making drastic changes in life

[north woods gal]

Sounds to me like you really want to move north, but just don't realize it yet. I highly recommend the U.P., if you want skiing (both kinds) & snowshoeing, plus mountain biking, road biking, trail running,...... The biggest Great Lake,.......

I'll second that. North central and Northest Wisconsin are cousins to the U.P. NOT places if you don't like winter, though. Comes early and stays late, but that's a good thing for those of us who love winter sports and, this next winter, I'll be adding fat biking to my list of winter fun things to do.