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Question for those with land in cold, wintry area

PKM said:
Some very good suggestions here already. One that Moe mentioned was spend a little time there to be sure it's the place.. there are obviously a LOT of options.

Some additional thoughts that are more peripheral to your original questions;

- Cost to get there. Transportation. There would be nothing better than to have a place your new little girl (and possibly other kids?) will want to come visit and spend holidays with mom and dad. One consideration that is often overlooked, if the economic reality of your kids getting married and having kids. Major let down to have years of fond memories of your kid(s) in a home and then realize that them flying into a small airport and paying a premium makes things too difficult for 4 or 5 people to do.

- Proximity to where your full time residence is and ease/expense of getting there to enjoy/maintain/improve your little getaway. (see above)

- Pipes are easily overcome, yards, etc.. too. I would spend more time concerning yourself with location, how much you and MsSerp can use it, and is it realistic for it to become a family legacy type home.

My way of thinking is to keep it simple.. it's about family bonding and not about frills.. but we have to get there fairly easily.

I commend you, though.. your heart is obviously in the right place.
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Excellent advice. I personally believe that location is the most important part of the decision along with cost of course. I've thought about getting a second place but I would rather go to different places so I try to rent a house instead of staying in a hotel.
 
We bought into Trendwest which became Worldmark which I think since has changed hands again, about 8 or 9 years ago when our kids were on the verge of their teens and it has been one of the best purchases we have ever made. We bought it with part of the proceeds of a house we sold so we bought it outright, and we bought at the right time and got a great deal on it. We have enough credits to get 2 weeks a year or a few weekends scattered throughout the year, although mostly we have used it for a solid week or 10 day vacation each year. You can also save a year's worth of credits and borrow credits from the next year to do something wild or longer term (like Hawaii or stay a month in San Diego or go to Mexico, whatever). This was also a great purchase after I got laid off because it gave us a way on very limited funds to still get away with our family for a few days to help disperse the stress a little.

We also let our family and friends use it. For example I was able to book out several resorts to help my brother-in-law and my sister get comfortably to Texas when his son (living with his ex-wife) committed suicide, so they didn't have to worry about accommodation at all.

Two of our favorite resorts are Vegas (right at the south end of the strip, has a couple pools, several hot tubs and a lazy river, gorgeous resort) and St. George (usually go there for Tuacahn). My parents travel often with us and it has made for some fantastic memories over the years. We have mostly gone to California from San Diego to Disneyland to the wine country in the north and San Francisco.

One of the best trips we had was when GPS's in cars was still relatively new and we broke in our new GPS by getting lost off the freeway to the northwest of the Golden Gate bridge. Found and experienced things we will never forget and probably wouldn't have seen any other way. We also wandered around the city and found some of the best italian food I have ever had when we stumbled on a small restaurant in the middle of a residential part of San Francisco where we found out they were having a wedding celebration for the owner's grandson, and they just invited us in even though they had closed off the restaurant for the event, made us feel like family, and the food was incredible. That was a good 6 or 7 years ago and we all still talk about that vacation and how close it brought our family together.

I wouldn't trade that membership in Trendwest for anything. Except maybe for a lot of money. And a blonde eastern european goddess.
 
PKM said:
I understand what you're saying, but im talking financially. I am very tight with my daughter and grandkids.. but she lives across the country and now has three kids of her own. For her, even just traveling to St. GEORGE is very hard when it's paying for 5 flights. Thats what im referring to when you buy a home that requires travel into a small/expensive airport/flight (s).
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My example wouldn't require that though. Six hours is not bad at all. And it would save the family thousands of dollars compared to flying.
 
QuinSnydersHair said:
My example wouldn't require that though. Six hours is not bad at all. And it would save the family thousands of dollars compared to flying.
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In terms of flying I think we have come full circle. There was a time, way back when, when only those with real money could afford to fly, then airfare prices came down to the point where flying was a viable alternative to driving in many cases, but now the prices have been climbing so much that again we are at a point where businesses or people with means or only people with a real need can fly anymore. I flew my parents from Utah to Reno to go through the temple with my daughter when she went through for the first time and all I can say is thank the heavens that we had enough frequent flyer miles to get them here essentially for free. A direct round trip ticket through Delta was $800, and any other airline was $200 less for at least one, and most often 2 stops. From Salt Lake City to Reno, a 1 1/2 hour flight max. Granted it was a bit shorter notice (we had 3 weeks notice), but even if we went out say 3 to 6 months it wasn't much less. And that with totally no frills now. Crazy.
 
LogGrad98 said:
In terms of flying I think we have come full circle. There was a time, way back when, when only those with real money could afford to fly, then airfare prices came down to the point where flying was a viable alternative to driving in many cases, but now the prices have been climbing so much that again we are at a point where businesses or people with means or only people with a real need can fly anymore. I flew my parents from Utah to Reno to go through the temple with my daughter when she went through for the first time and all I can say is thank the heavens that we had enough frequent flyer miles to get them here essentially for free. A direct round trip ticket through Delta was $800, and any other airline was $200 less for at least one, and most often 2 stops. From Salt Lake City to Reno, a 1 1/2 hour flight max. Granted it was a bit shorter notice (we had 3 weeks notice), but even if we went out say 3 to 6 months it wasn't much less. And that with totally no frills now. Crazy.
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Yep.

We've driven twice to the Outer Banks and once to Savannah in the last five years...each about 8-11 hour drives, including stops...not God awful...6-7 would seem just fine for me.
 
franklin said:
Traveling with kids is no longer as bad as those 70's movies made it out. We've taken our kids to San Diego several times over the last three years. We did it with a 1 month old infant this summer. Nevada-Cali state line is about 6 hours, and we make a stop or two like you said. The key is loading movies and games onto electronics. Make 'em wait about 45 minutes, then give 'em a two hour movie and you've cut half their boredom out.
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I'm torn on this. I don't want my kids camped out in front of a tv all day. So I sort of like the idea of not having them use any electronic devices (until they're older and get cells) on a trip. I'd like it to be bonding time where we play games. We use to play the license plate game to see how many different license plates you could spot. I think one time we got 47 going out to Ohio. I'm not sure how realistic that is but I'll stand strong on that 'til MsSerp loses her **** on me. But like I said earlier, most likely I would get them up around 2-3am and begin driving and they would (hopefully) be sleeping anyway for the first 3-5 hours. Then, we could start playing the license plate game or...dammit...maybe watch a movie the last couple hours. Well, them, not me.
 
QuinSnydersHair said:
Yep. We also own a Marriott Vacation Time Share which allows us to go to any Marriott Vacation Club property anywhere in the world as well as other Marriotts or hotels that will take on said points in some way like I know Ritz-Carlton does. This doesn't limit us to just one location like old time shares used to and it also forces us to take vacations which is nice. It's basically a car payment (440 or so I think) for 10 years and then we own the deed. When we die, the beneficiary gets the deed/time share just like any normal property. The value isn't there now but seven years from now when it's paid off (other then the annual administrative fee), it'll be worth it I think.
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We bought Disney Vacation points some years ago / similar program. We'd bank and borrow points and go to Disney World every 3 years or so. Not really an investment but very cost effective and gets you much nicer accommodations at a better price than regular hotel costs. Disney has a nice resort in SC on Hilton Head Island that we've been going to every year now for the past 3-4 years. In fact we just bought more points. It hasn't quite worked for us to do the "family vacations" anymore due to varying schedules and so forth, but that's part of the goal.
 
QuinSnydersHair said:
I'm torn on this. I don't want my kids camped out in front of a tv all day. So I sort of like the idea of not having them use any electronic devices (until they're older and get cells) on a trip. I'd like it to be bonding time where we play games. We use to play the license plate game to see how many different license plates you could spot. I think one time we got 47 going out to Ohio. I'm not sure how realistic that is but I'll stand strong on that 'til MsSerp loses her **** on me. But like I said earlier, most likely I would get them up around 2-3am and begin driving and they would (hopefully) be sleeping anyway for the first 3-5 hours. Then, we could start playing the license plate game or...dammit...maybe watch a movie the last couple hours. Well, them, not me.
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Make them read books. That's what I always did.

I'm also a nerd though.
 
I wanna just get property on a nice lake and put a mobile home on it.

Nothing fancy, just something simple, I don't want/need to build a fancy house to get away. Little mobile home for the older people, and enough space for everybody else to park their campers. Fishing, boating, jet skiing, campfires…that's the good stuff mane. And don't eliminate going their in the winter either, you have ice fishing and possibly snowmobiling…plus there's nothing like cozying up to a fire when you're surrounded by snow.

Do it Serp…although idk about Maine. Not my cup of tea, but if you enjoy it, then go for it. I would definitely try to vacation in the area before you buy, just to make sure that you do like it.
 
QuinSnydersHair said:
I'm torn on this. I don't want my kids camped out in front of a tv all day. So I sort of like the idea of not having them use any electronic devices (until they're older and get cells) on a trip. I'd like it to be bonding time where we play games. We use to play the license plate game to see how many different license plates you could spot. I think one time we got 47 going out to Ohio. I'm not sure how realistic that is but I'll stand strong on that 'til MsSerp loses her **** on me.
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We would do several 300-450 mile car trips with our kids each year and managed without electronics. We'd play "I Spy" - Buzz - various alphabet games, sing-along tapes - or they'd sleep or read. Until the last couple years, the cottage we rent in Michigan had no TV or Internet and inside activities were cards, board games and puzzles - just like when I was a kid.
 
Also, while everyone is different and there's no way to predict your children's personalities, I think in general kids tend to be pretty social creatures and while the idea of something isolated might appeal to you for a month at a time, your kids may end up wishing for playmates. Once they're older you can always bring along a friend, but that's not so easy when they're younger (under 10).
 
Kinda sorta half way seriously looking at for sure maybe getting this car when it comes out in 2022 probly...

Cool-Concept-Cars-20116.jpg


Only thing I'm tryin to figure out now is how many MPG of plutonium this thing gets and if UGLI Jr will be able to drive this thing off to college cuz not sure if the whole roof door thing is practical for fitting all his dorm stuff in and also it's just a two seater so looking for input from people who have had 2 seaters cuz I've typically been a 4/5 seater dude but I feel like this car provides good value while still being sporty and fun. Thinking also maybe just save up for individual jetpacks for me and the fam (UGLI Jr won't start flying his solo til he's at least 14 obvi)

#WhatDoIdo????
 
UGLI baby said:
Kinda sorta half way seriously looking at for sure maybe getting this car when it comes out in 2022 probly...

Cool-Concept-Cars-20116.jpg


Only thing I'm tryin to figure out now is how many MPG of plutonium this thing gets and if UGLI Jr will be able to drive this thing off to college cuz not sure if the whole roof door thing is practical for fitting all his dorm stuff in and also it's just a two seater so looking for input from people who have had 2 seaters cuz I've typically been a 4/5 seater dude but I feel like this car provides good value while still being sporty and fun. Thinking also maybe just save up for individual jetpacks for me and the fam (UGLI Jr won't start flying his solo til he's at least 14 obvi)

#WhatDoIdo????
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Biff!!!!!
 
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