Another "Retire in CO" thread... (Denver, Delta: landscaping, theater)
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Hi, all! It's been a long while, and we're back from our retirement reconnaissance trip to CO. Sorry that I never got around to putting my thoughts together. But, at long last, here they are!
If you don't remember, and don't want to read through all the pages of this post, I'll try to quickly recap where my wife and I are:
We are hoping to retire at some point in the not too distant future, and move to CO. Need great mountain views from our home. Need quiet. Need wildlife, hiking, bicycling (not hard-core mountain biking, tho), and kayaking (lazy river or lake, not white-water). Don't need to get into the house requirements - location is more important than house specifics at this point. And, we're not in any hurry to buy, but not against it if the right place comes along.
We know we love the RMNP area, but want to check out other areas of CO, to see if we can get a similar feeling without 4.5 million tourists going through our front yard each year.
In early September, we (my wife, my older daughter and I) took our first whirlwind reconnaissance trip to CO: two weeks of camping. Just wanted to see if anything would give us that feeling of "Oh, yeah, we need to live here"! Or, if anything made us want to do more research, and/or prompt more visits.
The trip started off with a few hiccups as we were getting ready to leave on*Saturday, 09/04.
As I pulled the popup camper out of the garage, left side flat tire! Moved it a bit more, and it blew completely! Luckily, I had a couple spares! Where's the jack?? Found it! Time to change the tire. Second one on, pumped up - looks good. Five minutes later, that one was flat! Ok, change the tire again! Third one on - looks like it's gonna hold........fingers crossed!
Time to leave. Nope. Forgot something. Ready? Nope. Forgot something else. Ready??? Nope. Forgot something else. Left the house quite a bit later than anticipated. But, we were off!
Got to Kearney, NE, where we decided to stay for the night. Found a place (free), but quickly realized that, in all the commotion at home, I forgot to take the two jack handles for the popup and stabilizers!!! Slept in the Highlander, rather than in the popup - not fun!
Sunday - on our way. We knew when we got closer to Denver, we needed to look up an RV Store and look for jack handles.
Before we got to Denver, vrrr, vrrr, vrrr - blew the third tire on the left side of the camper! Luckily, we were right near an off-ramp and not in the middle of a construction zone! Pull off, and change the tire again (I'm getting good at this!) - this time with our last spare tire! So, now we are nervous! Well, when we get to the RV Store, we'll just buy two new spare tires, just to be safe. Oh, wait - it's Sunday before Labor Day! Not many places are actually open until Tuesday! Ugh!!! Now what?!? Found a couple places, but no luck on the jack handles nor the spare tires. No tires at any Tire Stores, either! We were on our way toward Salida - what will happen if we blow another tire in the middle of nowhere?
Wormed our way toward Colorado Springs - another RV Store. No jack handles. No tires. Not at AutoZone, either. Stopped at a Home Depot to see what I could improvise with - found a steel bar (square profile just big enough to fit the slot to jack up the camper!) and some vice grips. Not ideal, but better than nothing! On our way toward Salida, we took a chance and stopped in a Super Walmart - what do you know? They had tires - the exact size we needed for the*popup! Bought two!
Whew - we were on our way to Salida!!! Ready for our vacation!
Ok, now for my thoughts about our First Reconnaissance Trip. We had set up reservations for three base camps (Salida, Ridgway, and Estes Park) and did side-trips to some of the towns around each base camp. On the one hand, we were looking at areas as possible future retirement homes. On the other hand, since we're still working, this was a vacation, so we had to do plenty of hiking, too!
Initial thoughts, as we passed through/visited each area. Sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone if we aren't in love with your town - everyone has different likes/dislikes/wants/needs - I have nothing bad to say about any area we saw!
Florence and Cañon City - We didn't really feel these two towns were for us. Pretty flat. Didn't care for the obviousness of the correctional facilities in the area. However, we might have to take another look at Cañon City - there might be some better views to the south/southwest (west of Forge Rd, south of Temple Canyon Rd & S. 1st St). Weather in this area is supposed to be really nice. Can't rule Cañon City out, yet.
The drive from Cañon City to Salida along Hwy 50 is absolutely beautiful!
Howard - An employee at the Salida Visitors Bureau said she lived in Howard and wouldn't trade her views for anything, so we checked it out. Her area had spectacular views - 360º views of the mountains, pretty close up! Houses were not on top of each other. Beautiful location! Only about 20 minutes SE of Salida.
Salida - Cool town with a cool vibe! Looks like there were good choices for dining/entertainment. Liked the riverwalk area! Downtown reminded us a little like Estes Park. Lots of opportunities for mountain views outside of town. Plenty of hiking with multiple 14ers in the area. I could certainly see living in this area. My wife liked Buena Vista better - smaller, more quaint. Salida has more amenities than Buena Vista, though.
Buena Vista - Also a cool town with a cool vibe! Half the size of Salida. Loved the riverwalk area! Felt more quaint and somewhat newer than Salida. Easy access to hiking, esp. Cottonwood Pass and the Continental Divide. LOVED the Lost Lake hike! Mountain views to the west of town.
Poncha Springs - will need to revisit this area - didn't get to look around. If Salida/Buena Vista stay on our list, Poncha Springs is worth looking at, also.
Because of construction on Hwy 50, west of Sapinero, we decided to go south from Salida (285 - 112 - 160 - 550) which allowed us to take a gander at Pagosa Springs, Durango and Silverton on the way to Ridgway, our second base camp. Drive between Durango and Ridgway was absolutely beautiful!
Pagosa Springs - Just passed thru - didn't spend time here. Drive thru town wasn't very inviting.
Durango - Just passed thru - didn't spend time here. Crowded and lots of traffic.
Silverton - Beautiful area. Train runs through town - lots of tourists from the train. Over an hour from hospital.
Ouray - Absolutely beautiful town in a bowl surrounded by mountains! Seems like it might be hard to get away from town and still have those views. Have to look at that more. Seems quite touristy. Lots of traffic noise - can hear it from everywhere, even up on the Perimeter Trail - how do you get away from traffic noise, yet keep those mountain views?
Ridgway - Cute little town! Beautiful views of big mountains to the east and south, and mesas to the west and north! I loved the downtown and city park. Ridgway State Park and Reservoir were great!
We had the great pleasure to have dinner with @waltcolorado and his wife, and @brightdoglover! Wonderful people, all of them! We had a great evening enjoying food, drink and great company!!!
Spoke with a Real Estate Agent, who gave us a hard sale pitch! Had a good time with him, and will keep in touch with him in case the Ridgway, Ouray, Telluride areas stay on our list at the end of all of this!
Actually, I kinda fell in love with this area! I can easily see myself living in/near Ridgway - it's close to Ouray, Silverton, Telluride; Montrose is about 30 min away for Hospital and other services. We didn't get to stay long enough to really get an idea of all the hiking options, and didn't see much wildlife at all (just a few deer). We need to come back and stay a little longer to take in more of the hiking/bicycling/wildlife around the area.
Montrose*- Larger town near Ridgway. Has all amenities we'd need if we lived in/around Ridgway. Wouldn't live here - too far from big mountains.
From Ridgway to Estes Park, we drove some smaller highways/roads (wanted to make sure to drive through Hotchkiss and Paonia) and saw a number of towns that may have piqued our interest.
Hotchkiss - Small town. Didn't seem like much there, but we may have just missed it. About 25 min from Delta for services (Hospital, etc.). Not too far from mountains/hiking. Will have to do more research.
Paonia - Small town. Didn't seem like much there, but we may have just missed it. About 36 min from Delta for services (Hospital, etc.). Not too far from mountains/hiking. Will have to do more research.
Frisco - Pretty area. Will have to do more research, and maybe visit this town.
Silver Plume - Pretty area. Will have to do more research, and maybe visit this town.
Georgetown - Pretty area. Will have to do more research, and maybe visit this town. Can you get away from road noise?
Central City - Off of Central City Parkway. Need to check it out.
Timberline - Need to check it out.
Nederland - Need to check it out.
Meeker Estates - Need to check it out.
Estes Park - Still our favorite area for views of mountains along with hiking and abundance of wildlife (elk, deer, moose, coyote, pika, birds, etc.). But, 4.5 million people visit each year. Is that something we want to live with? There are areas where we can get away from the center of town and all the people.
All in all, this was a very fun trip! We saw some beautiful areas of CO that we hadn't seen before. And, we met some wonderful people (thank you for your hospitality)!!! But, we did not find the YES, WE NEED TO LIVE HERE, town. Wasn't really expecting to. And, we didn't feel we had enough time to visit certain areas long enough - packed too much into too short of time, especially since this was our vacation and we wanted to have fun, not just look for potential living areas. All that means is that we're going to have to come back again! Nothing wrong with that! Once we retire, we'll be back and visit for a longer period of time!
Thanks again to everyone who has helped me in the beginning of our adventure to find the right place in CO to live in retirement! I'm sure I'll be asking many, many more questions in the near future!!!
When I lived in Fort Collins I’d drive west into the mountains all the time. Rist Canyon to Stove Prairie and then Buckhorn Road to Pingree Park, loved this area. Poudre Canyon and Red Feathers are much more affordable then everything south. I’d also take the back ways to Estes Park. I do realize a large fire burned up a lot of this area I’m mentioning, but that should also help in it not burning anytime soon again.
On a side note a friend of mine from WI (grew up in Brookfield area) retired in his 30’s about 5 or so years ago and bought on a river and a creek in Steamboat for $600k. Sold it 3 years later for $1.2m and bought a ranch where he could backcountry downhill ski and snowmobile on the property near Steamboat Lake. Got it all for $1m, put about $100k into it and sold it last summer for $2.4m. Went from $1.1m to $2.4m in about 2-3 years. I wouldn’t wait on buying. Surprisingly he moved back to Minoqua, WI area, probably to be around his aging parents.
Always great to hear the results of these trips - thank you!
Thanks! I think we're finding that this is going to be a difficult task until after we're retired. It would be much easier if we already KNEW where we wanted to live. But, we don't, so that's the challenge/adventure if it all.
We were just talking, and had a thought: We could pick a spot and move there. Give it a chance for a while, and if it doesn't work out to be the dream we thought it would be, we could find a different town to move to. Since we'll be retired, we won't have jobs/kids to worry about - just us.
A small note, perhaps OP could pick rural hospitals and draw a circle from them to see what towns were there. If a hospital is a deal-breaker, not much point in considering places very remote from medical care. Also consider internet access, whether working or not. It's always in progress out these ways.
When I lived in Fort Collins I’d drive west into the mountains all the time. Rist Canyon to Stove Prairie and then Buckhorn Road to Pingree Park, loved this area. Poudre Canyon and Red Feathers are much more affordable then everything south. I’d also take the back ways to Estes Park. I do realize a large fire burned up a lot of this area I’m mentioning, but that should also help in it not burning anytime soon again.
On a side note a friend of mine from WI (grew up in Brookfield area) retired in his 30’s about 5 or so years ago and bought on a river and a creek in Steamboat for $600k. Sold it 3 years later for $1.2m and bought a ranch where he could backcountry downhill ski and snowmobile on the property near Steamboat Lake. Got it all for $1m, put about $100k into it and sold it last summer for $2.4m. Went from $1.1m to $2.4m in about 2-3 years. I wouldn’t wait on buying. Surprisingly he moved back to Minoqua, WI area, probably to be around his aging parents.
So, those places you mentioned are up north of Estes Park, correct? We haven't really gone up that way, so are not familiar with it. Sounds like they're great places to visit, but are they great places to live? Or, are you implying it would be good to live in/near Estes Park and visit those places?
Yup, we realize what has been happening with housing prices everywhere, but in CO especially. We are keeping an eye on that situation. While we're in no hurry to rush into something that doesn't suit us, we do realize that we may get stuck paying even more. Thanks for the tip/warning!
A small note, perhaps OP could pick rural hospitals and draw a circle from them to see what towns were there. If a hospital is a deal-breaker, not much point in considering places very remote from medical care. Also consider internet access, whether working or not. It's always in progress out these ways.
I still vote for Ridgway!
Hey @brightdoglover! Glad to hear you're still around here! Sorry I didn't get to this summary much, much sooner!
We're still trying to talk through our priorities - gotta get the list together and put weight to each need and want, so we can evaluate what's truly a deal-breaker and what's a nice-to-have.
Now that you brought it up, Internet access is important to us. That will be a challenge trying to figure out which areas have great/decent/good/mediocre/bad/awful/no Internet access! For instance, one of the posts above mentions places a bit north of Estes Park. My guess (though I don't know) is that there aren't many services nearby, and Internet access probably isn't all that great. But, I don't know that for sure. Will take some researching if we decide to keep that area on our shortlist.
Really, you vote for Ridgway?!!! I would have never guessed!!! LOL!
So, those places you mentioned are up north of Estes Park, correct? We haven't really gone up that way, so are not familiar with it. Sounds like they're great places to visit, but are they great places to live? Or, are you implying it would be good to live in/near Estes Park and visit those places?
Yup, we realize what has been happening with housing prices everywhere, but in CO especially. We are keeping an eye on that situation. While we're in no hurry to rush into something that doesn't suit us, we do realize that we may get stuck paying even more. Thanks for the tip/warning!
The Ridgway, Telluride, Durango area is my favorite part of the state. For location, it’s just as close to Phoenix/Salt Lake City as it is Denver. Plus jets fly from Montrose to at least Denver. Can also get to all the cool places in Utah and northern Arizona. For exploring it can’t be beat. Telluride is the most scenic town location I’ve seen.
As far as north of Estes Park, the Poudre River is the only national scenic riverway in the state. It’s a backway to Grand Lake, Winter Park, and Steamboat, plus it’s not anywhere near Denver, so way less people and demand. Fort Collins would be the services area if looking to live west and northwest of Fort Collins. I like the area north and northeast of Estes Park, which is the area I’ve been mentioning. One thing to take notice is this area floods if you buy in river valleys. It flooded bad in 2013 when we visited on our honeymoon. Luckily a cabin my grandma’s brother built in the 40’s didn’t get washed away on South St Vrain River near Raymond.
Now that you brought it up, Internet access is important to us. That will be a challenge trying to figure out which areas have great/decent/good/mediocre/bad/awful/no Internet access!
Yes, internet has become a biggie. The main limiters used to be water, electricity, and access (for rural property, which I gather is what you want). Now it's become reasonably cost effective to generate electricity, but the problem is internet. You could buy some land hoping that Starlink or some other satellite internet survives in the long run, but that's kind of risky.
The other thing to consider, especially for rural areas, is fire risk. Every year we see parts of the western United States ravaged by fire. Just this past week our old stomping grounds (Louisville, CO) were hit hard. That is quite an eye opener, as I never considered that city at any significant risk of widlfire when we lived there.
Yes, internet has become a biggie. The main limiters used to be water, electricity, and access (for rural property, which I gather is what you want). Now it's become reasonably cost effective to generate electricity, but the problem is internet. You could buy some land hoping that Starlink or some other satellite internet survives in the long run, but that's kind of risky.
The other thing to consider, especially for rural areas, is fire risk. Every year we see parts of the western United States ravaged by fire. Just this past week our old stomping grounds (Louisville, CO) were hit hard. That is quite an eye opener, as I never considered that city at any significant risk of widlfire when we lived there.
You know, you'd think that by now, everywhere in the U.S. should have great Internet access! But, not so, I guess.
Fire risk is a danger we do need to consider, for sure. Every year, lately, it seems that parts of CO are hit by wildfires. That's really terrible.
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