UPDATE: Moving to Bend, OR! (Was: Thinking of moving near Spokane (eventually)...read on...)

[ZombieCat]

there is a group... not sure what it is though LOL... but yes we put it in the "north west" section for the rally points, but if you click the link in my signature it'll take you to our calendar thread, and we hyperlink all the rally points off of that.

Awesome, following that thread and bookmarked your post.

Looks like there tend to be a fairly diverse group of vehicles. This is my setup, it's not a rock crawler but as long as the trail isn't too tight it tends to go where I'm comfortable taking it (I'm a recovering Jeep owner and rock crawler that got tired of the stress about breaking things. :D). Hopefully it'll be suitable for a number of the group trips.

View attachment 291693

Hey, did you happen to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park a couple years ago in June? There was a trailer with that same graphic. I remembered the design because it looked so cool!

 

[Hogan]

there is a group... not sure what it is though LOL... but yes we put it in the "north west" section for the rally points, but if you click the link in my signature it'll take you to our calendar thread, and we hyperlink all the rally points off of that.

Awesome, following that thread and bookmarked your post.

Looks like there tend to be a fairly diverse group of vehicles. This is my setup, it's not a rock crawler but as long as the trail isn't too tight it tends to go where I'm comfortable taking it (I'm a recovering Jeep owner and rock crawler that got tired of the stress about breaking things. :D). Hopefully it'll be suitable for a number of the group trips.

View attachment 291693

Hey, did you happen to camp in Rocky Mountain National Park a couple years ago in June? There was a trailer with that same graphic. I remembered the design because it looked so cool!

Not there, no. We mainly roamed around the San Juans. During our return trip one summer we did go up to 70 and went through Denver but haven't been north of 70.

 

[highboy4x4]

My wife and I have been trying to figure out where we want to end up once we're empty-nesters (not too far off). Finding the "Goldilocks" of locations is pretty hard as you can imagine, even harder when my wife and I have different ideas about what climate is acceptable. :D I'd love to be off-grid as long as water is available, my wife isn't ready for that kind of living permanently. I love snow and hate the heat, especially when it's humid. My wife hates the snow but probably hates the cold of the Midwest winters more than snow. We have no interest in living in the desert, high desert, or open plains/prairies again. Trees and some semblance of hills or mountains are necessary, both for visual appeal as well as a windbreak. An abundance of outdoor activities year-round is also a necessity. We would be basically buying bare land to build on over time, minimum of 5-10 acres.

We've been to all of the western states to various extents, we've also traveled around the Midwest, New England, etc.

My wife wants land at a relatively reasonable price that is also relatively close to a major city (within a 30 minute drive) or at least decent grocery stores, restaurants, etc. I had brought up the Spokane area before (maybe 1-2 years back) and it came up again today. I've been through Spokane within the past few years and had also spent a little time there probably 30 years ago, so I have a general idea of what it's like on the surface. The climate seems to be pretty close to what I'm wanting, the annual snowfall I'm sure is more than my wife wants but she'd complain about any snow whatsoever because she's weird.

We've found some potential properties NE (near Peone) and NW (near the Spokane River) of Spokane and are thinking about making that area our next travel destination to check out. Those of you that either live near there or have spent a lot of time around there, what do you think of the area?

Are there any other areas with similar climates, amenities/activities, cost of living, and land potential that anyone would recommend other than Spokane? We will not be moving back to California, so don't even try. :) WA, OR, ID, MT, UT, and CO are currently on the list. I'd include WY but I don't think there is an area that is similar without being stupid expensive (Jackson area).

What say ye?

I almost felt like I was reading my own story. But I’m on the east coast wanting the mountains of Tennessee but my wife likes Florida. My idea of a climate is spot on like yours and these weirdo wives are polar opposites!

 

[Hogan]

I almost felt like I was reading my own story. But I’m on the east coast wanting the mountains of Tennessee but my wife likes Florida. My idea of a climate is spot on like yours and these weirdo wives are polar opposites!

Hopefully you can come to an agreement at some point! I've been to Tennessee, beautiful country. We almost moved to Kentucky (Outside Louisville) before we landed in Illinois.

Both my wife and I fell in love with the area just south of Bend, OR and Bend itself is a great city. She's given in to making herself like snow and is determined to have a positive attitude about it and hope she eventually ends up actually liking it. Being up in the pines and mountains definitely makes snow more magical than out here in flat, dead-looking Iliinois winters (lifeless, bare trees, empty corn fields, etc). Plus we're going to pick up some winter activities to help us enjoy the snow, definitely snowshoeing and probably give snowboarding a shot since we'll be 20 mins from Mt Bachelor.

 

[highboy4x4]

I almost felt like I was reading my own story. But I’m on the east coast wanting the mountains of Tennessee but my wife likes Florida. My idea of a climate is spot on like yours and these weirdo wives are polar opposites!

Hopefully you can come to an agreement at some point! I've been to Tennessee, beautiful country. We almost moved to Kentucky (Outside Louisville) before we landed in Illinois.

Both my wife and I fell in love with the area just south of Bend, OR and Bend itself is a great city. She's given in to making herself like snow and is determined to have a positive attitude about it and hope she eventually ends up actually liking it. Being up in the pines and mountains definitely makes snow more magical than out here in flat, dead-looking Iliinois winters (lifeless, bare trees, empty corn fields, etc). Plus we're going to pick up some winter activities to help us enjoy the snow, definitely snowshoeing and probably give snowboarding a shot since we'll be 20 mins from Mt Bachelor.

I want get to your area in a year or two. Nephew lives in Boise. Glacier NP, Tetons, and the BadLands are calling me.

My wife gave me only 2 requirements on picking a place to live. Within an hour of a major airport and no blizzards. She doesn’t like the cold and I grew up on Lake Erie. I like snowmobiles, she likes beach volleyball. I can live in the outdoors and rough camping, camping to her is as bad as a cheesy motel 6. Doable but dragging feet! So I will capitulate and just have a longer drive to get to places! Plus it seems all my grown kids are headed to FL minus 1. I’m the odd man out.