Where is your dream place...

[tulip]

Europe: Brittany, Bordeaux/La Rochelle or thereabouts (Charente-Maritimes), somewhere in Ireland, Portugal.

US: on the east coast, near the water, south of Maryland, north of Florida. Edisto Island, SC is awfully nice, as is the Chesapeake Bay.

From time to time, I think I'll go back to Nicaragua where I spent a week on a sustainable coffee plantation in the cloud forest. It's fantastic there.

[Bad JuJu]

OMG! We were so close to you. I don't know how you got that map to work, but we were staying at a condo at approx. Sanchez Lane and Gulf Beach Highway. Are you doing the pensacola triathlon On April 27th (?) We've got the condo and I'm planning to do it. I'm getting pretty excited about it. I wonder if I'll need a wetsuit? I think I may have to find one.

My parents live in Gulf Shores and I love the area. Sure the tourists can be annoying. But I love it there!

OMG back atcha, Silver! I'd love to meet you when you're here in April! I'm not a triathlete (never learned to love running), but I sometimes go as a spectator. And my cycling buddy often works the transition areas. I'd love to come and cheer you on. Go TE!

AintDoody, another TE-er, was here last year, and we were just able to squeeze in one casual afternoon ride together.

Definitely let's get in touch when it gets closer to the date. I'll PM you with my phone number.

Oh, and back on topic, MY choices of places to live include coastal Maine, coastal SC, and Portland, OR, for vastly different reasons. Where I'll end up--who knows? Looking to retire in maybe 5 years, then we'll see.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have discovered my Nirvana, unfortunately so have all the people getting rich off Dell. My husband's family owns a lot of property in Stonewall, TX. It is near Fredericksburg but so quiet. You sit in his Oma's living room and can see the farm road but then there is about a 1,000 acres behind the house. If you look towards the road there is a big picture window and you can watch the goats play.

Unfortunately, they have started selling "ranchettes" out there- 5-10 acres where some city folk can raise cattle and pretend to be ranchers. Just too many of those popping up for this native Texan. Love you all but please go home. The cycling is great but the winters are a little bitter for me. So since I can do what I want.... I would have a beach house in Key West or the sleepy little Texas town of Port Aransas.

[Pax]

Thought I'd bump this up for the newbies. Where is your dream place??

[Jen-Jen]

Hubby says that our dream place would be in North Carolina! Hubby lived there for a while and said it was beautiful. I've never been, but am looking forward to a vacation there and see if I like it. A couple of friends we have, have been there and I have an Aunt and Uncle to live there and they love it!

We can ride all year round if we like!

[GLC1968]

Let's see...I've tried Boston (loved it), Maine (loved it), Pennsylvania (hated it), Florida (hated it), North Carolina (eh)...all as an adult. I also lived in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin as a child.

When I was in FL, I used the 'find your spot' website and it gave me some places in NC. I thought we'd give Greensboro a try. Funny thing is...even if you think it might be a good 'spot' for you, if your spouse is miserable, the place never seems all that great.

Portland is our latest attempt at finding our 'spot'. I wonder if I'll be able to 'settle' here or not? Perhaps I just have gypsy blood?

This was a very fun thread to read (and I'm glad I had some time to kill today!)!

[Pax]

...This was a very fun thread to read (and I'm glad I had some time to kill today!)!

I think it'll be fun to read again in a few years to see who found their dream place.

[firenze11]

Thanks for bumping this thread, I had forgotten about it and it's really nice to learn where everyone's ideal spot would be. It would be fun to see how things change for people over the years.

I took the find your spot quiz and came out with Fountain Hills AZ as my spot. Sounds pretty nice to me! I've started to think about where I'd like to live graduate. I've always wanted to move back to the Southwest, or Rocky mtn. area, or somewhere on the West Coast. I need a place without much of a winter, I love hot dry sunny weather. I'd love to be by the ocean if possible. And close to the mountains. Probably relatively rural, but not too far from shopping and amenities. Lots of fun stuff to do outdoors. I'm not sure this place exists

[bluebug32]

Hey, Firnze11, I also have a Jake! It's so much fun to ride

Somehow in the top spots quiz, I got Harford, CT. Not sure how that happened. Not to insult any Hartford residents, but I had hoped to set the bar a little higher!

Though I've never been to the west coast (according to my quiz, Bend and Portland are good matches), I love CO and many Northeast Coastal towns. I also wouldn't mind spending the summer in East Burke, VT where there are over 100 miles of groomed singletrack!

[Brandi]

I am in my dream place on the central coast of California! Ton's of outdoor things to do. Perfect weather! meaning sunny, foggy, rainy and windy i love all those! We have a view of the ocean and surrounding extinct volcanoes. We have lot's of wildlife, ton's of birds, bobcats, deer etc... And out of all the places I have been in the untied States I just love coming home! Now if the population was to get to much bigger I would consider moving.

[melissam]

Am I the only one who mis-read the title of this thread as ...

Where is your dream police...

I guess I listened to a little too much Cheap Trick in my past....

OK, back to your regularly scheduled thread.

-- Melissa

PS My dream place is probably right where I am: the San Francisco Bay Area.
PPS My dream police is ... I have no idea.

[SlowButSteady]

Dream place?

The East Africa of the early 20th Century. Isaac Dinison's Africa.

2nd - near San Ignacio, Belize.

In the US: near Fredericksburg, Kerrville or even Austin, TX.

I like it hot.

[cyclinnewbie]

Someplace woodsy, but much sunnier that where I live now. You'd think after being born and raised in Western WA, I could function without much sun, but I just can't. I can handle the cold, as long as there's sun. I would, however, like to be able to get out all year round. But not too far from mountains...I cannot be too far from mountains. Someplace where I can walk and ride a lot. Not sure where this place is, but someday I'll find it!

PS I have always wanted to go to Utah, New Mexico (high desert/mountainous parts), and Maine. Maybe one of those places is my dream.

PSS I just realized I'm limiting myself to the US...I would love to see the south of France, Greece, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Morrocco, Australia/New Zealand, Antarctica, Guatemala, Sweden, Ireland/Scotland (have family there), Africa...so many places! I wish my hubby liked to travel....I need a travel buddy. And a big inheritance!

[Pax]

Dream place?

The East Africa of the early 20th Century. Isaac Dinison's Africa...

Ooh, excellent choice!! Her accounts of Africa are mind blowing.

[Aggie_Ama]

When I graduated from college and got married, I thought it was Austin. Don't get me wrong, I love Austin but not what it is now. It is so huge now and the urban sprawl is out of control. I rarely meet people who know how to pronounce the roads, what roads are called or can relate to growing up here. It just isn't the home I left.

After riding in Stonewall last weekend, I will say Texas Hill Country. But I want to get even further away from the world, like Leakey or Concan. No one is around except three months of tubing season. Crazy hilly but quiet roads, yup that is heaven. Now if we could just get the windfall to open our adventure vacation company.

I really enjoyed the sleepy coastal towns north of San Francisco when we were out there in February.