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I miss the Rocky Mountains!


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A few years back when I flew into Denver to ultimately spend some time with my BFF in Wyoming, we spent some time in Colorado and wound up at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Oh.My.Goodness. At one point, while standing by a creek, I looked at her and said, "I might not go home."  (I live in the desert.) The next year we spent a little more time there. 

Last year, my husband and I took a vacation in Pagosa Springs, Co. LOVED it. I even made my husband look at a house and property for sale there! I loved everything about it! yes, it's a tourist town and

therefore, yes, it's a little more expensive. But I liked everyone I met. I enjoyed the smallness of the town, the culture. I especially love the scenery and all the activity there is to do all year round.

I miss it!  The challenge is the rest of my family (2 kids and the husband) are mostly content here. We've been here over 15 years and I am so DONE with 110-115 F summers! And I say that 

EVERY year, especially at this time as the summer months really aren't that far away.

 

Anyone else have a place that is really your heart's home, even though you don't live there . . .yet?

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I live in the Rocky Mountain region (Colorado Springs area), but my heart's home is Freiburg, Germany (where I grew up).  Close second is the Oregon Coast.  I lived in Portland for 10 years, and am wishing I would have spent way more time at the coast while I had the chance.  

 

Pagosa Springs is beautiful.  I hope you get to visit again soon, and perhaps permanently someday.   :)

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I'm with you on the Rockies!!  I lived outside of Denver until I was 9 and then Boise, ID.  I am on the east coast now and miss so many things:

lack of humidity, more laid back people, amazing outdoor activities, hiking that actually involves some change in altitude, lack of humidity, my sister and her family.

 

I really hope to move back in about 4 years!

Good luck convincing your family members on th wisdom of your insight!!!

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Our only relative that lives close by is my sister, with whom I get along okay but we have very little in common. She'll probably live here in the desert for as long as she lives. My mom and stepdad winter out here but due to Mom's health and memory issues, this may very well be the last winter they do that. I need to get mt kids up to Pagosa. I know they would love it. Especially my daughter, who's 15 and keeps saying she wants to live in a small town. We most definitely do NOt live in a small town right now!

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I understand.

 

For me it's the openness of the Sonoran desert that I miss, coupled with the mountains in the distance. I think Wyoming would be the absolutely perfect place to live. Unfortunately, it will probably never happen, have to go where the jobs are. I comfort myself that at least I'm back on the western half of the continent. It could always be worse! I could still be on the east coast.

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The Rockies are magical. Rocky Mountain National Parks is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! 

 

My happy place is the Oregon Coast. We recently moved from So CA to an area just 25 miles outside of Portland. It now is a short 1 hr drive to the Oregon Coast. :-)

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Me too! I grew up in Salt Lake City. Lived there until I was 29, and then we moved out here to the DC area. Every time I go home and see those mountains, I'm not even kidding, I tear up a little. They represent home. They were the backdrop of my entire life. They're always there. Beautiful, amazing Rockies. :)

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We moved to Colorado from Texas 8 years ago and never looked back.  When we first got married DH was a beach guy.  All I ever talked about was the mountains.  He eventually came around!

 

And to answer this question..

Anyone else have a place that is really your heart's home, even though you don't live there . . .yet?

 

We used to vacation in Colorado when I was a kid.  When I finally made the move, at the age of 38, my dad said when I was 8 years old, the first time our family went there on vacation, I looked up at him and said, "Dad, I wasn't supposed to live in Texas.  I was supposed to live in Colorado."  :)

 

It took me awhile, but I finally made it!  Don't give up!
 

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It would be the East coast for me. I'm trapped here in the Phoenix metro until September 30, 2014 and then I am out of here! I can not handle the heat. It drives me crazy and the electric bills....ugh. We are going to try North Carolina, it isn't New England, but it is closer and it is cooler than Phoenix. 

 

I need 4 seasons. I really need a fall season. 

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I adore Colorado.  My first visit was kind of like yours.  I loved everything about it and 6 weeks later, I moved to Denver.  Of course, that was before children when it was much easier to just pick up and go.  I'd still love to live in Colorado, but I firmly believe my heart's home is Ireland.  No, I've never been there, but that doesn't matter.  I know that that is home.  I just don't know how to get there..... yet!

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I miss mountains, period. We lived in Salt Lake City for a few years when I was a kid (Dad taught at the U of U). We visited family in California every other summer after moving to the east coast and would spend a few days each trip at my mother's family's cabin in the Sierras just east of Tahoe.

 

I don't think we'll ever move from the midAtlantic (unless all three kids go west), but I can see us vacationing in various mountainous areas :)

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I think people forget that you have to be over 100 miles from the east, into CO, before mountains are even visible.  lol

I've noticed over the years that eastern Colorado doesn't really exist.   ;)

 

I've seen evidence of eastern Colorado on a map.  So theoretically, I know it's there.   :tongue_smilie:

 

Just kidding.  We drive out east every once in awhile.   :)

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I think people forget that you have to be over 100 miles from the east, into CO, before mountains are even visible.  lol

I've noticed over the years that eastern Colorado doesn't really exist.   ;)

 

LMHO...We lived in the Denver area for 12 years.  I don't think I ever went any farther east than Aurora.  Isn't that eastern Colorado?

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For everyone who is missing the mountains...the view from my bedroom window (the tops of the mountains are cut off a bit by the heavy clouds, sorry):

 

 

Well that's just rubbing it in.  This is Diane:    :001_tt2:

 

My future happy place is Wyoming.  My husband and I talk daily about retiring there in 12 or 14 years.  We've discussed different towns, how much land we will need (I want chickens even if I have to knit little sweaters to keep them warm), how often we should visit the kids and our future adorable grandkids, what airport we will fly out of when we travel, etc.  My son asked me today if I would have a garden (I can't have one now because my yard is too shaded), and we discussed, at length, whether it is possible to grow tomatoes in Wyoming, you know--like I'm going there immediately.  It is our way of coping with the craziness of our current lives.

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Been going to Red River, NM most summers for almost 20 years.  Once Texas starts heating up in the spring, Red River is all I can think about.  Even when I know it is miserably cold there in the winter, I want to go.  We usually camp and sometimes rent a house.  I almost ALWAYS look at property when I'm there... the town is so small I know absolutely every neighborhood and I even watch property listings from home.  I've just never found the cabin that I want to spend the money on for a summer house.  As much as I love it, I don't think I would ever live there full-time.

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Me too! I grew up in Salt Lake City. Lived there until I was 29, and then we moved out here to the DC area. Every time I go home and see those mountains, I'm not even kidding, I tear up a little. They represent home. They were the backdrop of my entire life. They're always there. Beautiful, amazing Rockies. :)

You said it so well. I grew up in Colorado and feel exactly the same. I miss the mountains and the wide open spaces.

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I live in SLC, I LOVE my mountains! I spent some time in Boise, and while it was a lovely area, the mountains just weren't the same. And really, 30 minutes from my front door, up into the mountains, pulling into my favorite campground? You just can't beat it!

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I understand.

 

For me it's the openness of the Sonoran desert that I miss, coupled with the mountains in the distance. I think Wyoming would be the absolutely perfect place to live. Unfortunately, it will probably never happen, have to go where the jobs are. I comfort myself that at least I'm back on the western half of the continent. It could always be worse! I could still be on the east coast.

 

Grew up in WY. My experience is that there are WAY more jobs there than here. At least where I lived the economy is much better.

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Well that's just rubbing it in.  This is Diane:    :001_tt2:

 

My future happy place is Wyoming.  My husband and I talk daily about retiring there in 12 or 14 years.  We've discussed different towns, how much land we will need (I want chickens even if I have to knit little sweaters to keep them warm), how often we should visit the kids and our future adorable grandkids, what airport we will fly out of when we travel, etc.  My son asked me today if I would have a garden (I can't have one now because my yard is too shaded), and we discussed, at length, whether it is possible to grow tomatoes in Wyoming, you know--like I'm going there immediately.  It is our way of coping with the craziness of our current lives.

 

I did! But I bought tomato plants that were already started. What I struggled with was the wind! The wind is HORRIBLE. 60+ mi/hr winds is just crazy.

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I miss the mountains. I love CO. As far as WY... I do not miss the hurricane force winds, -40 temps, lack of seasons, dry air,  or driving a state away to get Panera. :) But I DO miss small towns, sense of community, and...mountains. Camping just isn't the same out on the prairie.

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Just to make you all jealous...

 

 

 

YoNCb4z.jpg

 

They are just so gorgeous!

 

I must say that the Coastal Range of OR is close enough for me to practically touch from my house and most days (with the exception of the foggy ones), the view driving up my street towards the mountains is beautiful. They're not the Rockies, but they are lovely. 

 

While driving towards the highway on a clear day, we have an amazing unobstructed view of Mt. Hood in the distance. It's pretty impressive! :-)

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