I was born in San Diego in 1951 and grew up there. I loved the weather and the scenic beauty. Got a great education. Bought my first home in Clairemont Mesa in 1978. In 1984 I got the crazy idea to move my family to North Carolina; it turned out we loved it there. We went from a 1/10 acre corner lot to a 1/3 acre lot, with 80-foot trees and a forest in the backyard. After that, I had to move to take various jobs in Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, and Arizona, but I was finally able to retire in Winona, Minnesota, a really nice small college town on the Mississippi River with great scenery and a four-season climate. I'm very happy here. I occasionally visit family in San Diego, but stay near the beach and drive as little as possible to avoid the traffic. I learned from experience that just trying to drive up to La Jolla or down I-805 on a weekday can get you stuck in traffic. San Diego is a great place to visit, and I hope to have my ashes placed in Fort Rosecrans someday, but for me the price of housing and gasoline far outweighs the supposed benefit of perfect weather. I love nature, and have found it's really nice to live in parts of the US where trees grow naturally without having to be watered, and the look of the landscape changes with the seasons.
Wayne | Winona, MN | Report Abuse