Dang it if the quote is not right

Dang it. I wanted this move to be simple. First there is the decision. Easy peasy as they say. As retirees, California does not make much sense. If the legislature can think of it...they tax it. It feels like you have to be super rich or indigent to live here. Property values are high so it is great if you want to sell and move elsewhere. But do not plan on coming back. Buying back in (assuming it ever becomes friendly to retirees again) is too expensive.

So after the decision comes...if not here, then where? Two years ago when we thought we wanted to have two homes one here, one there, we started the process of narrowing the field. Thank God for the internet. Not as welcoming or relaxing as the local library but certainly faster and more up to date data. Most of our top ten list based on desirable to us, retiree friendly and personal freedoms friendly were still in the west. So the visits to Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Arizona began. We ruled Texas out because any state that you have to drive for a whole day just to get to another state didn't appeal to us any longer. We found things and places to like in each state. How can you not like southern Utah where so many beautiful National parks are? Knabe has a wonderful animal sanctuary, lovely vistas, and nothing for miles...and I mean nothing and I mean miles. Idaho, my 'birth state' had some nice areas but quite a few were too snowy for my Indiana born and bred husband. Some were too peopley like Boise and all the little cities that have sprawled out around it. Wyoming has the Tetons and beautiful scenery...and winds...and cold...and snow. Arizona offered Prescott. A cute little town where the people were friendly and we found a lovely property. Well lovely until you deal with CCRs that tell you what materials you can use to build. The libertarian in me was not amused. Come on folks we weren't using leftover wine bottles or something.

So with that all being said, how did we end up in TN? If you want to see the spreadsheet, just let me know. I am serious. I did a spreadsheet with statistics on population growth, taxes (property, income, sales, beer,) personal liberties, weather, within a 2 hour drive to a major airport, and several other columns. Excel is my friend. But for all the high rankings it is still TN. Two factors swayed our choice. First, have you been to the Smokies? Beautiful and so lush. Coming from the Central Coast where everything is brown 80% of the year the GREEN was amazing. And second, family. As I've gotten older I realize how fast time goes and how important being around those you love is.

So why is this hard? Because it's important, it's life changing and because we have a lot of stuff. Seriously its hard to anticipate the not so known and it is hard to leave friends and neighbors. I kid about wanting to be a hermit...but I am not entirely sure I would be any good at it.