Monday, November 06, 2006

Monday May (or as it happens, may not...)

Katy and the Spouser at Washoe Lake, Nevada.

We are out of town for a couple days, and darned if the cheap motel we're staying in doesn't have free wifi! Such luck. I was about to write my NaBloPoMo post in Performancing and save it until I got home. Now, I won't need to.

We decided to take a short trip to a town that was on our "possibly retire here" list. Our plan was to drive in one day, spend two days getting a lot of information and then drive home. Take a short break from real life and get away with the dogs.

We are trying to be quite realistic in what we're looking for: a smallish city/very large town with a cost of living about national average, some 2000 sq. foot single level homes available, some trees, and a walking center of town.

My perfect place to live there will be something to do 2-3 times a week. Regular reasons to get out of the house and interact with other people. Unfortunately, most regular happenings occur in the evenings. And I have trouble driving in the dark. So the prospect of moving somewhere we don't know anyone and being trapped in the house every night by my nightblindness is unappealling. A home near the center of a town, where I could walk places? would be divine.

We've started doing some homework by checking out some of the books from the library on perfect places to retire. Even when we think of cities not on the lists, we keep the important features in mind:

a college town (low cost entertainment and usually lots of stuff happening);
a good regional medical center;
an active arts community (again, usually lots to do);
parks and recreation facilities nearby.

I'm sure there are more things, but those are high on our checklist. With a recommendation in mind, we headed for Carson City, Nevada.

We can cross this area off our list.

Major complaint: there is no active "center of town" except where they have the state legislature building and a couple casinos. No walking area, no charming bookstores and places to eat. No sense of community.

The city does have 42 parks listed in their brochure. Of that, 2 allow dogs and only on leash. There is no dog park. These folks are like the dog Nazis we've found in a couple other spots.

Tomorrow we'll drive up to Reno, which is growing by leaps and bounds and check it out a little before heading home early.

On the fiber-front: I've started knitting a sock. I've gotten nearly to the end of ribbing and must now decide if I want to try the jaywalker pattern or not. Atleast with wifi now, I can go to YouTube and check out CrazyAuntPurl's video for knitting in the front and back of a stitch.

Check out my other blog: Deb's Daily Distractions

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