Las Cruces for retirees? (Alamogordo, Ruidoso: community college, allergens, live)

[Wisteria]

Okay, Cathy and Anomoly. You two are comparing apples to apples, essentially.

I've lived in: Buffalo, New York (born and raised there); Syracuse, New York; Phoenix, AZ; Boulder, Colorado; Orinda, California; Seattle, Washington; back to Buffalo (and then high-tailed it back to the west), and now in the Santa Cruz, CA area -- and relocating to Las Cruces.

For those of you fortunate enough to have been raised in "good" weather places, it is almost impossible for someone to relate to the disagreements between a swamp cooler and AC.

Let's put it in perspective. Buffalo: snow up to 20 feet high -- I remember one winter...and this is true and you can look it up...where there was so much snow (might have been 1977), that the National Guard came in and they literally shipped the snow on trains to move down south to melt! That was in APRIL and MAY!! Or, bundling up in three pairs of socks, rubber-fleeced lined boots, gloves AND mittens, scarves, nose warmers (or a ski mask), long underwear, sweaters, a huge parka (with a hood), and another scarf tied around the face...just to get to the store or school!!!!

And summer....okay, as my dad used to joke, "I remember summer -- it fell on a Wednesday last year!" Thunderstorms, rain, mud, HUMIDITY like the west has never felt -- at least three showers a day to get that yuck off. Thunderstorms so violent that the house would literally shake, and I'd hide on the basement steps with my mother, while my dad would watch the constant strikes with glee!!

Spring -- people told me about "wind" out here -- I honestly did not notice it AT ALL. In fact, at first I thought they were kidding me. Then I found out they were sincere. To them, the leaves rustling on trees meant "wind." Back east where I'm from, "tail ends of hurricanes" were common. 70-90 miles an hour winds (REAL winds) were not uncommon during the Spring. You never let things just sit outside without expecting them to be swirled around.

And RAIN -- rain is also another constant. Spring --- rain...rain....rain..... Summer...sun, humidity, rain, thunderstorms, and it all starts again in that order. I mean downpours. And I do agree that summers out here are chilly -- because there is so little humidity! For those of us from the northeast, summers meant hot, humid, and sweat. 70 degrees there was comfortable, here it means it's time to wear a sweater!

Winter -- to explain the winters I grew up with almost sounds like an exaggeration -- we often built our own igloos. Of course, the nice thing was, though, which I still miss, was the beautiful, wonderful SILENCE of walking on a clear night with the glistening snow, several feet or more high, and the 'crunch, crunch, crunch" of just your booted feet. So peaceful. But, then you have the flipside -- you can't start your car, often we had to shovel ourselves out of the door, in fact, bad weather was such a fact of life there, if you were ten minutes late to work, they'd hollar at you for not getting up at 5 a.m. to clear the driveway, scrape the windshield, unlock frozen doors, warm up the engine, jump the battery, melt the ice, etc.

Autumn: the nicest time of year. Especially with Indian Summer. But.....again, you could have a very cold autumn. Frequently, almost always, you had Halloween where the kids were literally dressed in SNOW SUITS underneath their costumes. Afterwards, they'd gather inside to warm up and have hot chocolate. I mean, you guys just don't know bad weather.

For me, we DO sometimes have 100+ days where I am in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the summer --- I have a "portable" swamp cooler (cheap enough) to roll around from room to room. It cools down at night here, although I do like those warm nights where you can sit on your porch and visit with people, like you'd have in New Mexico.

It is all relative. I can assure anyone from the northeast, in particular, that the southwest is a virtual Heaven on Earth, weatherwise. Mountains, clear blue skies, warm air, beautiful long vistas, peace and solace, a perfect place to be laid-back, to be an artist, to be retired.

So, that's all. Just wanted to give a perspective of someone who was raised (and lived in for nearly 30 years) one of the worst places in the country. That's why I don't get all uptight with these discussions of weather there. When I lived in Seattle, I remember ONE, just ONE crack of thunder and people were scurrying around saying, "It's a thunderstorm!" I waited and waited for those hours and hours of thunder and lightening that went on for hours and hours, but they never came. That was the thunderstorm -- one crack of thunder. It truly was weird to me.

Those who are from the northeast will understand what I am talking about; those from the southwest/Texas/South, will more relate to the others who were raised there.

Just keep in mind that this is a huge country with varied weather patterns, and I know for a fact that winter in one part of the country is not the same as in another -- same with summer.

So, carry on, but just wanted to put my two-bits in for those who are from the northeast and considering Las Cruces!!

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

Okay, Cathy and Anomoly. You two are comparing apples to apples, essentially.

I've lived in: Buffalo, New York (born and raised there); Syracuse, New York; Phoenix, AZ; Boulder, Colorado; Orinda, California; Seattle, Washington; back to Buffalo (and then high-tailed it back to the west), and now in the Santa Cruz, CA area -- and relocating to Las Cruces....

Those who are from the northeast will understand what I am talking about; those from the southwest/Texas/South, will more relate to the others who were raised there.

Just keep in mind that this is a huge country with varied weather patterns, and I know for a fact that winter in one part of the country is not the same as in another -- same with summer.

So, carry on, but just wanted to put my two-bits in for those who are from the northeast and considering Las Cruces!!

You certainly have lived in varied places. I have never lived in a truly cold place, which is why I wish I were in a position to rent for a few months in WY, MT, northern CO.....just to see if I could tolerate extreme winters. I already know I hate midwestern climates at any time of the year, be they winter or summer, but I'm not sure about cold dry western states. The coldest area I've ever lived in for any length of time is Lubbock, TX, and it was colder back then (with several snows over the winter) than it is now. I loved it.

Ok, now as for apples to apples....what do you mean? If you mean the climate in West Texas, Las Cruces and Alamogordo...yep, I'll agree there, not a huge difference.

If you mean swamp coolers to refrigerated air, they are apples to oranges, and as different as night and day.

[TigerLily24]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

Okay, Cathy and Anomoly. You two are comparing apples to apples, essentially.

It is all relative. I can assure anyone from the northeast, in particular, that the southwest is a virtual Heaven on Earth, weatherwise.

This former NY/NJer agrees 100%

[TigerLily24]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

If you mean swamp coolers to refrigerated air, they are apples to oranges, and as different as night and day.

Agree with this too. Thank heavens for whomever invented the swamp cooler

[nancy thereader]

It is all relative. I can assure anyone from the northeast, in particular, that the southwest is a virtual Heaven on Earth, weatherwise. Mountains, clear blue skies, warm air, beautiful long vistas, peace and solace, a perfect place to be laid-back, to be an artist, to be retired.

Wisteria is absolutely right about the weather here in the Northeast.

That is so much of the appeal of New Mexico to me,the skies and the weather. Here it is mid-April on Long Island and there are still no flowers out and the only buds are those gaudy yellow forsythias. Yesterday it rained cold wintery pellets for the whole day.

And, did I mention that one Valentine's Day I was locked in my car by the ice ? I had gotten into my small honda to try and warm it up and defrost the windows , but it began to sleet outside and the car door refroze and I was FROZEN-LOCKED in the car!!!!

Do I have to even say the word : H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E

[anomoly]

[quote=Cathy4017;8299072]So where do you stay in the summer in NM? Living in more than one place all year seems like the thing to do, but I don't want either an RV or a second home. Too much PITA to keep up!

I plan on using my state park pass which is good till October, and costs me $4/day for full hookups, and up to 3 weeks at a time at each park . That's an extremely generous policy, compared to other states. So, I'll get my RV out of storage, north of Las Cruces, and hit them all, like I've done before, but this time, i won't have to stuff it with everything I own, since I can leave all that extra stuff at home in Yuma. I like moving around that often, so no long term RV parks for me.
Outside of Alamagordo is Oliver Lee state park, Leasburg Dam north of LC, and lots of really cool ones all over the state, including Chama, Santa Rosa, Villaneva. Summer's the perfect time for those areas.
September is perfect in southern Utah, and I might dry camp in Federal camps (forest service, BLM, NPS) for really cheap. Or a one month stay at an RV park in Moab (my favorite place).

Now, is Alamagordo as hot as Las Cruces in the summer?

[anomoly]

[quote=Wisteria;8308623]Okay, Cathy and Anomoly. You two are comparing apples to apples, essentially.

For those of you fortunate enough to have been raised in "good" weather places, it is almost impossible for someone to relate to the disagreements between a swamp cooler and AC.
Boy, you're right! I never thought about it like that, they are both just forms of cooling, which is about the thing we have to deal with, huh! Pretty minimal issues, compared to your description.
In fact, Wisteria, your descriptions always scare me! They're like watching those hour long descriptions of 'natural disasters' and 'storm stories' on the Weather Channel, where just getting out of bed sounds 'life threatening'!

And summer....okay, as my dad used to joke, "I remember summer -- it fell on a Wednesday last year!"
And RAIN -- rain is also another constant. Spring --- rain...rain....rain..... Summer...sun, humidity, rain, thunderstorms, and it all starts again in that order. I mean downpours.
LOL! 2 days ago here in Yuma we had a rainy day. It rained for 10 minutes, but local weather forecasters made a big deal about it for a week!
Now, we just have 'wind in store'.

[anomoly]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

It is all relative. I can assure anyone from the northeast, in particular, that the southwest is a virtual Heaven on Earth, weatherwise. Mountains, clear blue skies, warm air, beautiful long vistas, peace and solace, a perfect place to be laid-back, to be an artist, to be retired.

Wisteria is absolutely right about the weather here in the Northeast.

That is so much of the appeal of New Mexico to me,the skies and the weather. Here it is mid-April on Long Island and there are still no flowers out and the only buds are those gaudy yellow forsythias. Yesterday it rained cold wintery pellets for the whole day.

And, did I mention that one Valentine's Day I was locked in my car by the ice ? I had gotten into my small honda to try and warm it up and defrost the windows , but it began to sleet outside and the car door refroze and I was FROZEN-LOCKED in the car!!!!

Do I have to even say the word : H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E

You're scaring me too, Nancy!
But there are some serious burns to be had by touching hot cars in the summer.
Oh yeah, I don't even have AC in my car, but my heater is more important to me anyway! I guess that's the best way to describe a true "desert rat", huh?

[Cathy4017]

[quote=anomoly;8312550]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

So where do you stay in the summer in NM? Living in more than one place all year seems like the thing to do, but I don't want either an RV or a second home. Too much PITA to keep up!

I plan on using my state park pass which is good till October, and costs me $4/day for full hookups, and up to 3 weeks at a time at each park . That's an extremely generous policy, compared to other states. So, I'll get my RV out of storage, north of Las Cruces, and hit them all, like I've done before, but this time, i won't have to stuff it with everything I own, since I can leave all that extra stuff at home in Yuma. I like moving around that often, so no long term RV parks for me.
Outside of Alamagordo is Oliver Lee state park, Leasburg Dam north of LC, and lots of really cool ones all over the state, including Chama, Santa Rosa, Villaneva. Summer's the perfect time for those areas.
September is perfect in southern Utah, and I might dry camp in Federal camps (forest service, BLM, NPS) for really cheap. Or a one month stay at an RV park in Moab (my favorite place).

Now, is Alamagordo as hot as Las Cruces in the summer?

Sounds like a plan, LOL!!

Alamogordo is often a few degrees cooler than LC, but there's really not a lot of difference. You don't want to be here during the summer. It's HOT.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by TigerLily24

Agree with this too. Thank heavens for whomever invented the swamp cooler

Yes.....it's wonderful until you get used to refrigerated central air, LOL!!

I grew up with swamp coolers the first few years we lived in our new house, which was built the year I was born (1951). The ductwork was in place for refrigerated central air at a later date.

So, when I was about 10-12, they finally installed it.

I had it all of those years, along with all of my university years at Tech.

When I moved out on my own, I had a little duplex with a swamp cooler and one more after that. I hated them like hell. In one little garage apt, I also had a gas stove. The window unit was such that I could not cook and run the unit at the same time, since the danged cooler blew the flame out. Shoes in my closet had mold/mildew from the extra humidity, and this was dry West Texas, too!!

I was relieved to finally rent a more modern apartment that had thermostat-controlled refrigerated air, and I NEVER want to go back to a swamp cooler!!!!