I've been living in Colorado for the past 18 years. (Denver: 2014, house)

[box*of*rain]

I've loved everything about it here from day one. But just this year, and just very recently, I feel that I'm kind of over it. One things for sure: I am not at all looking forward to the snow this winter, when in the past I would jot down in my journal the date of 'the first snow of the year.' I so looked forward to it!
I want to be able to run to the store without scraping my car, putting on socks (I live in flip flops), sliding around the roads, etc. I don't really mind the cold, it's mainly just the snow.
Maybe I've just outgrown it? I don't really know. And I don't know where I would go if I left. Grew up in Miami but I know that's a place I definitely don't want to be.
Anyone find themselves in the same predicament? What did you do/where did you go?

[JrzDefector]

Originally Posted by box*of*rain

I've loved everything about it here from day one. But just this year, and just very recently, I feel that I'm kind of over it. One things for sure: I am not at all looking forward to the snow this winter, when in the past I would jot down in my journal the date of 'the first snow of the year.' I so looked forward to it!
I want to be able to run to the store without scraping my car, putting on socks (I live in flip flops), sliding around the roads, etc.
Maybe I've just outgrown it? I don't really know. And I don't know where I would go if I left. Grew up in Miami but I know that's a place I definitely don't want to be.
Anyone find themselves in the same predicament? What did you do/where did you go?

I work from home, so this weather just means I hunker down and order a lot of restaurant delivery or eat frozen meals I've prepared in advance.

The year before I left Jersey to come here, we had a winter of almost constant snow. We're talking like 2 or 3 storms that dropped over 12 inches and then numerous lighter snowfalls. But in addition to that it was constantly gloomy, the snow didn't melt between the storms and everything was gray and ugly. Add in that there weren't any warm days like we tend to get here, and it was perfectly miserable.

And then there was my senior year in high school, some 20 years ago, when I was trapped in my house for 2 weeks in January due to a massive ice storm. They canceled the first week of school after winter break. That was insanely awful.

So these snowy Denver winters aren't really bothering me at all. With the more reliable sunshine, I don't get the SAD that I'd get in Jersey, and my weather-related sinus headaches are not as bad as they were on the east coast. (Seriously, the allergist I visited told me I wasn't allergic to anything but that I was instead a "human barometer.")

I suspect the "norm" in your formative years is what makes the current winter so unbearable. My childhood norm is entirely different (and on the other end of the spectrum), so this stuff is just a minor annoyance.

[rumline]

You could try California. Especially in southern California, we don't get snow, or actual cold weather, ever. If you live in flops you'd fit right in. Just prepare to double your tax burden.

[Willy702]

About half the country's population lives in less than 10 inches of snow on average a year, not hard to find a place. Everything from heat and humidity to the extreme like Florida to the dry desert southwest to cool and damp like the urban areas of the Pacific Northwest.

[jamesdenver]

putting on socks (I live in flip flops)

If I ran a country wearing shoes outside of the house would be mandatory. You may wear sandals at the beach, and to the park if you like.

I can commiserate with the rest however given this past week.

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by jamesdenver

If I ran a country wearing shoes outside of the house would be mandatory. You may wear sandals at the beach, and to the park if you like.

I can commiserate with the rest however given this past week.

Ha ha... the no "Mandles" campaign! I might vote for you.
Seriously, I see them all the time here where I live in So. Cal. where the COL is high, and you live like sardines unless you're a big earner, but you live outside a lot!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by box*of*rain

I've loved everything about it here from day one. But just this year, and just very recently, I feel that I'm kind of over it....
I don't know where I would go if I left. ...where did you go?

Left a CO ranch after 28 yrs (too crowded and expensive in 1980) and moved to income tax free WA state. (30+ yrs there)
SW area, west Columbia Gorge (Mtns).
Little snow (3-4x / yr, few inches)
Little ice (2x/ yr)
LOTS of drizzle 200 days / yr
Lots of GREEN
not water issues.
Beach one hr,
St Helens one Hr,
Mt Hood one hr,
Columbia River / hiking / pics 2 min

20 min to Portland (lots of entertainment / food / airport / colleges)

You can wear flip-flops with socks, but Birkenstocks and wool socks is the norm.

You should try several places, but I am not headed back to CO (I keep a PT place there).

Many great choices for you! And a free country to enjoy!

[Pretzelogik]

Climatologist: 30-Year Cold Spell Strikes Earth Might be that clobal cooling coming on.

[Mire]

Originally Posted by box*of*rain

I've loved everything about it here from day one. But just this year, and just very recently, I feel that I'm kind of over it. One things for sure: I am not at all looking forward to the snow this winter, when in the past I would jot down in my journal the date of 'the first snow of the year.' I so looked forward to it!
I want to be able to run to the store without scraping my car, putting on socks (I live in flip flops), sliding around the roads, etc. I don't really mind the cold, it's mainly just the snow.
Maybe I've just outgrown it? I don't really know. And I don't know where I would go if I left. Grew up in Miami but I know that's a place I definitely don't want to be.
Anyone find themselves in the same predicament? What did you do/where did you go?

I grew up in Mississippi. My first duty station in the Army was Fort Drum, in 'sunny' Upstate New York. Never saw snow like that in my life (before or since).
After my ETS date, I swore I'd never leave the South again.
So I moved to Colorado four years and about one week ago.
I've given up on trying to figure out how it all panned out.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by box*of*rain

I don't really mind the cold, it's mainly just the snow.
Maybe I've just outgrown it? I don't really know. And I don't know where I would go if I left. Grew up in Miami but I know that's a place I definitely don't want to be.
Anyone find themselves in the same predicament? What did you do/where did you go?

First, to the OP: Your user name is my very favorite song.

I spent many years in Colorado before I left. I arrived as a teen in '68, left in 2005 after living in Denver, Ft. Collins, and Boulder.

Like you, it was less the cold than the snow that really got to me, (plus Denver was getting awfully crowded, and I had always missed the ocean.)
I hated winter driving conditions. The dry and sunny winter days did not make up for the tree-breaking/heart-breaking fall and spring snowstorms.

We ended up in Northeast Florida. Have met quite a few Floridians from down south (Miami and other spots) that ended up here. We definitely have a change of seasons, but snow is *very* rarely a part of it.

I agree with Stealthrabbit that it would be good if you could try more than one place, of course that is easier said than done. The northwest of the USA has always intrigued me, but I don't know if I could take the constant drizzle.