I woke up yesterday and didn’t really have anything to do, so I figured I’d take a drive up to the mountains while I still can. Driving up to Estes on a Thursday is definitely the way to go. Traffic was virtually non-existent and the roads were completely dry and clear.
Coming back from Estes (Glen Haven Road)
During the summer months these roads get so packed with people (tourist season) that it takes a lot of the flow away from the driving experience. The road has long sweeping turns that keep you engaged the whole way up. The Big Thompson Canyon is a road I have been on virtually my whole life. When I was a kid the family would take trips up. When I started to drive it was a common destination. It is a drastic departure from the mundane straight highways that are on the flat plains of Colorado and it is only about an hour away from Greeley!
Countryside in Estes (around 8,100ft)
When we move to Rincon I am either going to list my Corvette for sale, or store it away. I am not sure yet. I thought about shipping it, but it just doesn’t make much sense in PR. It has stayed rust free living it’s life in low humidity and salt free air. I think it could get destroyed in fairly short order if it were to live in PR with us…lol.
In any case it is nice to have a fun classic car that is V8 powered with a 4 speed to climb up hills effortlessly. My Honda doesn’t do nearly as well. It doesn’t use nearly as much gas either! It is more about the smiles per gallon.
Car at Stop
Hi Cassie – Have you been following the NPR Morning show about Puerto Rico? http://www.npr.org/2013/02/07/171071473/-don-t-give-up-on-us-puerto-ricans-wrestle-with-high-crime
Hey Pat,what ae you trying to do? you want to scare Cassie?NPR shows the dark side of PR.IT don’t show the positive side like its people,specially the soldiers on todays war on terrorI have faith the i will see greener pastures in near future in PR
It was something I didn’t know about PR. It’s always good to know pros & cons when making a major life decision. Something that Cassie & Britton always do. Just wondering her thoughts since I’m sure she has already researched this. Being new “gringos” to the area might make them targets. But they’ve already made their decision. Have been working towards it for years. In less than a year they’ll be there. So I doubt this will scare them away. Instead they will use this information to make themselves aware & safer.
Hi Pat,
Yes, we recently heard some of the NPR series and they really don’t affect our decision. From what we know of Puerto Rico, we felt it was a little sensationalistic and somewhat culturally ignorant.
There are a lot of factors at play. For one thing, it is very true that unemployment is very high and so those who want to work and move up the social and employment ladder often move stateside. However, unlike stateside a huge number of people in Puerto Rico own their homes free and clear -something that stateside is often an expense that comes in at about 40% of income. If you own your home outright and have a little under-the-table, creative income, you could do just fine there. I think it is mainly the younger generation who has been more influenced American culture who are moving stateside to follow that work-work-work path.
This issue of employment on the island affected our decision somewhat because we knew we would have to plan to move without traditional “jobs”. But we are good with that. Rincon has a keen entrepreneurial spirit and we are looking forward to all the non-traditional opportunities that will crop up. We will have our Colorado rentals as backup and 4 acres with 2 houses there to work with. That’s a pretty good head start, at least we hope!
As for crime, we have not personally experienced it, but it seems to be mainly centered around the San Juan metropolis. We will be living 2 hours away from the capital in a sleepy little surf town.
Reinaldo,
Don’t worry. Pat is a friend and not trying to scare me; I appreciate that she mentioned the NPR series. There are a lot of challenges that Puerto Rico faces, but you are absolutely right in that there are many, many positives too. And that’s what we are so excited to see -the whole picture.