Another where should I move question. (Colorado Springs: area, outdoor, good)

[SandyBeeGritty]

Hi...I currently live in Missouri, but I grew up in the area of Colorado that you are interested in. My hometown of Nucla Colorado is about 100 miles from Grand Junction and Montrose and 120 from Durango.

You can count on leaving the humidity behind! It's wonderful to be able to breathe without gills in the summer. Heat in the lower elevations can be a bit oppressive. Nothing like Arizona, but it can easily get above 100 several times in the summer. Drive up into the mountains and escape it. Better yet, find a place at the base of a mountain and live there.

If you love canyonlands, go to Delta and then travel south towards the Umcompaghre range and see some magnificent canyons. Take drinking water...it is dry, dry, dry.

I would advise you to go out there for a visit and then choose the area you like best. Living in town with access to good medical facilities and shopping (Grand Junction, Durango, Cortez, Montrose) has to be weighed against the mountain scenery and wildlife available only a few miles away.

Given a choice, I would go back to the Nucla, Naturita, Norwood area. Norwood is the town closest to Telluride, where the ski resort is located and property prices there have skyrocketed. People who sell their Telluride properties for astronomical amounts want to stay near, so they buy just down the river in Norwood.

Southwestern Colorado is still relatively unspoiled by the tourist jams that eastern Colorado is plagued with. What ever you do, do not judge Colorado by Estes park! It is lovely, but way too many people are ruining it. Instead, drive up from Ridgeway to the Silver Jack Reservoir in the Sawtooth Range. If you have an RV, stay at the state park in Ridgeway for a week or so and explore the surrounding area. There are some rough roads around there, but someone looking for adventure, as you are, should not plan on staying on pavement all the time.

If you enjoy primitive camping, go to Norwood and take the road to Beaver Park towards the Lone Cone. There are some primitive camping areas up there...perfectly accessible with a camping trailer or RV (and of course...on foot). Flies and mosquitos can be a problem, so be sure to take insect repellant.

Another primitive camping area that we enjoy is Buckeye Reservoir above Paradox, nearly in Utah. In fact, the manmade lake is 3 miles from the Utah border at the foot of the La Salle Mountains. It's at a perfect altitude to avoid the worst biting insect problems. We've often camped at the lake for days and never applied insect repellant.

From any place in the Nucla valley (my hometown, remember?) you can see the La Salles. Even though I've been living in Missouri for 40 years, when I look west I always see the La Salles in my mind's eye.

If you choose to live in one of the towns "100 miles from anywhere", you will need to adjust to traveling by helicopter when you need an ambulance. The good news is...there are helicopter life flights!

Take a trip to Colorado...go to Grand Junction,....go to Nucla, Naturita and Norwood from Grand Junction up Highway 141. (breathtaking canyons)...continue your trip over to Telluride and then over to Ridgeway (breathtaking mountain views), to Montrose, to Delta
(more canyons) and then back to Grand Junction. Take side trips along the way into the mountains. If you can't find something you really like...go back where you came from...you are impossible to please.

[Crackerjack]

SandyBeeGritty, you read my mind on beautiful places! I love all through there. Also if you go down to Durango, go up into the La Plata Mountains. It isn't far from Hesperus. I think it is County Road 124 or something like that. A road tells you to turn to the La Platas and you will see the mountains. Also don't miss seeing Ouray and Silverton. Breathtaking! Ah, it brings back memories, all that area. I am sure it does you too! The great music, folk festivals, get togethers, all that good stuff!

[KathieH]

This is my first posting here, only discovering this site today. My husband and I, along with our 23 yr old son and 16 yr old daughter just got back from a trip to CO, the Denver area. Hubby has some family that recently moved there. We came up to visit. Hubby also had a job interview, just in case. Well, they want him for the job. We found an area to live in. I haven't read anyone's postings about Commerce City. We found an awesome house in Buffalo Mesa, just past Reunion. We currently live in So. CA. We just decided today that we will make the move. Got things in motion to buy the house, now must sell our current house. Can anyone tell me if we made the right choice for that area?? I've read up about Commerce City. It is also an industrial area, but not where these homes are. Thanks

[TXteacher]

I would like to eventually relocate to Colorado to escape the heat and humidity of Central Texas. Forty years here is enough.

I would also like to avoid the summertime mosquitoes, if possible. Are there areas of Colorado that have less mosquitoes than other parts that I can start considering? Are is that just a fact of life everywhere?

Thanks in advance.

[Crackerjack]

There is very little humidity in Colorado so even when it gets up into the 90s it still feels fine. The only problems I have encountered with mosquitoes in Colorado is by the lakes or if there is some stagnant water but otherwise, I haven't seen them. So if you want to avoid mosquitoes here, just buy away from any body of stagnant water. I have a relative near Dallas and she is eaten up with them anytime after dusk and has the citronella and sprays and all that and she is miles away from any water.

[2bindenver]

Commerce City is a new to residential area. It is close to DIA and Denver, schools are being built, and the car insurance is still a little on the high side (no long term track record for the insurers)

The builder's on site person does not represent you, nor should you buy based on what they tell you, only what it is in writing!

Love the golf course up there! Do you golf?

And no, we generally do not see a lot of insects here, just spiders and snakes up here in the high desert.

[nursenerd]

We are trying to relocate fro Houston, Tx. The crime, heat and illegals are running us off. The Springs is were we are looking. I'm worried about adapting to the cold. How long is summer/spring?

[Crackerjack]

Colorado, to me, has a mild all around climate. It never seems too cold or too hot. Now there are some, say from Florida or California where it is warm all year, they might find it cold in the winter but honestly the low humidity makes Colorado's climate really nice. I long for Colorado's climate myself. I am in Phoenix and can't wait to get out of all this heat. Colorado Springs seems to have even more of a milder winter. The days are nice and sunny and the nights cool and soothing. Really though I'd live in any place in Colorado. It is beautiful!

[INtoCOinJuly]

Thanks for posting so many "non-tourist" places to check out! We will be Coloradoians (is that a word? ) in less than a week, and we are so looking forward to weekends in the mountains with our kids!

[nursenerd]

I'm sold! anyone know about outdoor groups. hiking groups,etc. in the springs.