy mentioned Grand Junction and that is a place the meets almost all of my criteria, but my daughter (who lives in Durango) pukes every time I mention Grand Junction saying it is the meth capital of the world. Don't know how much of that is fact and how much is intra-state bias.

I will admit to some of that bias, as well, but have you looked a little farther east on 70? New Castle, Glenwood?

 

[SShore]

I like Glenwood a lot and that is a town that I should have mentioned. Sunlight is one place in CO that I haven't skied that I really want to go to. Don't think I have ever been to New Castle, or if I have I didn't know I was there.

 

[UGASkiDawg]

I like Glenwood a lot and that is a town that I should have mentioned. Sunlight is one place in CO that I haven't skied that I really want to go to. Don't think I have ever been to New Castle, or if I have I didn't know I was there.

If you haven't skied at Powderhorn you should give it a try as well. Great tree skiing and the new owner put in a high speed lift this past summer. Super fun mountain and even less crowded than Sunlight if that's possible.

 

[SBrown]

I like Glenwood a lot and that is a town that I should have mentioned. Sunlight is one place in CO that I haven't skied that I really want to go to. Don't think I have ever been to New Castle, or if I have I didn't know I was there.

Let me know if you're in the area this season! I think we might try to hit Sunlight over MLK weekend.

 

[newfydog]

I will add a bit of heresy here: Big winters are wonderful, but they get harder as you get older. It is was great to live at 8,000 fee and stoke the wood stove when I was 30.

I had to hire a young guy to shovel the roof in Fernie




I could barely manage to keep the for sale sign dug out



Towns like Bend and Grand Junction start to look pretty good on days like this.

 

[newfydog]

Newfy mentioned Grand Junction and that is a place the meets almost all of my criteria, but my daughter (who lives in Durango) pukes every time I mention Grand Junction saying it is the meth capital of the world. Don't know how much of that is fact and how much is intra-state bias.

Dude, you already live in the Meth capital of the world:

Meth Capital

Many major cities in the Meth Belt have argued whether they have the best meth and/or higher percentage of meth users than any other city in the Meth Belt, thus making the Meth Capital of the World. All the major cannidates have good arguments on both sides.

Atlanta edit
As the orginal cesspool for meth, Atlanta has a very strong argument for being the Meth Capital of the world, They even obtained the nickname Methlanta. Old school meth users still continuously go there for 70s style meth. However, it's meth usage is not as high as the other major contenders.

Butte edit
The argument for Butte, MT as Meth Capital of the World is it's very high percentage of meth users and the uniqueness of their meth due to them using acid from the mine lake in the meth making process, However other cities in contention point out that the city doesn't even have 50,000 people. Methlanta's representative was quoted as saying "ain't no cow town(Butte) have the ability to be meth capital, no matter how good the meth is"

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Meth_Belt

 

[midwestfabs]

Congrats on the new stage. We are few years from it and have always had in the back of our brains doing something similar. Since you are going to be in denver and your daughter is in CO, frisco/silverthonre and surrounding areas might be a place to visit. Obviously once you breach the resort boundaries prices get nutty, but once you venture out a bit things start to get more affordable.

 

[SShore]

Let me know if you're in the area this season! I think we might try to hit Sunlight over MLK weekend.

I am going to be in Durango for two weeks before and one week after Presidents Weekend. Let me know if you guys are in CDale and Domi and I may head up that way. We are thinking about road tripping it weekend to somewhere. We may go to Santa Fe to visit some friends from OK if they are there that weekend also.

 

[SShore]

Towns like Bend and Grand Junction start to look pretty good on days like this.

I was really surprised at how 4-6" of snow caused such a problem in Bend when Victoria and I were there skiing with you a few years ago. I figured that was a common occurrence there.

 

[newfydog]

We average 32" of snow a year in Bend, spread out from October 'til May, usually melting off between storms, and we have only a 35% chance of a white Christmas. Bachelor, 22 miles away averages 462". The road has no real curves, but there is still someone off the road and into the woods every day.