Minus Hawaii, the best winter weather in the US

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Got an opinion? I'm currently already looking for a place to park our RV most of the winter months. Looking for a place without really hot temps, really nasty bugs, and our wish list includes beauty. And wildlife is a plus.

Hub is biased against California, but not Wasington or Oregon, which are RV friendly. We need states with state parks because they are cheap to free and we will need to stagger those between cheaper paid campsites.

We will go back to WI in the spring.

Ideas? What's it like in NC? like the mountauns. Don't like hurricanes.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
I've always lived in Missouri, so hard to say. Washington and Oregon are my favorite places ever, but I spent a week mid summer in Seattle once and it was rainy and 70 the whole time. Mountains mean snow. Snow means cold. I have a friend in NC and I know it's cold and snowy where he lives, which is in the mountains.

My in-laws used to winter in Arizona in an RV. @Jabberwockey where did they go? I have cousins in Florida (one on the Atlantic side near the beach and one in Tallahassee) and friends about to move there to the gulf side. There aren't always hurricanes you know. :) Hurricane season is actually June through November...so you needn't worry in winter.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
Would have to ask them for the name of the place they stayed but it was within 2 hours of Phoenix. Surprisingly, it wasn't far from the Estrella site if memory serves.
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
I know winter in that part of Arizona in the winter can get cold enough over night to freeze water but can get up into the 70's during the day.
 

RN0441

100% better than I was but not at 100% yet
Went to Washington state once and it was beautiful! But not sure of long term weather.

Certainly not here in Chicago! Extremes.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Oregon & Washington are beautiful. You can get the winter blues if you stay West of the Cascades, but East of the Cascades is mostly High Desert country, very clear and cold in the winter.

North Carolina doesn't usually get hurricanes unless you are along the coastline. The weather is nice in the Autumn & Spring, oppressively hot and humid in the summer, and depending upon what part of the state you are in the winters are fairly pleasant. The Autumn foliage is beautiful.

This will go for most any place that you're looking at in the South - are you a redneck? If not, are you comfortable pretending that you're a redneck? If you don't live in the South, you might not have an accurate idea of what a redneck in the South is. Would you be upset if the local KKK paper was delivered every week where you're parking the RV? Would it be upsetting if you regularly saw trucks full of skinheads with shotguns flying a giant confederate flag? How would you feel if you were invited to a party or local function & there was "blackface" entertainment? Are you prepared to have your only means of outside companionship be church, which must be attended twice on Sundays and Bible Study on Wednesdays lest you be labeled a "Northern Pretender"? (Southern Hospitality is generally limited to folks who attend their particular church.) Do you like Chigger bites or snake bites?

Unless you can afford to stay in Asheville, it ain't all it's cracked up to be.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Thanks all.

Thanks Wiz. No I would not be okay with the Kkk at all. Or racial slurring. I am a very tolerant, politically liberal person. I dont expect everyone to be just like me, but lots of racial hate anywhere would make the dnow look good...

I dont do church.

Washington and Oregon sound good. This is just for winter. Arizona is on the radar. Anyone know much about NM?

Jab, 40s at night are fine. 60s and 70s my fav. I am not a humidity fan, but I can handle it. I am used to it.

Im thinking of looking for places where northern snowbirds go. We have a lot here. Many go to Arizona. One does Alabama, but...I dont know if d fit in. However cost of living matters!
 
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Lil

Well-Known Member
Thanks Wiz. No I would not be okay with the Kkk at all. Or racial slurring. I am a very tolerant, politically liberal person. I dont expect everyone to be just like me, but lots of racial hate anywhere would make the dnow look good...

Okay - not starting a big fight here - but I have to say Witz's description of the south kind of offended me. I'm not from the deep south here in Missouri, but grew up in a town of 150 people in the middle of nowhere and I know rednecks. I've been to the deep south several times (AR, MS, TN, LA, GA, TX, FL) and I have never seen even one skinhead in the back of a pickup truck. The KKK has occasional rallies even in the north and I'm sure they have a greater presence in the south, but I hardly think they're going to be recruiting in a campground full of snowbirds. Do some people still fly confederate flags? Of course. But the majority don't do so because they are racist a-holes, they simply consider it a symbol of the south and probably more do now simply because people say they shouldn't. I've also never heard of anyone thinking blackface is appropriate entertainment in the last 50 years. The religion stuff is just silly. No one's going to give a rat's behind if some northern travelers wintering in a park are religious or not. The south is not crawling with snakes and bugs ready to attack. Sure, bugs are bad in swampy areas and woods. Buy some Off. That's nature.

There are wack-jobs everywhere. Heck, the high plains and desert parts of the country have more than one gun-nut militia compound. Doesn't mean the majority of the people aren't decent.

The south is a perfectly nice place to visit. If it wasn't, Canadians wouldn't flock there in the winter time.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Lil. That picture sort of limited where I could go...lol. I actually like Missouri and think you guys have a mild winter. id consider it if my son were no longer in litigation but he probably will be until Grandson is 18...lol. I dont want to live by my son until this is done.

Cost of RV parks are important to us as is beauty and number of RV snowbirds whom I think will probably be most of whom we befriend...people doing this crazy lifestyle, like us. I assume most people in all fifty states consider people who live in an RV to be quite crazy.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Find a RV on-line group. I haven't looked, but I bet there's all kinds that would turn up on a google search. I do know that Florida and Arizona are big snowbird areas and I think the Texas gulf coast as well. Really, anyplace there's a beach. :) Arkansas and Missouri both are really pretty and the Mark Twain National Forest is huge and I believe there are lots of campgrounds. If I recall correctly, there's no or a very small fee for camping in a lot of them. But it's been a few years, so could be wrong.

edit:

Here's one. http://www.rvnetwork.com/
 
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witzend

Well-Known Member
Thanks all.

Thanks Wiz. No I would not be okay with the Kkk at all. Or racial slurring. I am a very tolerant, politically liberal person. I dont expect everyone to be just like me, but lots of racial hate anywhere would make the dnow look good...

I figured that was the case. But, when we were preparing to move here from Oregon I asked everyone what I should know about NC before I went. Maybe the answers I got were given through the filter of someone who lived here all of their lives. Not that they're the way I've described, but that they're more used to it, and don't know what it's like to live elsewhere anymore than I knew what it was like to live here. I got lots of "It's hot", "There are bugs and snakes", and even some, "people are more conservative there". But no one told me that they were for the most part unless you seek out what they consider to be overtly liberal they are 50 years behind the times. I thought it was only fair to be blunt.

Marcie used to post a lot about a place that she wanted to retire to in Arizona or New Mexico. You might ask her.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
There are wack-jobs everywhere.
In our case, we cannot go to Arizona, where the attitudes against undocumented immigrants are institutionalized into laws. We will not even take a train that goes across the border for 10 minutes. On the other hand, we would not hesitate to visit the south, because my understanding is that there has been a great deal of Hispanic immigration into the South.

My point here is that with respect to culture, most everything is relative.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
In our case, we cannot go to Arizona, where the attitudes against undocumented immigrants are institutionalized into laws. We will not even take a train that goes across the border for 10 minutes. On the other hand, we would not hesitate to visit the south, because my understanding is that there has been a great deal of Hispanic immigration into the South.

My point here is that with respect to culture, most everything is relative.

There has been a lot of Hispanic immigration to the South. There's not work available other than manual labor, even with higher education, and housing opportunities would be quite shabby. Most professional offices represent racial make-up between black & white fairly well, especially in the healthcare industry. on the other hand, in five years I've never seen an Hispanic person other than shopping in a store or working in someone's yard or house. Anyone wanting to move to the South who isn't white and at least middle class and/or doesn't have a stomach for racism beyond the level of "dog whistle" needs to have an accurate picture of life here.

My point being that Hispanics here are for the most part are invisible, in a place which doesn't tolerate "other", and that's not good.
 
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BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Wiz, no worries. NC is low on our list of possibilities anyway. We are thinkin Washington, Oregon, Arizona, maybe NM with stops in MO and maybe I can talk husband into the beautiful state of Ca, at least for a visit.

COPA I'M aware of the laws in AZ and agree you should stay away.

I'm actually a typical Midwest gal who is puzzled that the Civil War loss is still a big deal in parts of the south. On the other hand if we try, say, SC and do find it too racist for us, we can move on. I have no preconceived ideas of any state and am actually least interested in the overpriced eastern part. So we will see ourselves.
I want to visit Wyoming more than anywhere, but not long term.
Although I am in no way a stereotypical red neck, I am proudly blue collar and my hub loves to talk to other vets, mechanics, etc. I am most comfy with women in t shirts and jeans who are very down to earth.
I have two years to explore and I will. It's fun for me to get feedback.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Wow Witz, you clearly hate where you live and that's a pity. But you make the entire south sound like barefoot, bucktoothed, religious zealots who like nothing more than a good lynching. I assure you, the places I've been have been perfectly lovely spots to spend a week or two and I can't imagine why a few months would not be the same. My family and friends who live in Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina all love their homes.

SWOT, if you like the ocean, the Gulf coast is lovely. Arkansas has some of the prettiest scenery I've seen...as do the Smoky Mountains in TN and KY. Wyoming is also quite nice - Montana is nicer.

Heck, if you can afford it, visit all 50 of them! :)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Lil, Arkansas us most definitely on our list as it is both pretty and ecomomical. Lots of snowbirds are starting to go there! I discussed it with hub and we will probably visit to make sure the humidity factor is tolerable in winter. We aren't going to just stay in one place, but we also need one place to call our winter home when we need to chill from traveling and park at one place.

If my family wasn't in the U.S., international retirement where the cost of living us low would be on the radar. Costa Rica sounds terrific. It's very beautiful too.

But because the kids aren't going to leave the country, neither are we. And warm months will be spent in Wisconsin with the option to vist granddaughter in Illinois at our whim.

Ah, freedom!
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Wow Witz, you clearly hate where you live and that's a pity. But you make the entire south sound like barefoot, bucktoothed, religious zealots who like nothing more than a good lynching. I assure you, the places I've been have been perfectly lovely spots to spend a week or two and I can't imagine why a few months would not be the same. My family and friends who live in Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina all love their homes.

SWOT, if you like the ocean, the Gulf coast is lovely. Arkansas has some of the prettiest scenery I've seen...as do the Smoky Mountains in TN and KY. Wyoming is also quite nice - Montana is nicer.

Heck, if you can afford it, visit all 50 of them! :)
Lil, last year I moved to the bigger city and really like my home. Unfortunately for us that's not where we first lived, and it's not where the RV parks are. I'll thank you to keep your words out of my mouth, because they don't even belong there. I know what I know, and it's clearly different than what you have seen in your part of the world.

I have had you on my ignore list for several years because clearly you and I don't see eye to eye. Unfortunately when other people quote you making making comments about me, I can still see that, and couldn't help but see what all the fuss was about.

I know that in the way I was brought up, when every Tuesday afternoon I see four guys with shotguns in a pickup truck with a 3 foot by 5 foot Confederate Flag flying off the back delivering a White Supremacy newsletter to every driveway, they aren't just "proud of their Southern heritage".Perhaps that's different where you grew up.

When I sit at the Rotary meeting and listen to a speech advocating the elimination of food stamps because "of the Cadillacs driven by women - let's face it we all know I mean black women - picking up their food stamps when they clearly don't need it" when I know that there hasn't been any such thing as "picking up foodstamps" for decades, I know that their motives are less than altruistic.

When I get 5 minutes out of town and see literally miles of trailer parks (not RV parks) full of 40 year old single wides with plywood instead of windows and three or four children dressed only in a diaper playing in the what can only in theory be called a front yard because actually it's a fenced in mudhole full of old cars and broken toys, I don't think that those people are have actually had the opportunities I have had.

When I meet someone and tell them I'm from Oregon, and 2 minutes later he tells me he needs to leave the table because he "can't stand the liberal stench", I think he's a jerk. But when he proceeds to call across the road to me for the next two years "Hey Bob, (or Joe, or Tom, or whoever he's with that day) see that woman over there? She's from Ohreegone. I can smell the liberal stench from here! Yuckity yuck yuck yuck." I think he's a jerk and that all of the people who would let someone scream that type of BS at a woman on the street have issues with politeness.

We've run into the same thing in every small town we've visited between here and Atlanta and down through Soutch Carolina & Florida. I don't know why you don't see it. but I find it repulsive that someone would try to excuse flying a confederate flag as pride in heritage (I say that as a great grand-neice of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson), and that it's reasonable to fly it in defiance of people who might be offended by it in the days and weeks after a racist massacre at a black church.

And when I've met with and spoken with my friends from NC and SC about how little I understood about what it would be like in a small town 5 miles outside of the biggest city in NC, they admitted that they didn't tell me because "it's just the way it is and you were already on your way. But you'd best be careful who you speak your mind to."

Forgive me if I don't feel as though that as an outsider I - or any outsider that I've spoken to - am treated with "southern hospitality." Anything but. But don't call me a liar.

If I offend you, I suggest you ignore me back, as I intend to go back to doing to you. You and I are very different people, and that's as much as I can do to not say how offended I am by what you say, because I know that you care as little about how offended I am by you as I do about how offended you are by me. In the meantime, keep your opinions yourself, because I am not at all like you and you don't have a clue what goes on in my head, what I've seen, or what motivates me. Nobody calls me a liar or tries to make me look hateful without hearing back about it.
 
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