Our Story

After working non-stop for 40 years, Claudia and I decided enough was enough....it was time to go and smell the roses. We sold our home in Florida, along with most of our possessions, packed up Tuck in the back seat of the truck and hit the road for Northern California. And what a journey it was!

We stayed a year in Grass Valley, CA. From that base, we had a chance to explore some amazing national and state parks in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Arizona. While we were exploring....we both realized that traveling was what we both loved the most and we vowed to do more of it....soon. Our guiding principal in this big adventure is not to look back ten years from now and say..."Gee, I wish we had done more".

It only took us six months to realize that the climate in Northern California was never going to work for us and we began our exploration of Southern California. After checking out areas such as Palm Springs, San Luis Obispo and the winery areas near Paso Robles, we came to the unfortunate conclusion (unfortunate as we had invested a lot of time and money in this quest) that California wasn’t going to be our next home. And so….we packed up again and headed to the Scottsdale, AZ area. Literally every “Retire Here” article for the last twenty years touted the Phoenix/Scottsdale area as one of the prime retirement destinations in the country.

We found a beautiful home to rent in Tonto Verde, a beautiful gated community near Fountain Hills, AZ. This area, about 30 minutes from downtown Scottsdale, lies in the what locals call the high desert. We arrived in early April and began to explore the area, hoping against hope that “this would be the place”. Alas, it was not to be. Read on.

All the locals we met said to hike the hillside trails, describing them in terms seemingly borrowed from a National Geographic article. Well…what we found was a whole lot different. Small, rocky trails totally devoid of anything but cactus. And the cactus here…the quills will penetrate the sole of a shoe instantly. Then there was the constant lookout for rattle snakes and scorpions, which are literally everywhere (one bite is fatal to most dogs), so our plans of exploring with Tuck evaporated within a couple weeks. And that sucked, as we had become accustomed to doing everything with Tuck by our side. This was one of our first “Ah-Ha” moments.

Then…there was the heat. In April, the temps stayed in the 90’s. May brought the 100’s and by June, every day was around 110-115. When you ask locals about how they cope, the usual answer was “ well, it’s a dry heat”, or “we don’t go out during the day much". What? Really? You don’t go out during the day? Let’s call it like it is folks, when the sidewalks get too hot for your dog to walk by 10:00AM…and you can’t walk your pet again until after 10:00 PM (and even then it was 100), that’s not what we called a liveable climate. Some loved it…a fact we couldn’t and still can’t understand. Yet, the Phoenix/Scottsdale area is the fastest growing area in the country. Go figure. Clearly, Claudia and I are in the minority. All I can say to anyone reading this is…before you buy there, spend at least May through October or November and see how you fare in the heat. We wish you good luck. And oh, by the way, we kept our AC set to 90 most days and our electric bills ran around $350-$400. Retirement Living magazine somehow forgot to mention this small fact.

Are there beautiful areas in Arizona? You bet. The Verde Mountains near our home were stunning (I’ve posted a few pictures). The Grand Canyon needs no introduction. Sedona is one of the most stunning places we have ever been. But, having said that, both were horribly overcrowded and the joy of visiting was largely overridden by the tour buses and bumper-to-bumper traffic from 8:30AM to 7:00PM.

So, to make a long story even longer, by October/November of 2018, we had had enough and realized that unless we had another place to live for at least six months a year (actually 9), Arizona was just not going to make the cut. We did take some solace in the fact that in Tonto Verde, the development where we lived outside of Fountain Hills, literally 90% of our neighbors left by May and headed for cooler climates. The ironic thing is, these were the same people who when asked about the climate, would reply “no big deal, it’s a dry heat”. Funny thing about climate…people who claim to love where they live are often house-hunting in other areas.

By January, we were back at the computer investigating potential new areas to live. Stay tuned…I’ll add to the saga soon.

Claudia and Tuck heading to the beach - New Smyrna Beach, FL