Where do you live??? and What is it like living there???

[Kchurchill5]

I was to Seattle once. Summer time and yes, it was very pretty. NOT for me however, water too cold. I like to be in the water. But pretty, Yes it was. I can imagine the cold dreary cloudy days which I couldn't handle.

3 days of clouds in FL, and us Floridians are grumpy.

[LindasBusyKitchen]

I live in a rather unusual area of Southern California. I am on the north (translation DRY) side of the San Bernardino mountains, north east of LA. What do I like about this areas? Besides the sunsets and my house, not a blasted thing.

This town is too remote for my tastes. There are only three restaurants which stay open after 3pm. You may dine on Mexican food, pizza or sushi after 3pm unless you want to drive 20 miles to the nearest "real" town. There is one bank and two gas stations. NO shopping whatsoever unless you call the one grocery store "shopping". The closest shopping of any type, is 15 miles away and consists of Target, Ross, Verizon Wireless and Joann Fabrics. NO entertainment at all unless you count the July 4th fireworks display. A couple of years ago a branch of the county library opened but they are geared entirely towards children.

It is quiet enough here for me to hear the semi trucks downshifting for a stoplight two miles away. lol When there is no moon it is do dark that you cannot see your hand in front of your face. If I am out after dark on those nights, I have to back my truck into the garage so I can see to shut the gate. You may keep almost any kind of animal on your property but you can't put up bright outdoor lighting. The desert vegetation is interesting but it is next to impossible to grow anything edible or pretty. The desert critters think flowers and veggies are planted for them to enjoy a salad.

You may wonder why anyone lives here. Some folks like the quiet and dark. If you like the desert, the views are amazing. I can see over 50 miles to the north on most days. The mountains are less than three miles away. There is always sunshine because there are seldom any clouds or rain. (I like the sunshine but my skin hates the lack of humidity.) It's only 10 miles to snow skiing in the winter. (I don't ski and hate snow.) The schools are amazing if you have school aged children. For such a small place their are a lot of churches, at least six. I think you could go to church every day of the week if you so desired.

We have made the best of this. It was an interesting experience but I've been stuck here long enough and am currently looking for a house back on the other side of the mountains. THAT part of Southern California, I LOVE!

Quiet little towns are okay, if there is a city nearby to do things, but if you are too far out it can get boring... Sounds like you need to get back where the action is

[LindasBusyKitchen]

I'm adding my city's wiki page because I find reading those are very fascinating!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snohomish,_Wa the official town we live in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett,_Wa where I spend most of my time

I live in Snohomish, WA which is about 30 minutes NW of Seattle and about 10 minutes from Everett which is a town with a poplation of 100,000+ so I'm not far away from civilization. We live in unincorporated Snohomish so we feel more like the city of Everett and don't really relate much to Snohomish at all. When going out and about I usually don't visit Snohomish but travel to Everett instead for shopping and culture because it is actually closer and has more to offer.

Snohomish is an old farming/logging town that is very small. Today the downtown core is very very cute with lots of antiquing which is the main reason I venture into Snohomish. Everett is home to a Boeing manufacturing plant among other things. We are also about 40 minutes from Microsoft (where my husband works) so we are a very techy community. The area is pretty well versed in restaurants tho I must admit I rarely eat out. We also have a coffee house on every corner.

It rains an awful stinking lot here and we rarely get a day of clear skies 9 months out of the year. I'm not gonna lie, it totally sucks. It's a bone chilling kind of cold during the rainy season and it just......sucks! However, summers here are flat out amazing. The weather is perfect, the skies are blue, the mountains and lakes (we have water EVERYWHERE) are in full view and extremely magnificent. We are 10 minutes from the water and 40 minutes from the mountains, and in my book it doesn't get much better than that.

Sometimes you have to give up a little to get a lot... I can relate with you dealing with the rain, as we have the snow here in NH, but I feel so fortunate to be in an area that has lots of lakes close by, an hour from the mountains, Boston, and about 35-40 mins from all the beaches on the coast of NH and Maine.... I never really appreciated it until I moved to Durham NC where it is so hot that you have to camp in March and April and it's too hot to do it any later in the summer unless you have an air conditioned camper. It was so hot during the day that you really couldn't stay out in the sun all day... The lakes are so warm that they aren't refreshing, and the bottoms of the lakes are all red clay, that squishes in your toes and is dangerous to walk on because it is so slippery... Lots of bugs and spiders and snakes that are poisonous... The beach is 1 1/2 hrs away, so it's a day trip if you want to go there... and the mountains are 4 hrs. away... I felt so lost while living there... I felt like I had nothing fun to do... I grew up on the water so living there I felt like a fish out of water.... I was totally miserable... It's great to be home again, and I know this is where I belong!