relocating in MN (Virginia, Two Harbors, Silver Bay: for sale, apartment, mortgage) - Minnesota - City-Data Forum

ponce_leeon · 11-07-2021, 01:36 AM

I'm here now in MN. I don't really like where I live. Its fine for now but its not where I see myself long term. I've lived in some towns/cities where I could see myself living long term. For example I could see myself living long term in mankato. Then again maybe there is a town outside of mankato that would be nice.

in general my criteria for a town is that they must have a kwik trip. I don't know if you have tried the frozen pizza there. It is bar none the best frozen pizza you can buy...and its not even expensive. Okay listen...I sling my own pies. And by that I mean pizza pies. But some days I get tired of slinging and I want to grab something from the freezer and throw it in the oven. To be honest I'm a 425 guy. I dont care if the instructions say 400 degrees. My mantra has always been 425. Then again sometimes 400 is perfect for frozen pies. Its all about the oven. If you're working with a smaller oven maybe 400 is okay. If you're slinging your own pies you probably wanna go with a slightly higher temperature.

moving on...actually I have a few more things to say about kwik trip. You can get a fresh onion there. And I mean a nice big, fresh onion. Not only that you can get a head of lettuce. Not only that...its a fresh head of lettuce and its not expensive. What other gas station can you get a fresh head of lettuce. Ok now lets move on. Here are some towns I think could work: st bonifacius, red wing, new prague, mankato, anywhere around st cloud. I've been through st cloud a couple times and I was taken aback by the nice scenery. Really its pretty nice around there...Waite park area, st. joseph, etc. You cannot go wrong in the st cloud area. You would be surprised at how nice the scenery is...meadows and all kinds of greenery, all kinds of open space but without being in the middle of nowhere.

maybe saint cloud is the destination as it turns out in terms of a place where I could exist on a long term basis. I don't have to be right in saint cloud, but somewhere in that general area. It's got some nice scenery and most of those towns do have kwik trip. I don't know if kwik trip has changed their prices. Last I was there it was 5 pies for 10$...thats 2$ a pie. Not only that its the best frozen pie you can get. I dont know...sometimes I want a break from slinging my own pies. I can make a great dough, dont get me wrong.

I guess st cloud is the ideal spot but there might be a town or some area that I have overlooked. To me its not the midwest without kwik trip.

wamer27 · 11-07-2021, 06:33 AM

Two Harbors has a Kwik Trip, much better scenery there. If you want to buy a cheap house, Silver Bay half hour away just announced moving some big mine operations to Virginia, MN. Many houses for sale under $150k and nobody will buy them. You can get wonderful scenery going to and from Kwik Trip.

ponce_leeon · 11-07-2021, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wamer27

Two Harbors has a Kwik Trip, much better scenery there. If you want to buy a cheap house, Silver Bay half hour away just announced moving some big mine operations to Virginia, MN. Many houses for sale under $150k and nobody will buy them. You can get wonderful scenery going to and from Kwik Trip.

the more I think about it I feel like I have to be somewhere around st cloud or mankato. Mining towns and railroad towns are fine. But I'm not like a manly, grizzled kind of person and I have little to no interest in being a homeowner. I have nothing against home owners, but in my view its a financial trap and maybe even a spiritual trap to have a mortgage and all that. I like colleges so I can have a place to walk around once and a while. My ideal kwik trip visit is on a road bike on a cloudy sunday where I stop by to pick up some frozen pizza after cycling around leisurely. Overall I feel like i'm here to pursue a really simple life beyond financial pressure. I make my own pizza and I like to make breads. And I like to have a few spots where I can hop on a bike and get away from the stir of society, whether its a campus or a duck pond.

demtion35 · 11-07-2021, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponce_leeon

the more I think about it I feel like I have to be somewhere around st cloud or mankato. Mining towns and railroad towns are fine. But I'm not like a manly, grizzled kind of person and I have little to no interest in being a homeowner. I have nothing against home owners, but in my view its a financial trap and maybe even a spiritual trap to have a mortgage and all that. I like colleges so I can have a place to walk around once and a while. My ideal kwik trip visit is on a road bike on a cloudy sunday where I stop by to pick up some frozen pizza after cycling around leisurely. Overall I feel like i'm here to pursue a really simple life beyond financial pressure. I make my own pizza and I like to make breads. And I like to have a few spots where I can hop on a bike and get away from the stir of society, whether its a campus or a duck pond.

Wait till it is about 10F, with wind, But there are lots of folks who ride bikes year around, so there is that.

ponce_leeon · 11-07-2021, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demtion35

Wait till it is about 10F, with wind, But there are lots of folks who ride bikes year around, so there is that.

I lived in mankato thru a winter. I didnt bike during that time because the apartment I was in was literally about 50 yards from a kwik trip. Thats how I ended up going there for everything and learning so much.

now I'm in a town that I really dont gel with. Theres no kwik trip or any really desirable place to bike to. The town isnt so bad but it doesnt seem like a place I will ever gel with.

slamont61 · 11-10-2021, 08:39 AM

Seems a bit like a commercial for Kwik-Trip.

Come on man...

pepe1 · 11-10-2021, 08:57 AM

Casey's Rulez. Kwik Trip Droolz.

St.Joan · 11-27-2021, 09:25 PM

Have to agree with you about Kwik Trip

Tyryztoll · 11-29-2021, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepe1

Casey's Rulez. Kwik Trip Droolz.

Casey's has good pizza, but can't touch Kwik Trip otherwise, especially in correlation with the training of their employees. You can't act a fool in front of customers at KT the way you can at Casey's and believe me, I've witnessed what I'm referring to many, many times.

davephan · 12-25-2021, 08:58 AM

That seems very odd that you'd base where you live on the proximity of a Kwik Trip store! It sounds like you have a financial interest in Kwik Trip stores! Where is it that you live, and don't like living there? If you're still in your working years, then it makes more sense to base where you live on your commute to and from work, and which routes might be better for the commute. If you're retired, then your location is a less important factor, unless you need to be closer to clinics and hospitals, if your health has declined.

The only reason I've gone to Kwik Trip stores in the past, is to buy the recreational gasoline for small engines, like the lawn mower or snow blower. The recreation gasoline is better for the small engines. It's also a wise idea to pump the recreation gasoline from a multi-hose gasoline pump at the Kwik Trip, so that you don't get a hose full of the lower grade gasoline.

But I don't depend on Kwik Trip anymore, since I've retired and moved to Florida. The lawn mower and snow blower were left behind in Minnesota. A snow blower is never ever needed in Florida! I also retired from the lawn mowing chores and hire someone else to do those chores. But I did find a gas station nearby in Florida, that sells the recreation gasoline for the small engine on the power washer machine. That gas station also has a separate hose for the recreation gasoline.