Moving... advice?

[Savra]

San Francisco is certainly a wonderful place but Travis AFB is not in SF. It's in Fairfield. It's about an hour to an hour and a half from SF depending on traffic. I would rate Fairfield about the same as living in Jersey somewhere outside of Manhattan. The train (BART) around the bay area doesn't extend out to Fairfield although Amtrak does of course. On the weekends traffic through Fairfield sucks because of everyone going in and out of SF.
Good luck on your adventures!! Moving is always stressful but it can be quite an adventure too.

[indysteel]

Out of curiosity, what is your plan after your contract expires? Are you planning to continue with your education or will you reenter the civilian job market in some way? Are any of the locations available to you for transfer better or worse with respect to these future plans or do you necessarily plan to move to another state again once your contract expires? If it were me, I'd keep my long-term plans in mind in considering where to go next, and I'd consider the economies of these potential places as part of that analysis.

[Pax]

Scott AFB is nice, the area is VERY affordable, and STL has great culture, parks, nightlife, etc. If you have to take a transfer, it's really not a bad place at all.

Lackland on the other hand, yuck!

[maillotpois]

Savra, thanks for the info, do you know much about Fairfield?? Ive heard good things about the base, is the surrounding area nice? good trails, hiking, etc? My sister lives in Tahoe and frequently travels to San Fran, so that was another incentive for me to try and move there.

Not sure about trails, but there's a lot of good road riding out of Fairfield. Head over to Vacaville and up to Napa, etc. There is a lot of open space out there, so I imagine there are also good trails.

And Fairfield is about 1/4 the way between SF and Tahoe (closer to SF).... You would be on your sister's route.

My riding partner just retired from the AF reserve (nurse), and I could ask her more about the base if you like.

[Savra]

I think @maillotpois might be able to get better info than I have on Fairfield. I usually just drove through it and thought of it as the horror parking lot on I80. Generally, that area is geographically wonderful. Like Maillotpois said, its' relatively close to Tahoe which has excellent hiking, mtb and even road riding as well as other areas on the foothills. The UC Davis campus (not far from Fairfield) is a huge bike campus. Mt. Diablo is great for MTB as well as the hills between Fairfield and SF area. Levi Leiphenheiner road rides around Napa so you really can't go wrong there. A LOT of people tour down highway 1 along the coast as well as along the wine trails in and around Napa, Sonoma, Dry Creek etc. I do know you could road ride through small roads all the way to Antioch and along the river probably to SF.

[Koronin]

Pax, thanks for the positive feedback on St. Louis! Others have said similar things, my hesitation is only to seek more of a change--although that particular base/band is a good place to be. The thought of being near mountains or without winter is alluring with the other bases, Id like to live near a park or some good trails. I really recoiled at the thought of living near hte Basic Training base at first, but people DO say good things about San Antonio... but Im not totally convinced....

Indy, Im really not sure what my plans are after my enlistment ends. I may end up really liking this assignment (Ive not enjoyed being in Ohio), and re-enlist... I will most likely have to extend for two years due to retainability rules. But I AM thinking about places I would like to be, should I want to go back to school (where I could qualify for in-state tuition). California is expensive and I definitely don't make a lot of money, same with CO.

Savra, thanks for the info, do you know much about Fairfield?? Ive heard good things about the base, is the surrounding area nice? good trails, hiking, etc? My sister lives in Tahoe and frequently travels to San Fran, so that was another incentive for me to try and move there.

Owlie, hahaha. Yeah, Im relieved to have a way out of these parts... I couldnt imagine staying here more long term. Luckily it hasnt been an expensive place to live. I would have the most social network in STL, an old prof. lives in Texas and could possibly set me up with outside gigs, etc. I know less people in CO and CA.

Thanks Koronin, I bet you're glad to live in NC! (Love it there!).

Thanks for all the advice, definitely have lots to think about....

Thanks, I do love NC. Although I will say living in eastern NC is totally different than living near Charlotte (which is more or less western NC). I like eastern NC well enough, esp being close to the beach, but I actually prefer western NC. Of course my husband prefers eastern NC, but he grew up in Fayetteville, NC and then spent 10 years in the Air Force at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC (all eastern NC).

[Koronin]

Muirenn, Wow, didn't know you have been here and aren't really too far away. One reason I wish gas prices were lower, I'd spend a lot more time in Wilmington or Raleigh. We've got two bike shops now. The one on hwy 17 that's been there forever and a new one downtown that hubby and I both love. The new one is where we got our new road bikes. Which reminds me I need to get the pictures of his bike to post.