Stop singing Green Acres, this is serious. I need a place to live.
Not right away, of course.
In 9 years or so, I need a place to live.
Our gypsy lives will end then and somewhere in the last decade,
we lost our home-- not quite sure where we put it.
In the beginning,
when asked where our home was,
we soundly said, "Flagstaff, Arizona", even though the hubby's prior home was Phoenix and I have Lake Powell running through my veins.
Flagstaff was where we met, married and began our lives together. Home.
Then we moved, moved, moved and moved again and landed in New Mexico which, after nearly five years, became "home".
With any luck, we will live in England for a total of seven years. After that we need a home.
Here's what we'd like:
- I'd like to be near the ocean. I'd be satisfied with a Lake. The hubby says "A stream would be nice".
- We both require mountains. The Air Force, for some silly reason (silly like air turbulence and such), tends to place us in wide open flat places. We like mountains. At least within view.
- I HAVE TO HAVE a strong art community (so I can wear flowers in my hair and do hippie dances around my computer nerdy husband).
- Within an hour or 2 (or 3) of a military facility (it'd be awfully stupid to retire from the military and not be near enough to take advantages of our benefits).
- Small town feel in commuting distance to big town Target or Michael's, would please me. And you KNOW how I feel about cities, but the Hubby won't budge on this one.
- Tourist pull is a bonus since we'd like to run a small B&B. What mad B&B skillz do we have that makes us think we'd be even slightly successful? None. But that's where dreams get exciting...
Certainly sounds reasonable! Sounds like some pretty solid requirements. Good you know what you like/need!
ReplyDeleteoh your list sound so much like a place I would rather stay than the one I'm in now...*laugh* except for the flower on the hair part...*laugh*
ReplyDeleteHmm... How big do your mountains have to be?
ReplyDeleteMadison, WI: Near mountains, four lakes in the city, I assume near military base since I see fighter jets coming from airport all the time, definitely a hippy town, possibly too much hay. ;) (I think Green Acres takes place in Hortonville, WI which is... maybe 2 hours away)
I think you'd make a great host of a B&B, so good luck with the quest for a perfect town.
ReplyDeleteYou'll LOVE having a B&B! My parents opened one after the kids moved out of the big farm house and they really enjoy the visitors they get. Plus it's a job where you pick and choose your work days. A win-win.
ReplyDeletehey - ever thought of joining the Canadian Forces?!?!? You would like Comox British Colombia - and the B&B business is amazing there~!~!~!
ReplyDeleteYou do to have experience with a B&B! You hosted American tourists this summer and they had a wonderful time. Of course, you'd need to buy lots of butter to open a B&B like that.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you! Sounds like a lot of requirements to try and meet, but at least you know what you are looking for. We live not where we would like to live but, like most people, in a spot close to employment (that necessary evil) and to family.
ReplyDeleteWell, you are just going to have to come and live by me. You've seen my pics of Lake Michigan. It looks like an ocean and you can definitely hear the waves crashing even a few blocks away where I live. We don't have mountains but it is hilly and a few hours away there are dells which look like small mountains. And an army base a couple of hours away. Plus we have a Target, Michaels, Shopko, TJMax, and every other useless store you can think of. And I'm here!!!! Move here!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAND, there is a beautiful B&B for sale in town here. Perfect!!!
want to trade houses?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for some warmer weather year round!!
Your wish list sounds wonderful. Southern CA fills most of those needs if you want to try it there. Whenever I'm needing an ocean/mountain fix, I think back to when I lived there as a kid and was about 30 minutes from each.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm having trouble getting my second thank-you letter to link correctly on the correct blog, so I'm leaving the link here for you.
http://finallyemerging.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/thank-you-letter-2/
I could only suggest Canadian locals, but be sure to tell us when you start up that BnB :)
ReplyDeleteOooo, your list sounds great. I can't really suggest Kansas, though. It would just be more of the same - wide, flat, landlocked places. Oh well, let me know when you find your Utopia. I'll come, too. :)
ReplyDeleteYour search could end in the Willamette Valley near Portland, Oregon. We lived there for 10 years and it meets all you are looking for. Fort Lewis is 2&1/2 hours away. The hippie part will leave you jumping for joy! There is Seminary in the high schools even. Google it and see what I mean.
ReplyDeleteDo not come to my current landlocked area!
ReplyDeleteYes,come to WI, so we can meet and you can tell me all about your 7 years in England. Though my initial thought was like Utah or something. Since our "mountains" aren't huge.
ReplyDeleteI left you a super long comment, but it disappeared.
ReplyDeleteSanta Fe. It has every requirement except the water, and there are mountain streams within driving distance. Truthfully, I don't know of a place that would be more to your description other than someplace in CA. Santa Fe is expensive, but not as much as CA.
And I had no idea about Lake Powell. The long part which I won't repeat was about my first encounter with Lake Powell. That's where I want to retire. Not in Page, but in a cabin on an isolated road. Bliss....
hippy dances around your husband sound fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI have the perfect place for you by the way.
Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Look it up. You'll love it. And you can take the ferry to both Seattle Washington and Vancouver BC in a snap :)
I'll move there too and we can have tea.
Colorado Springs - although you would miss water (maybe a bit further north toward the South Platte River?) But then there is Canada .... you would love the north shore of the Saint Lawrence - and there used to be a US military presence. Bagotville Quebec would do the same thing - Lac St Jean is surrounded by mountains. Surely there are US military bases in Washington State?
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely dream though.
have you looked at Topanga in the mountains west of Los Angeles? a small artsy community in the mountains, a short drive from the Pacific, 20-30 minutes into LA. Edwards air force base is maybe 2 hours away? and there's other military stuff down in the San Diego area.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you've got a place like Helena, MT on the brain...very artistic community, capital city w/ a small town feel...heck it IS a small town...the greater Helena area only has about 50,000 people in it. Helena is about an hour drive from Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, MT. They were bringing in more and bigger stores and restaurants as we left there last year. It's BEAUTIFUL...surrounded by mountains, with a rather large lake on one end of the valley. A B&B would fit in VERY nicely....
ReplyDeleteWe've got it all save for the ocean. (But a 5-hour drive through hot flat farmland on into twisty-turny-make-your-kids-sick moutain roads will bring you to the the brink of the Pacific -- well worth it!) My neck of the woods should give you pause to ponder -- I LOVE IT HERE! 'Twould be fun to be neighbors . . . FOR REALS! : )
ReplyDeleteI haven't got any ideas for you-sorry, but I love your list. I have always thought that running a B&B would be very fun/cool/romantic/fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI think the most beautiful place I have ever lived was Monterey, CA. I loved the artsy, coasty, hippie feel to everything (I know "coasty" isn't really a word, but bear with me). Unfortunately, it is insanely expensive there. But my heart belongs on the east coast. NH is so beautiful, and has small mountains and 18 miles of coast. And people flock from miles around to see the foliage every year.
ReplyDeleteWe have also talked about doing a B & B. I think that would be so much fun.
If we ever end up back in NM, we would love to live in Cloudcroft or Ruidoso, both of which have a hippie feel to them and pretty mountains, but not a lot of water. I'm with you on the water. A must-have!
How totally awesome to have something like this to look forward to. A new home. You should check Manitoulin Island out. Weird, backwards, decades old, rural, and no shopping around. Oh? Isn't that what you asked for?
ReplyDeleteI will TOTALLY stay at your B+B. 9 years. I'll pencil that in.
The Navy dropped us in England for four of the most wonderful years of our lives, then back to the States where we were in New Jersey, then Virginia then South Carolina. This is of course Home...Myrtle Beach is a short drive away, the Mountains are just as close, so we have the best of both worlds...there's a very large lake to put the bass boat in just down the road and believe it or not, there's a creek that forms our rear property line! Come on to Jefferson, SC...you'd love it!
ReplyDeleteSandi
i live an hour away from an air force base.
ReplyDeletebodies of water...all around...including a pool...
and in 9 years...all except one kid will be out of the house.
so...
you'll come live here. good? good!
btw...
the reason why you don't have a password to such simple pleasures is...i don't post there anymore. remember? not even in secret. but if you want in...i'll give you a key.
xo
Well, if you can consider Park City an art community (not exactly nearby, but not far) and if you don't care how much salt is in that lake of yours, you pretty much described the town I live in.
ReplyDeleteOkay, well there aren't a lot of B&B's in Farmington.
After our recent summer holiday, I thought Switzerland is a nice place to live but still nothing beats home. My home is Singapore and I am an Air Force Wife too. We are currently living in Paris, because of my husband's work and before this we were living in Phoenix Arizona for 2 years as my husband was working in Luke AFB. We love Flagstaff, the autumn leaves must be beautiful now! We seem to have quite a bit in common though we are from different part of the world. Feel so happy to discover your blog :)
ReplyDelete