Dreaming of the mountain life
Jun 2nd, 2009, 07:47 AM
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Dreaming of the mountain life
My DH & I live in Austin, TX. Background information: late twenties, no kids, one dog (who is "our kid"). My DH is in the elevator trade and is about to finish his first year of the apprenticeship program. Three more years to complete the program and he will be an elevator mechanic. We have visited Colorado twice (mainly the Colorado Springs, Estes Park, RMNP area) and fell in love with Colorado.
I actually lived in Colorado with my parents & brother when I was 12. We only lived there for one year and were in Thornton.
My DH & I would love to have an adventure and experience what it is like to live in Colorado. When DH finishes the apprenticeship program he would like to transfer to Denver. Our plan is in 3-5 years moving to Denver. When I lived in Colorado my parents described it as "living for the weekend" because all we did was explore different towns and the mountains. That's what my DH & I would love to do. We can picture weekends of going to different towns, exploring, hiking, spending time in Rocky Mountain National Park. The whole state of Colorado and the Southwest at our fingertips!
Anyone who lives in Colorado reading this, I would like to know:
1) What is it really like to live in Colorado? Denver area?
2) What area/neighborhood/suburb do you recommend to live around Denver? We will be in our early 30's, no kids (we don't have plans for kids) and our dog.
3) Is the "living for the weekend" of adventure and exploring an actual reality?
Thanks for any advice & replies!!
Dreaming of the Mountain Life
I actually lived in Colorado with my parents & brother when I was 12. We only lived there for one year and were in Thornton.
My DH & I would love to have an adventure and experience what it is like to live in Colorado. When DH finishes the apprenticeship program he would like to transfer to Denver. Our plan is in 3-5 years moving to Denver. When I lived in Colorado my parents described it as "living for the weekend" because all we did was explore different towns and the mountains. That's what my DH & I would love to do. We can picture weekends of going to different towns, exploring, hiking, spending time in Rocky Mountain National Park. The whole state of Colorado and the Southwest at our fingertips!
Anyone who lives in Colorado reading this, I would like to know:
1) What is it really like to live in Colorado? Denver area?
2) What area/neighborhood/suburb do you recommend to live around Denver? We will be in our early 30's, no kids (we don't have plans for kids) and our dog.
3) Is the "living for the weekend" of adventure and exploring an actual reality?
Thanks for any advice & replies!!
Dreaming of the Mountain Life
Jun 2nd, 2009, 08:29 AM
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I don't live in Colorado but I hope living for the weekend of adventure works out for you. This is what our son did for about 4 years in another state. Except the organizing etc took up some time during the week. He belonged to an off-road wheeling club so working on his or friends' vehicles took time during the week, also club meetings, planning trail rides and "retrieval missions" took up some additional time. He has since moved back to NH where he got DH involved in the sport. Organized trail rides and/or trail maintenance take up a lot of weekends.
Friends of ours are involved with a different sport. Their weekends involved so much travel that they built a weekend vacation home. Again, they are very involved with a club. It doesn't matter what sport or hobby you enjoy, other people help make it more fun and, perhaps, mentor less experienced club members. Some sports require a lot of expertise and equipment. DH spent a lot of time learning to drive a modified jeep over obstacles.
Surprisingly a high percentage of the club members are not active on weekends, usually because of the expense and family obligations. Our DIL was willing to do primitive camping miles from anywhere because that was/is what DS likes to do.
I enjoy reading a weekly column by a hunting/fishing expert who lives in our north country and who also does a little farming. We are lucky to live where we can watch wildlife from our kitchen. When you can cross-country ski or snowmobile from your own dooryard, adventure and exploring are a reality. A neighbor does an annual snowmobile trip leaving his house rides north into Canada and goes more than a thousand miles. He doesn't trailer his machine, he just gets on it and drives. In HS when kids were allowed to leave school during study hall, DS and his buddies used to go fishing. Best wishes for your future adventures.
Friends of ours are involved with a different sport. Their weekends involved so much travel that they built a weekend vacation home. Again, they are very involved with a club. It doesn't matter what sport or hobby you enjoy, other people help make it more fun and, perhaps, mentor less experienced club members. Some sports require a lot of expertise and equipment. DH spent a lot of time learning to drive a modified jeep over obstacles.
Surprisingly a high percentage of the club members are not active on weekends, usually because of the expense and family obligations. Our DIL was willing to do primitive camping miles from anywhere because that was/is what DS likes to do.
I enjoy reading a weekly column by a hunting/fishing expert who lives in our north country and who also does a little farming. We are lucky to live where we can watch wildlife from our kitchen. When you can cross-country ski or snowmobile from your own dooryard, adventure and exploring are a reality. A neighbor does an annual snowmobile trip leaving his house rides north into Canada and goes more than a thousand miles. He doesn't trailer his machine, he just gets on it and drives. In HS when kids were allowed to leave school during study hall, DS and his buddies used to go fishing. Best wishes for your future adventures.
Jun 2nd, 2009, 11:51 AM
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I don't see how dfrostah response related to your question so maybe I will take a shot at it.
WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE TO LIVE IN COLORADO?
That is a little hard to answer in 25 words or less. We have been here almost 30 years having come from the Chicago area. We plan to die here. We have four seasons but relatively mild. Unusual in the winter for day time temps to be below freezing. Almost never see 100 degrees in summer and two summer backs it never broke 90. Can expect two or three hot weeks in July and cold weeks around Christmas.New Years but pretty pleasant most of the other times. We often bicycle year around. Most activity is orientated to the outdoors from skiing in the winter to biking in the summer. From practically no cost to expensive. In the Denver metro area we have over 500 miles of designated bike paths and lanes. And hundreds of miles of single track in the mountains. If you don't bike, there are hundreds of day hikes id in the mountains. The Denver area is one of the younger median age cities with a very high educational level. Denver is oriented to an activity life style. You can actually kayak in downtown Denver.
2) WHAT AREA/NEIGHBORHOOD/SUBURB DO YOU RECOMMEND TO LIVE AROUND DENVER
This is highly personally. With no children and no school concerns you have a wider range of option. And it just depends on your life style options. You could live close to the mountains, close to light rail for commuting purposes, close to bike paths -- it is your choice.
3) IS THE "LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND" OF ADVENTURE AND EXPLORING AN ACTUAL REALITY?
Not real sure what you are asking. But a lot of folks live for the weekend. Since you can be deep into the mountains in two hour it is pretty easy to have a full weekend. By the time we get tired of biking in the summer it is time to wax the skis.
WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE TO LIVE IN COLORADO?
That is a little hard to answer in 25 words or less. We have been here almost 30 years having come from the Chicago area. We plan to die here. We have four seasons but relatively mild. Unusual in the winter for day time temps to be below freezing. Almost never see 100 degrees in summer and two summer backs it never broke 90. Can expect two or three hot weeks in July and cold weeks around Christmas.New Years but pretty pleasant most of the other times. We often bicycle year around. Most activity is orientated to the outdoors from skiing in the winter to biking in the summer. From practically no cost to expensive. In the Denver metro area we have over 500 miles of designated bike paths and lanes. And hundreds of miles of single track in the mountains. If you don't bike, there are hundreds of day hikes id in the mountains. The Denver area is one of the younger median age cities with a very high educational level. Denver is oriented to an activity life style. You can actually kayak in downtown Denver.
2) WHAT AREA/NEIGHBORHOOD/SUBURB DO YOU RECOMMEND TO LIVE AROUND DENVER
This is highly personally. With no children and no school concerns you have a wider range of option. And it just depends on your life style options. You could live close to the mountains, close to light rail for commuting purposes, close to bike paths -- it is your choice.
3) IS THE "LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND" OF ADVENTURE AND EXPLORING AN ACTUAL REALITY?
Not real sure what you are asking. But a lot of folks live for the weekend. Since you can be deep into the mountains in two hour it is pretty easy to have a full weekend. By the time we get tired of biking in the summer it is time to wax the skis.
Jun 6th, 2009, 01:33 AM
#5
I'm from Colorado (although I currently live in Australia). Regarding living for the weekend - that's what we did when we lived there - we'd snowmobile in the winter and camp in the summer. I'm from Colorado Springs, but I also lived in Littleton for many years.
We plan to retire in CO - it's a beautiful place and if you like the outdoors, you'll never run out of things to do.
We plan to retire in CO - it's a beautiful place and if you like the outdoors, you'll never run out of things to do.
Jun 6th, 2009, 03:28 AM
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DH is dear husband. Sorry to post non-Colorado information. I was stuck on the topic of living for the weekend and overlooked the OP's need to know if there are enough things to do to keep them busy in CO. But no matter where you are, I highly recommend joining a club to meet up with people with similar interests.
