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Posted: 8/19/2015 4:20:32 PM EDT
[#1]
I wouldn't make that move if I were in your shoes. LHC is one of the hottest places in the U.S. during the summer months. Most people stay inside all day and venture out at night because of the heat. I doubt CA will take more of the Colorado River water, I don't think the infrastructure exists for them to do it.
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Posted: 8/19/2015 4:25:55 PM EDT
[#2]
No one is self sufficient unless you think you can defend your existence from the hoards without. It's a fallacy to think you are an island insulated from the mass population living on the edge.
In West Virginia if you're not at home, you're on someone elses property and are a guest. Only 10% of the state is public land. In Arizona 54% is public land with 41% which you can shoot on. That's a lot of area to shoot as far as the eye can see. Since you're living right next to the Colorado River, I doubt you'd ever have a water problem. It's unlikely you'll see that river moved any time soon. California is next to the ocean. Nearly all of Israel's water supply comes from the ocean, today. I think technology can overcome any long term drought. It might cost more but there's plenty of water next to California (just have to remove the salt). And one of the best things about Arizona is you can see forever. No nasty trees blocking the view. I grew up in the Mohave desert. Your state feels like you're living inside a green closest with roads through green hallways. If you grew up with a view, all that green feels claustrophobic. And we don't have bugs. No flies, no mosquitoes, no nothing. When you're outside, it's rare you're getting pestered. Also the hotter it gets the less people there are out enjoying the desert. If you can stand the heat, you'll be enjoying public land all to yourself. Another reason I love the heat. We BBQ year round. All coyotes must die, kill every one you see whenever you see one. Hunting isn't great but it's not the worst either. https://azgfdportal.az.gov/ Schools, meh. When I was growing up, there were smart kids and there were dumb kids. No amount of teaching turned the dumb kids into smart kids and no teacher turned smart kids into dumb ones. All the smart kids went on to college and all the dumb ones, well, that's why we have the Democratic party. 
And in case you were not aware, everyone in Arizona has a gun in their pocket (or purse), no permission required. It pays to be polite. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 5:35:04 PM EDT
[#3]
Happy wife = happy life.
I don't think you should move here, seems that your mind is made up already and you would be very unhappy being taken away from your comfort zone. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 6:45:26 PM EDT
[#4]
LHC sucks. Its just about the worst part of Arizona.
There is a ton of cool stuff in the western desert of Arizona but you'd never see it. Sounds to me like you have what you want in WV. Stay there. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 7:42:07 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
To Lake Havasu City to be precise. My father and stepmother live there and my wife and I enjoy the area when we visit. Now my wife wants to move there, the sooner the better. My problems with it are many: It's the friggin' desert for one. We would be completely dependent on the government for food and water. Right now we have a 100 acre farm in the mountains of WV that we had planned on moving back to within two years. At the WV property we are on well water and completely off the grid. We have a large orchard with apples, cherries, grapes, pears, peaches, mulberries, figs and plums plus blueberry, blackberry and raspberry gardens. I would also raise a large vegetable garden on half an acre (presently my garden is about 1/4 of that). With chickens and hunting we can be pretty much self-sufficient. One the BIG plus side would be my wife's commute and earnings (She's a ICU nurse). In WV the commute would be a little over an hour, in LHC AZ it would be minutes and she would potentially earn twice as much as what they pay in WV. My son just started kindergarten. Its a long commute in WV and the schools are only rated so-so. Again in LHC it would be minutes to his school and the ratings are pretty good. Another is shooting. At our house in WV I have courses and ranges set up in my back yard with my longest range at 300 yards. Where would I shoot in LHC AZ on the whim without paying to be part of a club or range? Snow and cold. Unlike most, I LOVE the winter months and would miss that like a boy losing his dog. I would also miss the property to hike around on and the way it keeps me busy working. We are out at the farm every other week and I work from dawn to dusk when I am there (With breaks for shooting) and love every moment of it. What do you do in the desert to stay active? My five year old boy loves the woods too. Would he be condemned to being inside during the hot months in AZ? We usually visit in June and I never see kids out playing or riding bikes (it's usually well above 100 when we are there). How about hunting? Is there anything to hunt down there? Are coyotes considered nuisance animals and can be hunted year around without permits? Is it possible that California will take a bigger allotment of the Colorado River water and that the Lake will cease to exist? Y'all can see I have a lot of concerns, and this is the short list! Any advise or insights you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Water - there's no wells there but why would there be when the town sits ON THE COLORADO RIVER. Fresh water will NEVER be a concern. On that, California draws its portion further south at Parker dam, coincidentally so does Arizona via CAP. That said, per whatever the water treaty was years before you were born, Arizona will always get first dibs. But guess who sits higher up on the river. Lake Havasu. TA-DA!
Hunting - coyotes can be taken year round and they often travel the washes throughout the city. It's not uncommon to hear them or even see them. Definitely not uncommon for newbies and snowbirds to lose cats and dogs the first time they leave them out with their "high walls." Lol, I've seen coyote leap 7 foot walls nimbly. Technically no shooting within the city but LHC is pretty rednecked and laid back. Hint, hint. Or a pellet gun, IIRC those are legal within town limits. There's sheep on the mountain but good luck getting drawn. There are some nice monster mulies as well. They cut the tags this year so I did not put in for that area. Otherwise it would have been great to hunt and go back to my buddy's house. There's fox, rabbit, and I'm sure bobcat though I've never seen or looked for them. There are a few mountain lions somewhere, I'm sure. There is said to be a pack of feral pigs near the river, those have no rules on them as they're not supposed to exist. I never did have a chance to go look for them. Dove and quail abound. Burros to the north but those are protected iirc. So pretty much the standard AZ game. Woods and cool weather - Hualapais aren't too far away. Kingman gets snow on the regular, in winter. And a shit ton of wind. But you're a lot closer than places down south. Kingman is merely 45 minutes away. That's about as much as you're going to get, it is the desert afterall and it is LHC. It's a friggin' bowl so it gets 10-15 hotter than Phoenix and unless storms hit from the perfect angle, they go right around. Shooting is easy enough, go up pink road, (northside, paso de oro rd) and there's a shooting pit right there, or just travel further down to the mountain and pick a safe backdrop. Long range, go down south of Havasu to Standard Wash, get well away from anyone and you have over a grand in yardage. The only place close is the cement factory and it's over a quarter mile away so you're golden. Also, by Sara Park is a 300 yd shooting range, free and open on Sundays to non members. there's even a little archery course in there. What will you do for a job? There isn't much going on. Being a nurse, she'll easily have 40 jobs lined up. The old come there to die. 
The Channel is where all the idiocy and tits happen for spring break and memorial day and 4th of july  Other than that, I'd stay out of the water there, gets nasty. Most folks own a boat but seemingly never take it out but to plop it in that stupid channel. Try going up and down river if you get a chance. There's monster panfish in there, they feed off all the dead bodies
ETA: Only. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 7:46:50 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
. And we don't have bugs. No flies, no mosquitoes, no nothing. When you're outside, it's rare you're getting pestered. Also the hotter it gets the less people there are out enjoying the desert. If you can stand the heat, you'll be enjoying public land all to yourself. Another reason I love the heat. We BBQ year round.. Not true. Flies are less, that's for sure. Mosquitoes... at sundown you can be lifted and carried off by the mosquitoes down by the lake. I've seen em just as bad at lakes in the South. That said, they do exist. Away from the water, by your house? Yup, never really saw a mosquito. That said, you still get the usual earwigs. Camel spiders are abundant though not often seen. I never had issues with scorpions but others did. That's because I waged unholy war on the crickets and killed all them off. Ants could be an issue. I never saw cockroaches at my place, even dead, but other places I have. Kinda depends on your neighbors, if they don't treat then it can be a pain. The heat does drive folks indoors but so many are accustomed to it that you'll still find plenty out of doors. You'll also find tons of Californians. SBSD and CHP like to hang out since LHC is the closest city besides the craphole that is Needles. Cheaper taxes for them as well, surprise surprise. And they control half the lake for their revenuin'. Stay away from Crystal (meth) Beach. Don't think I need to explain that one to you. Mudsharks is a decent brewery. Owners are good peeps. Be prepared to buy a cooler for the car if you ever go to Walmart for any groceries that the heat would kill (Bashas is ghetto, Albertsons is okay, Safeway was my favorite. Where I lived on the Northside, it was sometimes quicker to just go to walmart due to the fucking road layout. Curse Mcculloch.  )
ETA: Only. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 7:53:50 PM EDT
[#7]
Water is life.
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Posted: 8/19/2015 9:21:55 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not true. Flies are less, that's for sure. Mosquitoes... at sundown you can be lifted and carried off by the mosquitoes down by the lake. I've seen em just as bad at lakes in the South. That said, they do exist. Away from the water, by your house? Yup, never really saw a mosquito. That said, you still get the usual earwigs. Camel spiders are abundant though not often seen. I never had issues with scorpions but others did. That's because I waged unholy war on the crickets and killed all them off. Ants could be an issue. I never saw cockroaches at my place, even dead, but other places I have. Kinda depends on your neighbors, if they don't treat then it can be a pain. The heat does drive folks indoors but so many are accustomed to it that you'll still find plenty out of doors. You'll also find tons of Californians. SBSD and CHP like to hang out since LHC is the closest city besides the craphole that is Needles. Cheaper taxes for them as well, surprise surprise. And they control half the lake for their revenuin'. Stay away from Crystal (meth) Beach. Don't think I need to explain that one to you. Mudsharks is a decent brewery. Owners are good peeps. Be prepared to buy a cooler for the car if you ever go to Walmart for any groceries that the heat would kill (Bashas is ghetto, Albertsons is okay, Safeway was my favorite. Where I lived on the Northside, it was sometimes quicker to just go to walmart due to the fucking road layout. Curse Mcculloch. )
ETA: Only. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
. And we don't have bugs. No flies, no mosquitoes, no nothing. When you're outside, it's rare you're getting pestered. Also the hotter it gets the less people there are out enjoying the desert. If you can stand the heat, you'll be enjoying public land all to yourself. Another reason I love the heat. We BBQ year round.. Not true. Flies are less, that's for sure. Mosquitoes... at sundown you can be lifted and carried off by the mosquitoes down by the lake. I've seen em just as bad at lakes in the South. That said, they do exist. Away from the water, by your house? Yup, never really saw a mosquito. That said, you still get the usual earwigs. Camel spiders are abundant though not often seen. I never had issues with scorpions but others did. That's because I waged unholy war on the crickets and killed all them off. Ants could be an issue. I never saw cockroaches at my place, even dead, but other places I have. Kinda depends on your neighbors, if they don't treat then it can be a pain. The heat does drive folks indoors but so many are accustomed to it that you'll still find plenty out of doors. You'll also find tons of Californians. SBSD and CHP like to hang out since LHC is the closest city besides the craphole that is Needles. Cheaper taxes for them as well, surprise surprise. And they control half the lake for their revenuin'. Stay away from Crystal (meth) Beach. Don't think I need to explain that one to you. Mudsharks is a decent brewery. Owners are good peeps. Be prepared to buy a cooler for the car if you ever go to Walmart for any groceries that the heat would kill (Bashas is ghetto, Albertsons is okay, Safeway was my favorite. Where I lived on the Northside, it was sometimes quicker to just go to walmart due to the fucking road layout. Curse Mcculloch. )
ETA: Only. In relation to West Virginia, we have no bugs. |
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Posted: 8/20/2015 4:05:15 AM EDT
[#9]
your not stuck in the desert in this state either. pine forests and higher elevation mountains are a relatively short drive from just about anywhere in the state. Dont tell anyone that though. We don't want anymore forest hippies coming here to fuck our state up.
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Posted: 8/20/2015 9:49:58 AM EDT
[#10]
Thanks for the replies. I have a lot to consider. Putting together a Pros and Cons list which will hopefully help. If we do decide on AZ we will not sell the WV place, although I don't know how we will continue upkeep on it from such a distance and keep lowlifes from trespassing/B and Eing/vandalizing, etc...
I plan on writing wherever I end up (I write fiction and sci-ficition novels) and teach scuba. It will be a BIG downgrade money-wise for me from presently working in the defense industry, but worth it for my sanity. The heat in LHC never bothered me that much when we visit in June. The lack of humidity made it comfortable, even when it was 110. I don't understand the recommendation to stay away from the lake, that seems like it is the only reason LHC exists. Whenever we are out there we enjoy going out on the lake in my old mans pontoon boat and swimming/partying in the multitudes of coves dotting the lake. Plus the scuba diving is pretty good for a smallish freshwater lake. I have an underwater metal detector and plan on doing some treasure hunting for items lost by the plethora of boaters that visit the area. I have to decide if it would be a good move for my young son. I don't want him to become a couch potato stuck in front of a TV playing video games and such. At this moment in life he would much rather be outside playing, riding his bike or hiking trails then sitting in front of a TV. I don't want that to change (It's how I was growing up too). I just never saw kids outside playing (excluding the lakeshore) when we are out there visiting. Maybe its different in the cooler months? Can I drive up any jeep trail into the surrounding lands and pick a place to shoot without any problems (of course with proper backstop, etc...) assuming my 4x4 pickup can make it through those trails? I own a suppressed 300 blackout with infrared laser. Combined with my night vision headgear it is a coyote killing machine! Another question. Is it possible to raise a backyard garden in LHC? Maybe build raised beds, fill with garden soil from Lowes and put in a drip-irrigation system or is it just too hot to raise vegetables? How about backyard chickens or is there an ordinance against that in the community. To tell you the truth, I have never lived in a town before and don't know what to expect. |
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Posted: 8/20/2015 11:02:54 AM EDT
[#11]
I only said stay away from the Channel unless you want weed, booze, tits, fighting, and the usual idiot crowd. The rest of the lake is open and I encourage you to go around it since everyone else doesn't use their pretty $90k boats.
Humidity kicks in July, almost like clockwork around July 4th. Havasu isn't too bad compared to other places in state. Humidity still stays fairly low but July and August bring the oven type heat. Which, to me, is perfect for being on a boat
Trails are all pretty easy. You can shoot just about anywhere... I don't know what the situation is legally as far as State Trust or BLM but I can tell you no one cares. You'll find cartridge casing EVERYWHERE
Backyard gardens will work. You may have to install some shading for certain plants. I, unfortunately, am not a gardener yet but I've met plenty of folks with gardens (not so much in havasu but it's the same climate in PHX as it is in LHC.) Chickens... I'd suggest it. I'm in an HOA and going to get some. LHC doesn't have HOAs. I really don't know if there's an ordinance against it, I know the outlying areas have horses and goats and chickens. If you have a block wall backyard no one will know. Like I said, the coyotes are smart and used to scaling walls to snatch pets so make sure they don't get your chickens. Sounds like you have ways to dispatch with them The "Southside" is the fancier, richers area. They may be quicker to bitch about gardens or chickens if you have snooty neighbors. Luckily, many of them are snowbirds anyways and you shouldn't be telling folks about it anyways 
As for your son, he can be a slugabug anywhere. It is different out here and lots of kids stay indoors but that seems to be the trend across the nation, sadly. Just make an effort to be outdoors with him. Get him a dirtbike or four wheeler and you may not see him until nightfall  Make sure he understand the importance of hydration.
The good news for him is that when he comes of age, he won't have an easier spot to get laid like he would have back in WV
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Posted: 8/20/2015 11:13:14 AM EDT
[#12]
Regarding a garden, you can grow a lot of veggies and fruits in the desert year round. I have a huge garden (about 75% raised) and grow year round. Of course you have to adjust what is in the ground in the summer months, as well as install sunscreens for the plants. In the ground I have year round artichokes, (asparagus in the raised bed) grapes, black berries, and strawberries. Radishes bolt in the heat, but melons and most other root crops do well in the summers.
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Posted: 8/20/2015 12:03:56 PM EDT
[#13]
LHC is a fun town, sometimes you do feel isolated, and right now I would love a cool day in the mountains...but the jet skiing is 10 min away. You SCUBA dive...I learned to dive on this lake, been diving it for 15 years, lots of treasure hunting, watches, anchors, wallets etc..... This is the time of year I don't shoot, but 10 months out of the year it is great, 100 yards till I hit dirt, then a mile or two and I am in the desert far enough away to be legal. PM me if you make it here...
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Posted: 8/20/2015 12:04:34 PM EDT
[#14]
You can't shoot on reservation, or State Trust land. You can shoot everywhere else (BLM no problem) that isn't posted (including private land). You have to be 1/4 mile away from a permanent residence outside city limits, a mile away within city limits if the city doesn't prohibit shooting.
I shoot on State Trust land that isn't posted. You'll just get asked to leave which would probably never happen near Lake Havasu because there's very little enforcement in that area. Reservation is the only land you really have to be careful not to shoot on. They don't post and they're kind of grumpy. The dirt bike is a fantastic idea! Man, if I had a Suzuki RM100 and a SPOT messenger when I was a kid, I think I'd be President by now. HA! This Kawi is darn cute. http://www.adrenalinmotorsportsaz.com/2016-Kawasaki-KX-65--inventory.htm?id=866677&used=1&vin=JKBKXFAC1GA085080&unitType=1514&unitBrand=20 I'm a two wheel, two stroke guy. Four wheels are too dangerous. |
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Posted: 8/21/2015 1:59:47 AM EDT
[#15]
I love Arizona, but if I had a 100 acre farm as you describe in WV I'd be gone in a heartbeat.
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Posted: 8/21/2015 10:01:31 AM EDT
[#16]
It sounds like you don't want to move. You seem to have a great setup, almost like.............heaven. Have a serious discussion with your wife. If she is serious about moving, you may end up separating. Doing it before the move would be better for you. After you move it will be too late. Either way, one of you is not going to have a happy life if you want to be somewhere else.
Sometimes I see the writing on the wall that other people miss. I am often ignored, but, remember that you did hear this somewhere before, if it becomes your reality. |
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Posted: 8/21/2015 10:45:35 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It sounds like you don't want to move. You seem to have a great setup, almost like.............heaven. Have a serious discussion with your wife. If she is serious about moving, you may end up separating. Doing it before the move would be better for you. After you move it will be too late. Either way, one of you is not going to have a happy life if you want to be somewhere else. Sometimes I see the writing on the wall that other people miss. I am often ignored, but, remember that you did hear this somewhere before, if it becomes your reality. I don't know if it needs to go that far, but OP I would talk to her about what things will be like for your son growing up here vs. WV. I spent part of my youth here (Tucson) and part in the North East (Upstate NY and Northern NJ) and most of my favorite childhood experiences happened back east. Arizona is a great place, but it doesn't have the same feel as the suburbs and rural areas back there. I moved back here for college and have pretty much been here ever since, but now that I have kids I am longing for them to grow up somewhere with big grass yards and a very small town feel. My wife was born and raised in Yuma and has only lived here, so she really doesn't know anything else and she is not very interested in moving out of state. |
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Posted: 8/21/2015 11:26:11 AM EDT
[#18]
Yes, all very romantic if you have a big pile of cash to live on. If you don't, living off a 100 acres is a hard life. It's unfortunate all the good coal mine jobs are gone.
His is an economic decision. Live a better life where you can make some money or scrape by and live off the land with the help of others. It's opportunity vs. simple meager. That's not a hard decision for me (unless I had a big pile of cash). I'd take the $80-$120K ICU job. Git the money, dollar dollar bill yo (for better or for worse til death do you part). Sounds like a winner to me. |
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Posted: 8/21/2015 1:03:00 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yes, all very romantic if you have a big pile of cash to live on. If you don't, living off a 100 acres is a hard life. It's unfortunate all the good coal mine jobs are gone. His is an economic decision. Live a better life where you can make some money or scrape by and live off the land with the help of others. It's opportunity vs. simple meager. That's not a hard decision for me (unless I had a big pile of cash). I'd take the $80-$120K ICU job. Git the money, dollar dollar bill yo (for better or for worse til death do you part). Sounds like a winner to me. Yup, that is definitely good money, but I would question why the hospital has to pay that much to attract nurses. RN jobs in Havasu are 50 -70% higher than the national average, which tells me either no one wants to live there or nobody wants to work for that hospital, maybe both. OP, if your wife is dead set on moving, I would look at the Phoenix area instead of Havasu. There are several large hospitals in Phoenix, so if she didn't like one hospital she would have other options that wouldn't require a move. I believe Dignity in Chandler pays very well, she might want to look there, Banner and Scottsdale Healthcare are also good options. ETA: There are a few larger lakes around the Phoenix area and mountains covered in pine forests are only 1.5-2 hours away. The western part of AZ is mainly desert, while mountains and forest make up much of eastern AZ. |
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Posted: 8/22/2015 10:39:05 PM EDT
[#20]
I grew up in WV. I now live in AZ... stay in WV
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Posted: 8/23/2015 12:05:45 AM EDT
[#21]
I LOVE Arizona, but with what you have, I wouldn't move.
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Posted: 8/23/2015 11:18:42 AM EDT
[#22]
I have another suggestion. Have her work part time. Fly out to vegas, drive down to Havasu and work half a year there. Snowbird season when all the old people are in and they need nurses. In the off season, like summer, you can rent houses but once snowbirds are back, good luck. So it might be cheaper to buy a cheap house and rent it for the summer. Have her make bank whilst you enjoy 80 degree winter and don't freeze your nuts off in WV. Then come spring, fly back to WV. You'd be a "snowbird" yourself and hated in havasu so there's that...
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Posted: 8/23/2015 2:16:29 PM EDT
[#23]
The WV property sounds like an ARFCOMMER wet dream, this is truly a first world problem.
See how your wife feels after a couple of AZ summers. Do you have a trusted friend or family that can stay at your WV place while you are away? Even a buddy parking a trailer and living rent free would take a lot of the worry away. How many years are the two of you from retirement? |
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Posted: 8/23/2015 4:23:07 PM EDT
[#24]
She's still a good twenty years from retirement, me a bit less.
I like the LHC area, specifically the lack of humidity. Granted, we've only been out in June. It would be nice being close to my Dad also. One option might be her getting a travelling nurse position to experience the area for a while. She could stay with my parents while there. The downside to that is she would be away from our five-year old boy. Neither of us want to do that. Thanks everyone for the input, it does help. |
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Posted: 8/23/2015 8:39:20 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I love Arizona, but if I had a 100 acre farm as you describe in WV I'd be gone in a heartbeat. Ain't that the truth! |
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Posted: 8/23/2015 11:54:45 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Ain't that the truth! Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I love Arizona, but if I had a 100 acre farm as you describe in WV I'd be gone in a heartbeat. Ain't that the truth! If I had a 100 acre farm in WV, I'd sell it and use the money to buy one in AZ.
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Posted: 8/24/2015 12:30:13 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If I had a 100 acre farm in WV, I'd sell it and use the money to buy one in AZ. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I love Arizona, but if I had a 100 acre farm as you describe in WV I'd be gone in a heartbeat. Ain't that the truth! If I had a 100 acre farm in WV, I'd sell it and use the money to buy one in AZ. What's your reasoning? Tell me what you like and dislike about Arizona. The more firsthand accounts the better I can use that borrowed wisdom in my decision making. |
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Posted: 8/24/2015 3:25:24 PM EDT
[#28]
I like the sense of freedom I get being in Arizona. I visit family in Maine every year and to me there is a perceptible difference in the mentality as it relates to regulating stuff. I've never been to WV so I don't know how it compares but Arizona seems to have a more "you don't f**k with me, I won't f**k with you" attitude vs. the regulate everything to protect people from themselves mentality that prevails in a lot of places back east.
I'm also an outdoors type and much prefer the wide open spaces of Arizona to the closed in, thick forests found back east. As a hunter, I enjoy the wide variety of big game opportunities we have out here. We have mule and white tailed deer, elk, bighorn sheep, buffalo, antelope, javelina, mountain lion, bear, and turkey. It's hard to get tags for some of those species, but a dedicated hunter can pretty much get a deer and javelina tag every year. Bear and mountain lion are also givens as they are sold over the counter. If you like to hunt predators, we have plenty of those too. Species include coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Arizona also has a lot of public land, so there is no shortage of beautiful places to explore. Someone else mentioned bugs. We have plenty of creepy crawlies in Arizona that can literally kill you, but unlike skeeters and ticks, our bugs tend to leave you alone unless you disturb them. I cringe to think about how a little deer tick could turn my life upside down every time I go to Maine. I can't comment on the skeeters in LHC, but down where I live they are pretty much a non-issue. We get a few during the monsoon season, but nothing really worth mentioning. A lot of people will bitch about the heat and I won't lie to you, it sucks during summer. In most of Arizona, June, July, and August are brutal and 100+ degree highs can stretch from May to October in a bad year. LHC will be even worse than most of AZ. Most places get a few unpleasantly hot days every summer but in Arizona, it can literally last for months. The upside is that 6-7 months out of the year will be absolutely beautiful. Again, I can't speak for LHC, but humidity isn't an issue for most of Arizona, most of the time. When it gets too hot, we have plenty of large lakes for recreating. One can also head to higher elevations to beat the heat. The White Mountains area has a very pleasant climate during the summer. People hear Arizona and they think desert but this is a pretty unique state in that it has a lot of variation in climate and terrain. If you like to garden, you can do it year round in Arizona. I always have something growing in my garden. During the summer, shade cloth, drip irrigation, and a thick layer of mulch will be your friends. During the winter, I grow some awesome broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and spinach. On warm years I can even over winter my peppers without protection. In LHC, you could probably even grow peppers and tomatoes through winter without protection. I've only been to LHC once, and that was as a little kid. I don't recall it being a place where I would like to live, but I also didn't spend any time on the lake or river. Here are some pictures from my travels around this beautiful state. 
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Posted: 8/24/2015 4:41:07 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I like the sense of freedom I get being in Arizona. I visit family in Maine every year and to me there is a perceptible difference in the mentality as it relates to regulating stuff. I've never been to WV so I don't know how it compares but Arizona seems to have a more "you don't f**k with me, I won't f**k with you" attitude vs. the regulate everything to protect people from themselves mentality that prevails in a lot of places back east. I'm also an outdoors type and much prefer the wide open spaces of Arizona to the closed in, thick forests found back east. As a hunter, I enjoy the wide variety of big game opportunities we have out here. We have mule and white tailed deer, elk, bighorn sheep, buffalo, antelope, javelina, mountain lion, bear, and turkey. It's hard to get tags for some of those species, but a dedicated hunter can pretty much get a deer and javelina tag every year. Bear and mountain lion are also givens as they are sold over the counter. If you like to hunt predators, we have plenty of those too. Species include coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Arizona also has a lot of public land, so there is no shortage of beautiful places to explore. Someone else mentioned bugs. We have plenty of creepy crawlies in Arizona that can literally kill you, but unlike skeeters and ticks, our bugs tend to leave you alone unless you disturb them. I cringe to think about how a little deer tick could turn my life upside down every time I go to Maine. I can't comment on the skeeters in LHC, but down where I live they are pretty much a non-issue. We get a few during the monsoon season, but nothing really worth mentioning. A lot of people will bitch about the heat and I won't lie to you, it sucks during summer. In most of Arizona, June, July, and August are brutal and 100+ degree highs can stretch from May to October in a bad year. LHC will be even worse than most of AZ. Most places get a few unpleasantly hot days every summer but in Arizona, it can literally last for months. The upside is that 6-7 months out of the year will be absolutely beautiful. Again, I can't speak for LHC, but humidity isn't an issue for most of Arizona, most of the time. When it gets too hot, we have plenty of large lakes for recreating. One can also head to higher elevations to beat the heat. The White Mountains area has a very pleasant climate during the summer. People hear Arizona and they think desert but this is a pretty unique state in that it has a lot of variation in climate and terrain. If you like to garden, you can do it year round in Arizona. I always have something growing in my garden. During the summer, shade cloth, drip irrigation, and a thick layer of mulch will be your friends. During the winter, I grow some awesome broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and spinach. On warm years I can even over winter my peppers without protection. In LHC, you could probably even grow peppers and tomatoes through winter without protection. I've only been to LHC once, and that was as a little kid. I don't recall it being a place where I would like to live, but I also didn't spend any time on the lake or river. Great summary CC. I was born and raised in NJ and often joke if the Grand Canyon was in NJ they would put a fence around it so no one could fall in. On the fence would be a no trespassing sign listing all of the punishments you'll get if you hop the fence.
Arizona to me is a vast and varied landscape lightly populated with live and let live people. The polar opposite of the NE. |
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Posted: 8/24/2015 5:07:01 PM EDT
[#30]
You don't want to get bit by a green Mohave rattlesnake, bark scorpion or a brown recluse spider. But you'd have a better chance of getting abducted by aliens, really. It happens occasionally but I've never given a second thought to it when I'm out bushwhacking. Everything else including a diamondback isn't the end of the world. Everything is treatable. I'm more worried about running into Africanized bees than the other critters. And that's not going to happen either.
Arizona is one of the few places that has every biome except tropical forest and every one is accessible by public land. http://arizonaexperience.org/land/az-habitats The only thing missing is a port. If somehow we could annex Rocky Point, we could be our own country. I think we should trade East Los Angeles for it.
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Posted: 8/24/2015 6:08:34 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Great summary CC. I was born and raised in NJ and often joke if the Grand Canyon was in NJ they would put a fence around it so no one could fall in. On the fence would be a no trespassing sign listing all of the punishments you'll get if you hop the fence.
Arizona to me is a vast and varied landscape lightly populated with live and let live people. The polar opposite of the NE. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I like the sense of freedom I get being in Arizona. I visit family in Maine every year and to me there is a perceptible difference in the mentality as it relates to regulating stuff. I've never been to WV so I don't know how it compares but Arizona seems to have a more "you don't f**k with me, I won't f**k with you" attitude vs. the regulate everything to protect people from themselves mentality that prevails in a lot of places back east. I'm also an outdoors type and much prefer the wide open spaces of Arizona to the closed in, thick forests found back east. As a hunter, I enjoy the wide variety of big game opportunities we have out here. We have mule and white tailed deer, elk, bighorn sheep, buffalo, antelope, javelina, mountain lion, bear, and turkey. It's hard to get tags for some of those species, but a dedicated hunter can pretty much get a deer and javelina tag every year. Bear and mountain lion are also givens as they are sold over the counter. If you like to hunt predators, we have plenty of those too. Species include coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Arizona also has a lot of public land, so there is no shortage of beautiful places to explore. Someone else mentioned bugs. We have plenty of creepy crawlies in Arizona that can literally kill you, but unlike skeeters and ticks, our bugs tend to leave you alone unless you disturb them. I cringe to think about how a little deer tick could turn my life upside down every time I go to Maine. I can't comment on the skeeters in LHC, but down where I live they are pretty much a non-issue. We get a few during the monsoon season, but nothing really worth mentioning. A lot of people will bitch about the heat and I won't lie to you, it sucks during summer. In most of Arizona, June, July, and August are brutal and 100+ degree highs can stretch from May to October in a bad year. LHC will be even worse than most of AZ. Most places get a few unpleasantly hot days every summer but in Arizona, it can literally last for months. The upside is that 6-7 months out of the year will be absolutely beautiful. Again, I can't speak for LHC, but humidity isn't an issue for most of Arizona, most of the time. When it gets too hot, we have plenty of large lakes for recreating. One can also head to higher elevations to beat the heat. The White Mountains area has a very pleasant climate during the summer. People hear Arizona and they think desert but this is a pretty unique state in that it has a lot of variation in climate and terrain. If you like to garden, you can do it year round in Arizona. I always have something growing in my garden. During the summer, shade cloth, drip irrigation, and a thick layer of mulch will be your friends. During the winter, I grow some awesome broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and spinach. On warm years I can even over winter my peppers without protection. In LHC, you could probably even grow peppers and tomatoes through winter without protection. I've only been to LHC once, and that was as a little kid. I don't recall it being a place where I would like to live, but I also didn't spend any time on the lake or river. Great summary CC. I was born and raised in NJ and often joke if the Grand Canyon was in NJ they would put a fence around it so no one could fall in. On the fence would be a no trespassing sign listing all of the punishments you'll get if you hop the fence.
Arizona to me is a vast and varied landscape lightly populated with live and let live people. The polar opposite of the NE. I may not have been born here but I have Arizona blood in my veins. From the people to the land, we're truly free over here. I've never been the happier living anywhere else. This the best state to live in and in my humbled opinion, the best hometown folk that I'm proud to know and some have honored me with their friendship. ^^ no homo. |
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Posted: 8/25/2015 3:47:40 PM EDT
[#32]
My AZ journey...
Admittedly I don't care for the Havasu area much but I love AZ in general. I came to AZ first for the military and was stationed in Phoenix. I HATED it. Hot, hot, and way too many people. I loved the chance to go TDY and on leave. I also spent a LOT of time in Gila Bend. It got so that I would ask to be sent down to the range at Gila Bend so that I could avoid base (Luke AFB) and Phoenix. While hot at times, I came to appreciate the Sonoran desert and my hate lessened into a disgruntled dissatisfaction with Luke and Phoenix. Fast forward a few years and I slowly came to like the desert. One thing that made me depart the military was when they pulled my assignment back to AZ (Tucson). After I got out of the military I went home to SW Washington. While I liked the climate (mostly) I found I could no longer relate with the people there. While living in WA and working contracts around the US and world I took a short contract working in SE Arizona. Shortly after I bought a house here in the Sierra Vista/Tombstone area and have lived here on and off for a few years. I'm angling to make this my main residence for life. I like it here because I have grown to like the desert, I like the SE Arizona weather, it's affordable, but most of all I find that I like the people here far more than most places in the world. They take care of their shit, I take care of mine. We're all pretty self reliant. In the event of the apocalypse my neighbors and I all have a loose SHTF plan. I have noticed that my kid spends more time outside up in WA that she does in AZ. Mainly that's because she's little and has to be observed if she goes outside here. We have active populations of rattlesnakes and scorpions and I'm still rehabbing the old place. |
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Posted: 8/27/2015 4:40:50 PM EDT
[#33]
I moved from Illinois to a town called fountain hills. Property taxes are about 6x less. I'm 35 and my girlfriend is 33, we debate having kids and staying in a town for its sake but in our hearts we like property and self sufficiency. Last year we almost bought a small off the grid home with a well/solar etc. I miss the change of seasons but 6 months of bone chilling cold wore me down, not to mention shoveling and plowing the driveway for hours. The heat is pretty bad kinda like the winter, keeps you trapped inside most of the day, it's been 105-115 for months now consistently. The truth is that I know your property is in your bones, by reading your post I see that WV and that acreage is in your DNA. This is gonna be a lose lose and win win situation. I personally want my own piece of land to work and create what you have in WV. I dream of what you have honestly, you have a lot. What fits your family best may be different. I did quite a bit of research on just about every town in AZ before moving here, I remember reading that the Havasu area has a lot of drug problems, but in my experience it seems that kids doing hard drugs is common in the west. I like the ability to be in close proximity to very clean lakes, Saguaro, Roosevelt,Powell. I like gun freedom here, suppressors, sbrs. The way I'm going right now is that I'm going to keep my home in a town and use it for a rental, I'm actively looking for a plot of land to build an off the grid home and build what you have in WV. The way the world is makes me want to live exclusively on land and buffer myself away from the masses.
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Posted: 8/27/2015 4:57:14 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I moved from Illinois to a town called fountain hills. Property taxes are about 6x less. I'm 35 and my girlfriend is 33, we debate having kids and staying in a town for its sake but in our hearts we like property and self sufficiency. Last year we almost bought a small off the grid home with a well/solar etc. I miss the change of seasons but 6 months of bone chilling cold wore me down, not to mention shoveling and plowing the driveway for hours. The heat is pretty bad kinda like the winter, keeps you trapped inside most of the day, it's been 105-115 for months now consistently. The truth is that I know your property is in your bones, by reading your post I see that WV and that acreage is in your DNA. This is gonna be a lose lose and win win situation. I personally want my own piece of land to work and create what you have in WV. I dream of what you have honestly, you have a lot. What fits your family best may be different. I did quite a bit of research on just about every town in AZ before moving here, I remember reading that the Havasu area has a lot of drug problems, but in my experience it seems that kids doing hard drugs is common in the west. I like the ability to be in close proximity to very clean lakes, Saguaro, Roosevelt,Powell. I like gun freedom here, suppressors, sbrs. The way I'm going right now is that I'm going to keep my home in a town and use it for a rental, I'm actively looking for a plot of land to build an off the grid home and build what you have in WV. The way the world is makes me want to live exclusively on land and buffer myself away from the masses. This is Arizona where altitude defines the climate. Live in the low lands and visit the high lands in summer for a break. For those of us living up where it gets cold in the winter we visit the low lands for some winter heat. Dude hop onto 87 and go north, Payson and the Mogollon Rim are just a hour away! |
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Posted: 8/27/2015 5:39:20 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is Arizona where altitude defines the climate. Live in the low lands and visit the high lands in summer for a break. For those of us living up where it gets cold in the winter we visit the low lands for some winter heat. Dude hop onto 87 and go north, Payson and the Mogollon Rim are just a hour away! Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I moved from Illinois to a town called fountain hills. Property taxes are about 6x less. I'm 35 and my girlfriend is 33, we debate having kids and staying in a town for its sake but in our hearts we like property and self sufficiency. Last year we almost bought a small off the grid home with a well/solar etc. I miss the change of seasons but 6 months of bone chilling cold wore me down, not to mention shoveling and plowing the driveway for hours. The heat is pretty bad kinda like the winter, keeps you trapped inside most of the day, it's been 105-115 for months now consistently. The truth is that I know your property is in your bones, by reading your post I see that WV and that acreage is in your DNA. This is gonna be a lose lose and win win situation. I personally want my own piece of land to work and create what you have in WV. I dream of what you have honestly, you have a lot. What fits your family best may be different. I did quite a bit of research on just about every town in AZ before moving here, I remember reading that the Havasu area has a lot of drug problems, but in my experience it seems that kids doing hard drugs is common in the west. I like the ability to be in close proximity to very clean lakes, Saguaro, Roosevelt,Powell. I like gun freedom here, suppressors, sbrs. The way I'm going right now is that I'm going to keep my home in a town and use it for a rental, I'm actively looking for a plot of land to build an off the grid home and build what you have in WV. The way the world is makes me want to live exclusively on land and buffer myself away from the masses. This is Arizona where altitude defines the climate. Live in the low lands and visit the high lands in summer for a break. For those of us living up where it gets cold in the winter we visit the low lands for some winter heat. Dude hop onto 87 and go north, Payson and the Mogollon Rim are just a hour away! |
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Posted: 8/27/2015 5:39:32 PM EDT
[#36]
Damn double tap.
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Posted: 8/28/2015 1:52:59 AM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I like the sense of freedom I get being in Arizona. I visit family in Maine every year and to me there is a perceptible difference in the mentality as it relates to regulating stuff. I've never been to WV so I don't know how it compares but Arizona seems to have a more "you don't f**k with me, I won't f**k with you" attitude vs. the regulate everything to protect people from themselves mentality that prevails in a lot of places back east. I'm also an outdoors type and much prefer the wide open spaces of Arizona to the closed in, thick forests found back east. As a hunter, I enjoy the wide variety of big game opportunities we have out here. We have mule and white tailed deer, elk, bighorn sheep, buffalo, antelope, javelina, mountain lion, bear, and turkey. It's hard to get tags for some of those species, but a dedicated hunter can pretty much get a deer and javelina tag every year. Bear and mountain lion are also givens as they are sold over the counter. If you like to hunt predators, we have plenty of those too. Species include coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Arizona also has a lot of public land, so there is no shortage of beautiful places to explore. Someone else mentioned bugs. We have plenty of creepy crawlies in Arizona that can literally kill you, but unlike skeeters and ticks, our bugs tend to leave you alone unless you disturb them. I cringe to think about how a little deer tick could turn my life upside down every time I go to Maine. I can't comment on the skeeters in LHC, but down where I live they are pretty much a non-issue. We get a few during the monsoon season, but nothing really worth mentioning. A lot of people will bitch about the heat and I won't lie to you, it sucks during summer. In most of Arizona, June, July, and August are brutal and 100+ degree highs can stretch from May to October in a bad year. LHC will be even worse than most of AZ. Most places get a few unpleasantly hot days every summer but in Arizona, it can literally last for months. The upside is that 6-7 months out of the year will be absolutely beautiful. Again, I can't speak for LHC, but humidity isn't an issue for most of Arizona, most of the time. When it gets too hot, we have plenty of large lakes for recreating. One can also head to higher elevations to beat the heat. The White Mountains area has a very pleasant climate during the summer. People hear Arizona and they think desert but this is a pretty unique state in that it has a lot of variation in climate and terrain. If you like to garden, you can do it year round in Arizona. I always have something growing in my garden. During the summer, shade cloth, drip irrigation, and a thick layer of mulch will be your friends. During the winter, I grow some awesome broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and spinach. On warm years I can even over winter my peppers without protection. In LHC, you could probably even grow peppers and tomatoes through winter without protection. I've only been to LHC once, and that was as a little kid. I don't recall it being a place where I would like to live, but I also didn't spend any time on the lake or river. Here are some pictures from my travels around this beautiful state. http://i62.tinypic.com/4vsnqf.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/347heag.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/1pj5mv.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/ea3xuu.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/akkeav.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/ogdjj7.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/5bcndw.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/zturmw.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/25gds1z.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/20p99pg.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/2uoid8p.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/hv191y.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/2rm18b6.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/2j26vxd.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/2h51pjt.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/xd6v01.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/2ur36g2.jpg Outstanding post. Damn do I miss the desert. |
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Posted: 9/8/2015 2:25:38 PM EDT
[#38]
Thanks everyone for all the help and recommendations. I won't be moving to LHC anytime soon (although my father is leaving us his house in his will, that is many years away hopefully). I came up with a compromise with my wife. Since the commutes were too far from the farm to the hospitals, I suggested we move to the Elkins, WV area since it is a place we both enjoy and has a very good rated hospital. We started looking for homes last week and signed a contract on a nearly 4000 sq.ft. lodge yesterday. It only sits on 2 acres but is completely surrounded by National Forest. It butts up against the Glady Fork of the Cheat River which has fantastic trout fishing. It is a log home and came completely furnished (including flatscreen TV's, 10 person hot tub and very expensive log bedroom sets. It is a 25 minute commute to the hospital, and the seller's wife is a NP at the hospital and offered to help get my wife a job there. So it all worked out!
ETA: We are keeping the farm. It is only an hour and forty-five minutes from the new place so I can go down there anytime. |
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