[LittleSwissArmyGirl]

After 30 years I'm ready to leave the DeepDarkDank of SW WA and maybe retire in rural Michigan. One of my sons and his wife are coming to Detroit in June to set up shop so I'm considering Michigan also.
I'm trying to whittle my needs down to the essentials; like an old brick or stone house, well, septic, property with trees, no close neighbors, but espresso cafes and brewpubs and familiar forested scenery nearby. Sort of a WA scene but 60% cheaper.
Here's where you might chuckle; I'm hoping for more sunshine? Is this a deal breaker? I'm open to all ideas and info as I'm sure there is plenty I still don't know. Thanks everyone!!

[MikeBear]

Originally Posted by LittleSwissArmyGirl

After 30 years I'm ready to leave the DeepDarkDank of SW WA and maybe retire in rural Michigan. One of my sons and his wife are coming to Detroit in June to set up shop so I'm considering Michigan also.
I'm trying to whittle my needs down to the essentials; like an old brick or stone house, well, septic, property with trees, no close neighbors, but espresso cafes and brewpubs and familiar forested scenery nearby. Sort of a WA scene but 60% cheaper.
Here's where you might chuckle; I'm hoping for more sunshine? Is this a deal breaker? I'm open to all ideas and info as I'm sure there is plenty I still don't know. Thanks everyone!!

I'm not familiar first-hand with Washington state, but Michigan is overcast much of the time, due to being surrounded by the Great Lakes and our odd weather system. However, much of the rest of your requirements are doable in many spots around our state! I don't drink coffee or beer, but I'm sure many others will post soon.

[LittleSwissArmyGirl]

MikeBear thanks for your reply but,,, dang that overcast news! Can you share what you mean by "odd weather system"? I've been studying your annual days of sun and so far I've read the Lake Michigan side is way more overcast than the Lake Huron due to weather naturally traveling Eastward. In fact I think I read Grand Rapids is tied with Portland OR for the number of overcast days. Definitely didn't see THAT coming!

[Giesela]

I've never been in the PNW so its hard for me to compare. I do wonder though if our overcast days are a little bit more segrated by season than WA. We do seem to rate right up with WA for overcast. However our hardcore day after day overcast seems to start in Nov and last till spring. More of the sun days do occur in summer which I think is "longer" than WA? Nor does Michigan have that very light constant mist rain that I hear about. We get a lot of precip but its not teeny tiny misty droplets constantly It snows and rains with dry spells in between.

Get read for cold and snow, something you don't have in western WA. When we get sun in the winter its accompanied by super cold days (cloud cover holds in heat) Nor do we have mountains. Any forested scenary isn't going to look the same either. If your son is going to be in Detroit forest is going to be a bit of a stretch.

I really don't know the Detroit area that well but brewpubs and coffeehouses sounds like Ferndale to me but thats an area in Detroit. (No mountains or forests). If you want forest you have to go to Tawas which is 3 hours north of Detroit. Not sure about brewpubs and coffee shops in Tawas or Oscoda.

[michmoldman]

Everything is do-able but the more sunshine part. Sounds like Northern lower Michigan would fit you well, but your gonna get a ton of snow most of the time. I'm in Gaylord and just a little over 2 weeks ago we had almost 3 ft. on the ground. It went fast though

[LittleSwissArmyGirl]

Gisela, YES! That mist! My late husby called it the Steady DRIPDRIPDRIP. I called it the Chinese Water Torture. When family phoned to ask how were things he would always reply "41' & raining, how are you?" Basically Western WA & OR have a 90 day drought followed by 9 months of rain. Like you point out, Michigan will have some break up in the weather and more variety i.e. snow but that is ok with me. Note; It's not me going to Detroit, it's my son, but sounds like when I visit him I can find my espresso and brewpub vibe.

Gisela thank you for mentioning Tawas. I am already looking at Tawas,,,, and Croswell and Livingston. Finding a lot of old brick farm houses on Zillow! Also found a stone schoolhouse near Gladwin. I do want to drive to visit the son in Detroit. From Gladwin to Detroit for example, it's the same distance as from Portland to Seattle which I did constantly as a trucker. That'd be about my limit tho.

[LittleSwissArmyGirl]

Originally Posted by michmoldman

Everything is do-able but the more sunshine part. Sounds like Northern lower Michigan would fit you well, but your gonna get a ton of snow most of the time. I'm in Gaylord and just a little over 2 weeks ago we had almost 3 ft. on the ground. It went fast though

Michmoldman 3 ft? WOW!! Do all you guys drive 4WD there? I see where Gaylord is. I'm going to look south of where you are. Maybe just south of where the woods begin is a reasonable place to consider. If I draw a line from Houghton Lake to Tawas City, I'll search around below that. Maybe I'll just have to live within a short distance of all the different things I love, and get a Jeep with chains. hahaha!

[MikeBear]

Tawas City and East Tawas are both a good choice for most of what you want. Lake Huron lakeside houses are fairly expensive, but regular houses are very affordable. Detroit isn't that much of a run from there either. In fact, I wanted to move to East Tawas when I was RIF retired from my job, but my son and wife got married, and my wife was mooning over grandkids. Which the first one is going to be 1 year old at the end of this month.

East Tawas is only 70 miles away from where we are now, but she thinks it's too far, LOL. That's nothing for average driving in Michigan...

As for our "odd weather system", things get locked in because we are surrounded by the great lakes. So, we could go from boiling hot drought to rain, or to snow or even once in a great while to tornado, literally in the same day. Then you can have the high winds, and when that happens, it's possible to lose power for days.

As for wooded areas near Detroit, theres's the various "Metro Parks", of which we sometimes drive down and spend the day at the Kensington Metropark. It is AWESOME! It's possible to live nearby, and even the Detroit Zoo isn't that far away. Milford Michigan Park : Kensington Metropark

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by LittleSwissArmyGirl

Michmoldman 3 ft? WOW!! Do all you guys drive 4WD there? I see where Gaylord is. I'm going to look south of where you are. Maybe just south of where the woods begin is a reasonable place to consider. If I draw a line from Houghton Lake to Tawas City, I'll search around below that. Maybe I'll just have to live within a short distance of all the different things I love, and get a Jeep with chains. hahaha!

Most yes...lol I second the Tawas area. Usually less snow, more sun and gorgeous area! If I had to move to that part of the state Tawas would be #1 on my list.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by LittleSwissArmyGirl

MikeBear thanks for your reply but,,, dang that overcast news! Can you share what you mean by "odd weather system"? I've been studying your annual days of sun and so far I've read the Lake Michigan side is way more overcast than the Lake Huron due to weather naturally traveling Eastward. In fact I think I read Grand Rapids is tied with Portland OR for the number of overcast days. Definitely didn't see THAT coming!

Our weather is more greatly affected by two things: the North American Jetstream, or Polar Jetstream and the Great Lakes. The jetstream is a powerful atmospheric air current that meanders along the Northern part of the United States from West to East and continues around the globe. It's why our winds are primarily out of the West (unless there's a low pressure system that is swirling like a hurricane and causing wind to seem to come out of the East). When the jetstream dips down low into the US in the winter, it brings cold Canadian air with it. It then crosses Lake Michigan which is much warmer than the air and causes lake effect snow on the Western 1/3 of the State, and creates a lot of cloud cover. When it moves up into Canada in the summertime, it allows warmer air to come up from the Gulf of Mexico.

If you've ever been to the Southwest part of the United States, you'll notice that cloud systems move very sloowwww. I've noticed in Colorado when visiting there that it might take hours for a cloud or storm system to move from the mountains into the cities like Colo Springs. You'll see it out over the mountain peaks and hours later it still hasn't reached you. Same with California and Nevada, I've seen the same cloud sit on top of a mountain in Death Valley for 4 hours and not move. Here, because of the jetstream, cloud systems or storm systems might move 50 mph or faster. A storm out in the middle of Lake Michigan usually gets to us in Grand Rapids in about an hour. It's what makes thunderstorms here so thrilling.

The Pacific Northwest's weather is almost all related to the temperatures of the currents in the Pacific Ocean. That's why the weather is pretty constant year round (wet), other than temperature differences from the sun's position in the sky (if you can see it ).

I think that's what MikeBear meant by strange weather here.

But honestly having traveled and stayed around the United States extensively, I think we have the best summer weather of anywhere in the U.S.. Anything South of the Mason Dixon Line in the summer (after May) is just unbearable for me to be outside.