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General Discussion => Essentially Flyertalk => Topic started by: Pete on January 25, 2024, 11:18:12 PM
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In 3 years I may try my hand at snowbirding. Who has done it, or is familiar? I’m a total noob, and open to any warm area for the months of Jan - March.
Looks like Texas, Arizona, and Florida are the most common.
I’d like to rent a fully furnished 2 - 3 bedroom house or townhome, with a fenced yard for my dogs for 3 months.
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Never done it, but I’d choose Arizona if I did. Warm desert sunshine in the winter is a wonderful thing. Some excellent outdoor recreation down there. And you can see a Cats bball game.
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Never done it, but I’d choose Arizona if I did. Warm desert sunshine in the winter is a wonderful thing. Some excellent outdoor recreation down there. And you can see a Cats bball game.
It does seem like my fav so far. Monthly rentals seem to become more plentiful after age 55 in the old people areas. Tucson seems cool, but I have never visited. I did really like Tempe, but not terribly familiar.
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New Mexico seems pretty good but maybe still too cold?
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unconventional: alabama
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unconventional: alabama
I love Gulf Shores, just not as many reasonable monthly house rentals
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New Mexico seems pretty good but maybe still too cold?
Santa Fe and Taos are quite a bit pricier.
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i would look south of the border for a variety of reasons, although not sure what the tax implications would be
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i would look south of the border for a variety of reasons, although not sure what the tax implications would be
I like that idea, but there are two challenges for me that probably make working abroad a no-go. First, even though I can work from anywhere with an internet connection, my employer has made a stink about people working remotely from other countries due to tax stuff and due to arrangements with their partner companies that operate in those countries. It's a whole rough ridin' thing. Oof.
Second, my wife has a bunch of health issues that require monthly visits to doc, so we'd have to get that figured out. Maybe we could just go for 3 week stints or something? Seems like a hassle.
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I had considered doubling down on KS and buying land here, but for a host of reasons that isn't in the cards anymore. So, my anchor home will likely be in Northern Minnesota. I was going to keep a small place in KS (and I still might go that route eventually), but I am inclined to live in MN April - December, and just rent something fun for Jan - March.
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My grandparents used to snowbird near Tucson, that's all I got Pete.
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unconventional: alabama
I love Gulf Shores, just not as many reasonable monthly house rentals
Depending on what you love about Gulf Shores, you might be able to find something similar if you try Mississippi. Biloxi, for example. Maybe Gulf Port. if you go a little further west, there are some small towns along the beach that are pretty sleepy but have the basic stuff you need. I spent a lot of Xmases in those areas as a kid and its usually around 50 deg this time of year. That may not be enough of a snowbird retreat in temp, either.
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This appears to be a Pete flex thread. 'grats Pete.
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My parents go to south Texas every winter in their RV. They play tons of golf and pickleball. Seems fun.
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new orleans, tucson, st george
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How are you transporting the dogs from Minnesota?
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How are you transporting the dogs from Minnesota?
Honda Odyssey with a 100K miles on it. All of this scheme will be driving, and not flying.
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The temps aren't that important to me. I kinda like hipster places, but I don't really want to pay the hipster premium. Like, Sonoma looks cool and so does Santa Fe, but those are probably too pricey. I'm not looking to buy, just to rent for a few months.
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This appears to be a Pete flex thread. 'grats Pete.
Yeah, it’s been a long road brother.
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This appears to be a Pete flex thread. 'grats Pete.
Yeah, it’s been a long road brother.
Just goshing you friend. Actually jealous. Mrs SF will never leave KS because her parents are here. I'd move somewhere warm right now. Snow birding is def something i'll be considering once my kids are out of the house.
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I’d like to rent a fully furnished 2 - 3 bedroom house or townhome, with a fenced yard for my dogs for 3 months.
not for snowbirding, but did this a bunch when my wife worked as a travel nurse. It can be tricky to find pet friendly short term rentals, especially in smaller towns. But beyond the hassle of getting housing and utilities setup, it is good fun to be somewhere new for a few months.
Tucson is good for cycling if you are still into that sort of thing. Also enjoyed St George/Hurricane UT, Henderson NV
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I’d like to rent a fully furnished 2 - 3 bedroom house or townhome, with a fenced yard for my dogs for 3 months.
not for snowbirding, but did this a bunch when my wife worked as a travel nurse. It can be tricky to find pet friendly short term rentals, especially in smaller towns. But beyond the hassle of getting housing and utilities setup, it is good fun to be somewhere new for a few months.
Tucson is good for cycling if you are still into that sort of thing. Also enjoyed St George/Hurricane UT, Henderson NV
These are great tips! What was the weather like in those other spots in Jan-March?
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catchacold and I are in lock step as always
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These are great tips! What was the weather like in those other spots in Jan-March?
Henderson would start around 65/40 in Jan to 80/55 in March
St George roughly 10 degrees cooler than that
Visited Henderson for the Cats game in November it was around 80, pretty nice. This is the "late night" trailhead just west of the city
(https://wildcatgrowl.com/images/pictures/20231108_145625.jpg)
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New Mexico seems pretty good but maybe still too cold?
Santa Fe and Taos are quite a bit pricier.
I have always enjoyed time spent in Las Cruces/El Paso.
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Pete are you going to forfeit Kansas/Missouri fall weather in this new adventure?
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Also if the place isn't fully furnished, furniture rental companies were easy to deal with and they deliver/pickup. Then you just need kitchen stuff, bedding, etc. We sometimes found these in thrift stores and then donated back when we left.
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How are you transporting the dogs from Minnesota?
Honda Odyssey with a 100K miles on it. All of this scheme will be driving, and not flying.
Sounds like you should lave Minnesota by mid-October and not go back until May.
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Pete, my mom has been a snowbird for 6 years now. She lives in Wyoming during the summers and then has a house just outside Phoenix during the winters, both of them are on golf courses. The first covid winter I snowbirded to AZ because it was just miserable in KC. I also live in south Texas now so I have a couple things I wanted to add.
I like Phoenix but the traffic around both downtowns sucks, it's also so spread out it takes forever to get anywhere. During the winter when you're there the weather is amazing, sunny almost everyday and lots of things to do outside. It sucks to live there in the summer so you wouldn't have to worry about that.
I like Tucson a lot too, it's got a small town feel in a not too overwhelming area. They also have skiing all year and it's nice during the winter. So you can enjoy your 60-70s weather and be like 30 min from the slopes. The food in both Tucson and Phoenix is very good and lots of variety.
The winters in south Texas are similar to Arizona but you do have more cloudy days and there's probably ~2 weeks a year where it could get down to freezing. When it does, omg, it's like the end of the world, people don't know how to drive and they even hoard water and stuff pretty wild. BUT I really like it down here. Austin is nice but it's super expensive but there is a lot to do also. There's a lot of hiking and biking here too. San Antonio has a lot of stuff to do outside and there's all the touristy stuff but there a lot of different areas of the city to visit. Hill country is not far and that's great for hiking and biking.
The other good thing about AZ and Texas is they are very close to KS. So I'm only a ~2 hour plane ride away from being home, that helps.
Anyways I absolutely hate the winters in KS and can deal with the super hot summers here so it's worth it to me to stay here to be able to enjoy all the months outside of the scorching summers.
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Man this blog really delivers.
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Somewhere in the Coachella valley/thread
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Wilmington NC may provide enough hipster and enough sipping cold one's at a yacht basin eatery overlooking boats of all shapes and sizes . . . MJ might even cruise buy on his fishing yacht.
Albeit affordable rentals may be difficult.
The place is getting pretty upper end, the county experiencing population decline because of gentrification and the working class indigenous population being pushed out because of higher costs of living.
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Agree with the St George comments. Similar to Az but a little cooler. Lows average at or just below freezing in Jan and highs in the 50s. By March you’ll be up to 70s or even some 80s. Again, fantastic outdoor recreation there. Some of the weird Utah things to get accustomed to, buts it’s slowly normalizing as the population grows.
And the entire Wasatch front will be down there for MLK, Presidents’ Day weekends, so you can bitch and moan about all the out of towners messing everything up.
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As a Texas dweller I have the opposite problem. Is there a term for anti-snowbirding?
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Sunbirding!
Snowbird/Sunbird is my goal. Mountain town in the summer, SW desert in the winter.
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Just move to the pacific coast
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Sunbirding!
Snowbird/Sunbird is my goal. Mountain town in the summer, SW desert in the winter.
Sunbirding is my retirement (or semi retirement) wet dream. During COVID my online research took me to Bend, OR. But now I’m sort of resigned to CO on account of convenience and a bunch of family there.
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Just move to the pacific coast
Maybe when I have no taxable income.
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As a Texas dweller I have the opposite problem. Is there a term for anti-snowbirding?
Get/rent a cabin in northern MN/WI/MI in the north woods May - Sept. May fishing is the best, but you won't be swimming. July/August is the best for lake sports.
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I have dreamed of being nomadic and starting in Minnesota in early summer and migrating south before winter hits, not sure how far south I'd end up going but San Antonio seems like a logical spot.
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As a Texas dweller I have the opposite problem. Is there a term for anti-snowbirding?
Oh come on, it’s not THAT bad
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What’s the mosquito sitch on these Minnesota lakes during summer?
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’m literally 20 min from anywhere in the city in SA.
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’ve never actually lived in KC, but Dallas feels like it has significantly less sprawl from my experience. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
this sounds exactly like kansas city
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’ve never actually lived in KC, but Dallas feels like it has significantly less sprawl from my experience. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
This is an insane take and I love it!
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’ve never actually lived in KC, but Dallas feels like it has significantly less sprawl from my experience. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
DFW is gigantic, so I think you’re meaning just, like, Dallas Dallas? Because the metro sprawl is to the max.
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How are you transporting the dogs from Minnesota?
Honda Odyssey with a 100K miles on it. All of this scheme will be driving, and not flying.
Sounds like you should lave Minnesota by mid-October and not go back until May.
That is definitely the ideal approach, but it's just more expensive. If for any reason we find that we need to keep our KS place, that's almost exactly what we'd do, and then stay in KS Oct - April....that's what my mother-in-law and father-in-law do.
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What’s the mosquito sitch on these Minnesota lakes during summer?
If varies, and gets worse at night. Most of the time it isn't really that bad at all. If you are going to be out of the water, just wear bug spray or clothes that ward them off. Camp fires work great for keeping them away. People don't really ever notice them if they are swimming or tubing/skiing during the day, for example.
Personally, since our kids are nearly out of the house, we don't spend any time swimming really. I'm either fishing or doing a stroll around the lake in the pontoon. When I am fishing I am usually wearing long sleeves, like those fishing hoodies, and then a little bug spray on top of them to keep them away. On a moving boat, they won't get you much, so the pontoon strolls are nice.
The whole thing kinda gets overblown. Northern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Northern Michigan all have the same ecological profile, and they are all amazing in the summer. Minnesota does have the advantage of more lakes, of if you like water stuff, that's nice. Wisconsin and Michigan have way more access to the Great Lakes though. Duluth in MN is a super desirable place on a great lake, but definitely better in WI and MI if you like the big water 100 foot lake trout and salmon stuff.
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What’s the mosquito sitch on these Minnesota lakes during summer?
If varies, and gets worse at night. Most of the time it isn't really that bad at all. If you are going to be out of the water, just wear bug spray or clothes that ward them off. Camp fires work great for keeping them away. People don't really ever notice them if they are swimming or tubing/skiing during the day, for example.
Personally, since our kids are nearly out of the house, we don't spend any time swimming really. I'm either fishing or doing a stroll around the lake in the pontoon. When I am fishing I am usually wearing long sleeves, like those fishing hoodies, and then a little bug spray on top of them to keep them away. On a moving boat, they won't get you much, so the pontoon strolls are nice.
The whole thing kinda gets overblown. Northern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Northern Michigan all have the same ecological profile, and they are all amazing in the summer. Minnesota does have the advantage of more lakes, of if you like water stuff, that's nice. Wisconsin and Michigan have way more access to the Great Lakes though. Duluth in MN is a super desirable place on a great lake, but definitely better in WI and MI if you like the big water 100 foot lake trout and salmon stuff.
I'd much rather chill on one of the smaller lakes in MN as opposed to the great lakes. How big is your "Home" lake up there? Boat dock on it or do you have to put in at the launch every time you take the boat out?
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’ve never actually lived in KC, but Dallas feels like it has significantly less sprawl from my experience. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
DFW is gigantic, so I think you’re meaning just, like, Dallas Dallas? Because the metro sprawl is to the max.
Sprawl? Sure. However every little area has the same pop-up stuff. You really don't have to drive far unless you have a specific major destination like Jerry World, theater, baseball, etc., etc.
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Yeah, like clams said, that how most people live even in KC.
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Perfect snow/sun for me.
Summer around the Great Lakes. Winter in south Texas, Arizona, or Florida (south of Fort Myers).
I don't do dry air well.
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You can live in northern MN on a lake or deep in the woods and still be relatively close to necessities. Each little lake town has it's own full array of services. Most all of the spots are within 3 hours of a an airport that has multiple daily flights to MSP or ORD (or both). I am one hour from BRD (daily flights to MSP), 2.5 hours from DLH (multiple daily flights to both MSP and ORD), and 2.5 hours from FAR (daily flights to MSP and ORD).
My place in MN is closer to a grocery store than my house in north Overland Park. Just a quirk of geography. My in-laws found the lake we are on and wanted a place there because they liked the lake, then more in-laws came to the lake and we decided to get a spot on the same lake (5 cabins of related parties)....anyway, it just worked out that the one grocery store (which is also gas station, hardware, equipment rental, bait shop, gun shop, hunting supplies, sporting goods, auto parts, boat parts, etc) is like 1.5 miles from my cabin and off by itself and not really "in town," though the town is 300 people. I go there almost every day when I decide what I want to cook for dinner and get minnow/leeches/worms for fishing. I want to get a side by side Polaris so that I can look cooler and more local when I go to the grocery store, but my wife says that is not needed, which is such rough ridin' bullshit. Rolling up to the American Legion on bingo night in your Polaris is such a flex, and I am consumed with jealousy.
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For the Sunbirds, if you didn't really care about boating and fishing or being RIGHT ON the lake, there are loads of places where you can get a little place in a town that is walking distance from the lake for really cheap.
Walker, Bemidji, Nisswa, Cross Lake, just tons of places where little houses in town are cheap. Like, Council Grove or St. Mary's cheap, but just happen to be next to a rough ridin' lake. OR, if you were a person who liked to fish, but mostly wanted to be able to try lots of lakes and tow your boat around, it's perfect to get a towny house.
If you crave human interaction, you'll usually be easy driving distance from several different American Legions and VFW's and all of them have something every night.
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For example, I happen to be just south of Leech Lake (enormous lake in north central MN), and the little towns in my area have the following regular lineup each week, not including festivals, and they are spaced out a bit like silver lake/rossville/st Mary’s/wamego…
? Sunday night meat raffle at Hackensack Legion
? Sunday night meat raffle at Walker Legion
? Monday night Lions Club meat raffle at Hackensack Municipally Owned Bar
? Tuesday Bingo at Backus Legion
? Tuesday Bingo at Pine River Legion
? Tuesday Bingo at Walker Legion
? Wednesday Progressive Bingo at Hackensack Legion
? Wednesday Trivia at Backus Legion
? Wednesday Texas Holdem at Pine River Legion
? Wednesday Karaoke at Horseshoe Bay Lodge in Walker
? Wednesday Bingo at Walker Legion
? Thursday Farmers Market with live band in Walker
? Thursday meat raffle at Hackensack Legion
? Thursday meat raffle at Horseshoe Bay Lodge in Walker
? Thursday trivia at Pine River Legion
? Friday meat raffle at Backus Legion
? Friday meat raffle at Pine River Legion
? Friday meat raffle at Walker Legion
? Saturday meat raffle at Hackensack Legion
? Saturday night lakeside concert at Hackensack
? Saturday bingo at Pine River Legion
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I have spent time in Norther WI as well, and it's very similar. When I was young I lived in Milwaukee for a a couple years, and would go up north with friends. It was awesome. Also had relatives in Sheboygan (half way between Milwaukee and Green Bay/Door County), and they loved living by lake Michigan in a small town feel. Door County and Sturgeon Bay are really great. Green Bay is OK, but it's really just about football weekends.
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I didn't mention golfing, but if you are golfer the courses are amazing. They don't have to work very hard to keep all them very, very green. It's a short season for them, but the average town golf course up there is outstanding, let alone the high-end destinations like Gull Lake area in MN, and Kohler in WI.
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And the State pride of MN/WI/MI amongst the people who live up North is infectious. They all truly believe that they are blessed to live in one of the best places on earth. I think loving the winter is rough ridin' nuts, but those dip shits eat it up (ice fishing booze shanties, snow mobiles, etc.).
It's just kinda fun to be around people who really love where they live, AND not have to pay as much as money bags scrooge McDuck RustyCat in SF and Brooklyn.
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Is there anywhere to live in Texas where you don't have to drive 1.5 hrs to get anywhere
I’ve never actually lived in KC, but Dallas feels like it has significantly less sprawl from my experience. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to visit a friend but most everything you do on a daily basis is in your own little pocket of the city.
DFW is gigantic, so I think you’re meaning just, like, Dallas Dallas? Because the metro sprawl is to the max.
Yeah I don’t think anyone who lives in Dallas means DFW when they say Dallas. Other than going to sporting events, amusement parks, or gigantic box stores like Nebraska Furniture Mart there’s not really a reason to go to another city in the metroplex.
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Yeah, like clams said, that how most people live even in KC.
Like I said I’ve only ever visited. But my experience was always like “oh you need to hop on 435 and go to this city [or state] for that.” It probably only feels more sprawling to me because there’s a lot of openness between things.
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Pete if you snowbird in dallas OR dfw so help me
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I absolutely love the winters in North Texas, but if you’re craving warm weather you’ll be sorely disappointed. It hovers between 30-50 most of the winter. A few glorious days will be right around 60 and sunny.
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Nah, we kinda assume we’ll need to try different places before we decide on something, but right now I am a very very strong Arizona lean.
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It takes like 8 hours to get from Ft Worth to Prosper, I think catastrophe is high on drugs.
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It takes like 8 hours to get from Ft Worth to Prosper, I think catastrophe is high on drugs.
NO ONE SAYS THEY LIVE IN DFW
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Pete, I’ll just say it’s pretty nice in south Texas today. In shorts and a tshirt enjoying the weather.
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I think Pete has pretty well disuaded me from ever summering up north. That sounds truly terrible.
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Seriously, what kind of psychopathy is a "meat raffle"
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i guess they don't have enough meat for everyone so they distribute it by lottery? amazing diversity in these united states of ours.
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The meat raffle is a slice of rural MN goodness. It’s like a party. In the Legion halls they have giant large hall filled with huge tables and chairs and a bar, and they all just sit around drinking beer, playing cards, eating bar food, and bullshitting, then people come around selling raffle tix and every 30 minutes or so and they raffle off a table full of choice cuts of meat. They do a bunch of rounds. It’s quite the spectacle. VERY well attended.
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There tons of breweries as well, but I rarely go. They are super popular.
There’s also this old rail road called the Paul Bunyan Trail that the converted into a really wide paved trail. It’s quite long and runs north and south. I’m about 1.5 miles from it. It connects through most of the towns and there restaurants and coffee shops and crap. Big cycling scene that congregates 20 miles south of me.
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Sometimes I wonder if I was supposed to be born in MN/WI
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The winters are not easy up there. I don’t know how they do it. The likely explanation is that they drink a lot. Flying down the side of the road on snowmobiles headed to the next bar, or to their ice shanty on the lake. Most major roads have permanent snow mobile paths running along them. In the summer people still use them with their 4 wheelers.
Those ice shanties can get super elaborate. They’re basically campers with hydraulics to lower them to the ice and then holes in the floor to fish l.
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