I spent some time working off and on in Huntsville and liked the people, climate and politics there. I’ve never been to LA (Lower Alabama, not to be confused with the west coast abomination) but I knew some guys that trained at Ft. Rucker when I was getting my wings for rotorcraft. They liked it there, too.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Back around 1965 1nd 1966 I was stationed at Maxwell AFB, Alabama and a little to the south was a town called, “Ozark”. Having been an avid reader of the Sunday comics back in the 50’s. L’il Abner was one of my favorites. L’il Abner was from Ozark (may have been the Ozark Mtns in Arkansas, but that don’t matter). Whenever I heard that name the thought passed through my mind, “Who would ever want to live in a town named Ozark?” It just reminds me of L’il Abner and a place like Hicksville… Well here I am all these years later…living in Ozark! I never planned to retire here, but after a company move to Dothan, Alabama I ended up buying a house in Ozark just a 17 mile commute.

The tax-free stautus I have here is incredible…no property taxes! Ozark is far enough inland not to be affected by hurricanes…but occasionally one will manage to creep up the 100 mile distance from the coast. When Katrina went through I got all of 3 leaves in my swimming pool!
Although I like California, Texas, and Nevada (where all my kids are spread out), I also enjoy the travel to and from these places. Debbie has a yen for Austin (where my youngest daughter resides), but until we both agree on a permanent place we will most likely stay put… We also have that condo on Cape Cod that we spend a few months out of the year… Also, Debbie’s best friend for many years lives in Seattle… So the choice to retire somewhere permanently is always a challenge. Good Luck!

We’re looking into acquiring a travel trailer in the near future. One with a stand-up shower and at least one pop-out. For now, we’re renting, while shopping a place to permanently retire.

Peaceful, indeed, Jim.

We had a 24.5 foot travel trailer about a year ago (a 2000 Coachman). We’ll let me tell ya what happened. I took Debbie (my wife) with me down to Camper’s World and I purchased $28.00 worth of window caulking while Debbie walked the showroom. As I went back to my truck I was about to toss the purchased goods into the back seat when I turned to see Debbie approaching with a big smile on her face. “You can take it back.”, she said…the window caulking, “We just bought a brand new 28 foot Dutchman with a slide out.” Whooo! Dang! That was the most expensive caulking job I ever went after! But oh…Deb says, she liked the large rear picture window… OKaaay

Although we didn’t take it to New England we spent the holidays (Thanksgiving & Christmas) on Cape Cod …you can see what we ran into there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT_jfS_7Nig (We own a condo near Deb’s folks and spend part of the year there)
Next week I’ll be in Vegas visiting my son…till next time keep those pictures coming…
Norm