[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll ask my daughter if she and her husband would be interested in the New Year's Eve rodeo, and take it from there.

Sticking on topic, I'm guessing the South Point Equestrian Center rodeo-related events get a bigger turn out than the Ranch does in Loveland. How many rodeo events do they have a year that would interest you and your wife? Besides NFR, of course.

Well, RosieSD, I myself, don't consider a rodeo to be rough stock riding only. In fact, if you look up the definitely of the word "rodeo", it describes all of the rough stock events as well as the timed-events. I think that people who don't know much about rodeo, think something like that Extreme Rodeo is a rodeo, of which it isn't due to no timed-events.

Actually, The MAC Equipment Indoor Arena, one of the buildings at the Ranch in Loveland, where the Mountain States Circuit Finals is held and that arena is fairly small and bleachers for fans are only on one side. I think more people go to the Rodeo Dance after the Friday and Saturday night performance, than the rodeo itself.

Unlike South Point Equestrian Center, that holds NRHA (Reining Horse) Championships, NCHA (Cutting Horse) Championships and other equestrian/rodeo related events, The Ranch holds the yearly County Fair PRCA Rodeo and the Circuit Finals. Not much else.

90% of the equestrian events at South Point would interest us.

[BabyBoomers2]

The more we check on apartments both surrounding Las Vegas and in Paradise, the more we are finding that they aren't cheap by no means. We could afford a 2-bedroom/1-bath, but.

And, then we have to find someplace to store our boat. But, we also have to find someone to haul it there also. We sure couldn't/wouldn't do it. It cost us $3,000 to have our boat brought here to northern Colorado from northeastern Florida.

[04kL4nD]

I think you should cross South Vegas off your list immediately. Visiting versus living in Vegas are very different experiences and pretty much everyone is advising you to rethink your plans, so when you add in being more expensive than you thought, well, seems like you have your answer...

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I think you should cross South Vegas off your list immediately. Visiting versus living in Vegas are very different experiences and pretty much everyone is advising you to rethink your plans, so when you add in being more expensive than you thought, well, seems like you have your answer...

Well, visiting vs. living someplace is pretty much always different. Unfortunately, not everyone has the finances to visit everywhere they are thinking of moving to. Even though I had only drove thru Colorado's Front Range, before we met/married, we still moved there (18 miles for apt. and then 10 more miles for house south of Denver. Then, without visiting first, moved to Huntersville, NC. Spent a year there and then had a little visit to, and then moved to Jacksonville, FL.

Still researching Vegas and ?. We just have to find a place for both us and our boat, plus a lake to put the boat on. Still very, very drawn to South Point's very beautiful Equestrian Center and then the NFR each December. But, who knows.

[04kL4nD]

OK, but that's once a year. Have you spent enough time in Vegas during the summer to really know what you're in for? 115+ temps are no joke, which is probably why they hold that rodeo in the winter when temperatures aren't unbearable.

As for other options, the Carson Valley is much more of what you seem to be looking for in terms of being part of horse country and having access to lakes/boating. Winters are going to much, much milder than where you are in Colorado... Others have mentioned it, but you seem to not grasp the reasons WHY it's the better, more realistic option.

Why are you thinking that the South Las Vegas area is "horse country" anyway? It may have events from time to time, but that doesn't really make it a year-round horse lover's destination. Vegas has conventions/events for pretty much everything, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there's a huge local community to support it. From what I know of the Vegas area (spent wayyyy too much time there due to having relatives from there), people who have horses tend to keep them farther north in the valley and at a higher elevation since it means cooler temperatures.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

OK, but that's once a year. Have you spent enough time in Vegas during the summer to really know what you're in for? 115+ temps are no joke, which is probably why they hold that rodeo in the winter when temperatures aren't unbearable.

As for other options, the Carson Valley is much more of what you seem to be looking for in terms of being part of horse country and having access to lakes/boating. Winters are going to much, much milder than where you are in Colorado... Others have mentioned it, but you seem to not grasp the reasons WHY it's the better, more realistic option.

Why are you thinking that the South Las Vegas area is "horse country" anyway? It may have events from time to time, but that doesn't really make it a year-round horse lover's destination. Vegas has conventions/events for pretty much everything, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there's a huge local community to support it. From what I know of the Vegas area (spent wayyyy too much time there due to having relatives from there), people who have horses tend to keep them farther north in the valley and at a higher elevation since it means cooler temperatures.

Ok, this clear this up: We will both, most likely, be fully retired. I am and have been. So, that means that we don't have to go out in the heat like the working class does.

We've done research on lakes, even in Carson Valley, and they only take electric boats............not gas engine ones. Our boat has a 5.7L, I/O, 350 Chevy V8 engine.

We aren't looking for "horse country". We have to rent an apartment, so that will take us away from any "horse country". Now, in many replies I've done on this thread, the National Finals Rodeo isn't the only thing we are looking at. We are also looking at the large equestrian center at South Point Hotel/Casino that we were at last December during that rodeo. There equestrian center holds many horse related events all year long, because it is indoors and climate controlled.

IOW, when people are fully retired, they don't think about summer heat. Just look how many retirees live in Palm Springs and how hot it gets there in the summer. And, take a look at Barstow in the summer.

And, like one forum member stated, "they are renting, so they can move anytime/anywhere", of which is pretty much true. Homeowners can't really do that.

[ejisme]

People also don't realize how much damage that hot sun can do to their vehicles and boats. The in-laws lived in North Edwards, CA for many years (about 3 hrs away, but the same desert). It was nice and cool in their home even in the heat of summer, but grilling hot on and in their cars if they couldn't be parked under cover (they didn't have a garage, just a one-car carport). It didn't take long for the paint and seats to fade and their dashboards to split. Nothing they could do about it. Pretty much every car was in a similar shape if it had to be parked outside (like at an apartment complex). Just something else to consider... i.e. how well your apartment and boat storage area will protect from the sun and heat.

I know you are coming out of CO, and the altitude makes the sun more intense, but LV is still at 2K feet, and with very little grass and few trees in the area. The mix of bright sun and reflective sun sure adds to the impact in the area.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by ejisme

People also don't realize how much damage that hot sun can do to their vehicles and boats. The in-laws lived in North Edwards, CA for many years (about 3 hrs away, but the same desert). It was nice and cool in their home even in the heat of summer, but grilling hot on and in their cars if they couldn't be parked under cover (they didn't have a garage, just a one-car carport). It didn't take long for the paint and seats to fade and their dashboards to split. Nothing they could do about it. Pretty much every car was in a similar shape if it had to be parked outside (like at an apartment complex). Just something else to consider... i.e. how well your apartment and boat storage area will protect from the sun and heat.

I know you are coming out of CO, and the altitude makes the sun more intense, but LV is still at 2K feet, and with very little grass and few trees in the area. The mix of bright sun and reflective sun sure adds to the impact in the area.

Yes so very true. You can get a car cover to help protect but the interior will still bake. I did this when parked for 8 hours outside in a public lot. You can protected against sun fade but glue inside interior melted out of panels that's how hot it got.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by ejisme

People also don't realize how much damage that hot sun can do to their vehicles and boats. The in-laws lived in North Edwards, CA for many years (about 3 hrs away, but the same desert). It was nice and cool in their home even in the heat of summer, but grilling hot on and in their cars if they couldn't be parked under cover (they didn't have a garage, just a one-car carport). It didn't take long for the paint and seats to fade and their dashboards to split. Nothing they could do about it. Pretty much every car was in a similar shape if it had to be parked outside (like at an apartment complex). Just something else to consider... i.e. how well your apartment and boat storage area will protect from the sun and heat.

I know you are coming out of CO, and the altitude makes the sun more intense, but LV is still at 2K feet, and with very little grass and few trees in the area. The mix of bright sun and reflective sun sure adds to the impact in the area.

While we lived, for 10 1/2 years, both our boat and our Durango was outside during hot/humid summers in northeastern Florida. Both survived.

Our boat is still outside, living here in northern Colorado. But, unlike some boaters, we keep a cockpit cover on when it is sitting in storage. Sun, heat and snow don't get to the cockpit area.

[ejisme]

BB2: Now that you've given up on Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota, then why not Boise? As you've found in traveling around the country no place is as Cowboy as you want it to be, so you've settled on access to many horse related events and rodeos, plus someplace to use your boat. Gambling and casinos are a bonus?

Anyway, why not Boise?

It has everything you are talking about wanting, except no local casinos. Plenty of boating opportunities (full reservoirs they are dumping water out of right now to make room for next year's runoff) , plenty of rodeos, plenty of horses around the town, still some ranching just outside of town... more the further out you go. Lots happening entertainment wise, but nothing compared to Las Vegas. VA Medical Center in town. Plenty of other medical access for you and your wife. Indian casino or Jackpot, NV about three hours away. Maybe in a few years, a mega Indian casino in Mountain Home, ID about 45 minutes away. $100 round trip flights from Boise to Las Vegas. I know you say you don't care about the weather, but it is more hospitable in Boise vs. Las Vegas most of the year.