So long Illinois!

[Pax]

I've made no bones about the fact I dislike living in Illinois...long cold winters, wet miserable springs, hot and humid summers, followed by about a week of wonderful fall. I'm not from here and have no reason to be here other than my SO's job.

Well my SO just signed a new contract and we're moving to Tucson!!!!!! I can't wait...warm weather, sunshine, blue skies, riding year round...YAY!!!!!!!!!

[Nanci]

Congratulations! (I was hoping you'd move to FLorida, though.)

Nanci

[CorsairMac]

Even tho I live in New Mexico - AZ is the place I want to get back to. I want to get back to Phoenix tho as Tucsan is still too cold for me! Congrats on the move!!


so............you planning on doing the Tour De Tucsan in the fall?? My friend here wants to do it soooo bad and I told her I would go with her!

[bouncybouncy]

Congrats Queen!!! hope you LOVE it!!!

Congratulations! (I was hoping you'd move to FLorida, though.)

Nanci

you are always trying to recruit aren't you??? keep posting ride pics like you did last week with the herons and beeeautiful scenery and you just may one of these days!!! i wish i ended up in that part of FL instead of the southern part...i may have not developed such a bad taste for the state...altho, my parents are looking for a retirement home and like the more northern/eastern but still close to you! ...and looking to get the in-laws more in your territory (anywhere but SoFla actually!)

anyway...back to Queen...good luck with all and keep us posted!

[Jo-n-NY]

Oh, do I envy you. As the Long Island part of NY is not my different to how you described IL, I sure wish we were moving to AZ also.

Congratulations and I am wishing you much luck!!!!

~ JoAnn

[Brandi]

Wooohooo! When is the move date?

[maillotpois]

Congrats! And be sure to do the Tour de Tucson in November - it is a great ride, and the nice police types stop cross-traffic for you!!!

[Trek420]

Queen, somewhere in a parallel universe there's another board where someone writes

"I'm sick of this blue state, and all these strong, healthy, outdoorsey people on their bikes and kayaks and all i want to do is sit in front of the TV and computer, maybe walk...in the mall. I long for long cold winters, wet miserable springs, hot and humid summers, followed by about a horrid week of wonderful fall. and I got it!! I'm off to Illinois"

[Quillfred]

******WoooooHoooo******

Many congrats!

I was there briefly last September and loved it. It looks like a very livable city. You will have a great time there. Toss out the tights Invest in sunscreen. Just a "hint" of envy here.

[Trekhawk]

Hey Queen a friend sent me this and I thought of you.
(Alice Springs is a place in Australia so all temps are in Celsius but I think you will get the drift).

> Diary of an Alice Springs Summer
> August 31st
> Just got transferred with work into our new
> home in Alice Springs!! Now
> this is a city that knows how to live!!
> Beautiful sunny days and warm
> balmy evenings. What a place! I watched the
> sunset from a deck chair on
> the verandah It was beautiful. I've finally
> found my home. I love it
> here.
> September 13th:
> Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a
> problem. Live in an
> air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned
> car. What a pleasure to
> see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning
> into a sun worshiper.
> September 30th:
> Had the backyard landscaped with tropical
> plants today. Lots of palms
> and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more
> mowing lawn for me.
> Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
> October 10th
> The temperature hasn't been below 35 all week.
> How do people get used to
> this kind of heat? At least today it's kind of
> windy though. But getting
> used to the heat is taking longer than I
> expected.
> October 15th:
> Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns
> over 60% of my body.
> Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do.
> I learned my lesson
> though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate
> like this.
> October 20th:
> I missed Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car
> when I left this morning.
> By the time I got to the hot car for lunch,
> Kitty had died and swollen
> up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up
> the $3,000 leather
> upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away.
> The car now smells like
> Wiskettes and cat poo. I learned my lesson
> though. No more pets in
> this heat.
> October 25th:
> The wind sucks. It feels like a giant
> blow dryer!! And it's hot
> as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the
> blink and the AC repairman
> charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he
> needed to order parts.
> October 30th:
> Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights
> now. Bl**dy $300,000
> house and we can't even go inside. Why did I
> ever come here?
> November 4th:
> It's 38 degrees. Finally got the ol'
> air-conditioner fixed today. It
> cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 25,
> but the bl**dy humidity
> makes the house feel like it's about 30. Stupid
> repairman. I hate this
> stupid place.
> November 8th:
> If another wise arse cracks, "Hot enough for
> you today?" I'm going to
> throttle him. F*&%# heat! By the time
> I get to work the car's
> radiator was boiling over, my clothes are
> soakin wet, and I smell
> like baked cat!!
> November 9th:
> Tried to run some messages after work. Wore
> shorts, and sat on the black
> leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my
> arse was on fire. I
> lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the
> back of my legs and my
> arse. Now my car smells like burnt
> hair, fried arse, and baked
> cat.
> November 10th:
> The weather report might as well be a bl**dy
> recording. Hot and sunny.
> Hot and sunny. Hot and bl**dy sunny. It's
> been too hot to do anything
> for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it
> might really warm up next
> week. Doesn't it ever rain in this d**n
> place? Water rationing
> will be next, so my $2,000 worth of palms just
> might dry up and blow
> into the pool. Even the palms can't live
> in this heat.
> November 14th:
> Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 41 today.
> Now the
> air-conditioner's gone in my car. The repairman
> came to fix it and said,
> "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to
> spend the $2,500 mortgage
> payment to bail my arse out of jail for
> assulting the stupid bugger.
> F*%^ Alice Springs! What kind of a sick
> demented idiot would
> want to live here?
> December 1st:
> WHAT????? This is the first day of Summer????
> You are bl**dy kiddin
>

[SnappyPix]

Trekhawk,



That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time - even made me laugh out loud (and I never do that if I can help it!)

Brilliant!

[pkq]

Good luck with the move and better weather! I envy people with new adventures.

[allabouteva]

Trekhawk,



That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time - even made me laugh out loud (and I never do that if I can help it!)

Brilliant!

Ditto SnappyPix! Too much of a good thing, Eh?

Congratulations Queen, Tucson sounds great, Hopefully not as 'great' as the Alice. I was in the Alice last year in January (right in the thick of summer), yep, know what you mean Trekhawk... It's seriously hot.

[uk elephant]

I totally sympathise with your wish to get out of Illinois! I managed to get away from central Illinois for good last fall. But for different reasons than you. I hated the hot sticky summers, but most of all I hated the flatness and endless straight rows along incredibly boring corn fields. Now I am finally back in civilization. It is still cold in the winter, but more plesantly warm in the summer. And although I am in the flattest part of England, it is nowhere near as flat as Illinois. And although this is also full of fields, the fields are smaller, with hedgerows, dotted with fluffy sheep and not a corn plant or soybean in sight. wonderful!

[Pax]

Hey Queen a friend sent me this and I thought of you.
(Alice Springs is a place in Australia so all temps are in Celsius but I think you will get the drift)...

That was hysterical!

Now that the plans are made I'm like a little kid waiting for school to be out for summer...I wanna go NOW!!!!