This last weekend Clay & I continued our quest to find a town in which to raise our family. We (well, for sure I), LOVE The Woodlands, but we just can't take the heat. And I can't take the bug bites. And Clay can't take the lack of nature-type outdoor activities (golf & water sports abound...but aren't really his cup of tea). Theoretically we could live anywhere and Clay could commute to his base, but we'd see less of him as the commute would likely take days away from home each month. And like I've said before, we like each other so that is not ideal.
So off we went to Cleveland. CLE is a Continental base...so our quality of life would largely remain the same. It is a 6 hour drive to Grandma & Grandpa Pierse, or a short flight to Indy. Grammy & Grandpy Rosonke would be a shorter flight to Minneapolis, followed by the same lovely 3 hour drive. Or we could drive 6 hours & spend the night with friends in Chicago, and drive another 6 hours the next day. Either way, our quality of life in terms of access to family won't suffer.
The city & greater Cleveland area seemed much like a smaller, less congested, more nature filled, more friendly, slightly cheaper Chicago. And if you know me very well, you know I love Chicago. Cleveland felt very much like it could be home. We stayed downtown and our room had a nice view of the lake; we checked out about 10 suburbs over our two day visit. I think we've narrowed it to three that we think we could be happy in. All three have cute downtowns with a good mix of chain & independent restaurants, charming independent stores, boutiques, & new chain stores. The school districts are all excellent. They also have loads of 4 bedroom homes with basements on .5+ acre lots in our price range. Lots of them were built in the 80s, but we only need to find one with good bones & we'd be happy to do some updating on our own. And for the handsome man in my life? His nature fix will absolutely be fulfilled between the combination of two very accessible areas...the Cleveland Metropark system and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Hiking & biking trails abound...the trees, leaves & hills were so beautiful with the fall colors that I decided I might even be motivated to trek about someday...
So, for now, unless something changes with Continental or its bases, I think we'll be moving to Cleveland in the future. Spring of 2010 or 2011...we just have to decide. And soon...Clay will need to bid CLE in January for it to happen in the Spring of 2010. If it were up to me I'd pick Spring of 2011, but we are a family so we have quite a bit more discussion to do in terms of what is best for all of us. Kind of scary, but exciting at the same time?!?!?!
And, also as always, we send a big thank you to Grandma Pierse for taking such good care of our Luci while we were gone. You are the best!
So off we went to Cleveland. CLE is a Continental base...so our quality of life would largely remain the same. It is a 6 hour drive to Grandma & Grandpa Pierse, or a short flight to Indy. Grammy & Grandpy Rosonke would be a shorter flight to Minneapolis, followed by the same lovely 3 hour drive. Or we could drive 6 hours & spend the night with friends in Chicago, and drive another 6 hours the next day. Either way, our quality of life in terms of access to family won't suffer.
The city & greater Cleveland area seemed much like a smaller, less congested, more nature filled, more friendly, slightly cheaper Chicago. And if you know me very well, you know I love Chicago. Cleveland felt very much like it could be home. We stayed downtown and our room had a nice view of the lake; we checked out about 10 suburbs over our two day visit. I think we've narrowed it to three that we think we could be happy in. All three have cute downtowns with a good mix of chain & independent restaurants, charming independent stores, boutiques, & new chain stores. The school districts are all excellent. They also have loads of 4 bedroom homes with basements on .5+ acre lots in our price range. Lots of them were built in the 80s, but we only need to find one with good bones & we'd be happy to do some updating on our own. And for the handsome man in my life? His nature fix will absolutely be fulfilled between the combination of two very accessible areas...the Cleveland Metropark system and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Hiking & biking trails abound...the trees, leaves & hills were so beautiful with the fall colors that I decided I might even be motivated to trek about someday...
So, for now, unless something changes with Continental or its bases, I think we'll be moving to Cleveland in the future. Spring of 2010 or 2011...we just have to decide. And soon...Clay will need to bid CLE in January for it to happen in the Spring of 2010. If it were up to me I'd pick Spring of 2011, but we are a family so we have quite a bit more discussion to do in terms of what is best for all of us. Kind of scary, but exciting at the same time?!?!?!
And, also as always, we send a big thank you to Grandma Pierse for taking such good care of our Luci while we were gone. You are the best!
2 comments:
YEAH and BOO at the same time. I am really happy that you guys found a good place but sad to see you leave. You will have NO problems selling your house...they seem to be going like hot cakes!
Wow...sounds like you have found your new home. Cleveland sounds really nice. Never been there, but once you move, we'll have a nice reason to visit:-)
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