The Search Begins

Seems like I spend a part of every day going online and searching real estate all across the country. I look for existing homes (new and older) as well as land from one coast to the other trying to find the perfect "fit" for our retirement home... from Virginia to Vermont to Minnesota and to California. As of today, we're focusing on California but 5 years is still a long time and plans can always change.
So, where in California? What can we afford? What do we want to spend? What do we get for the money? What about the average daily temperatures--between the mountains, the valley, the ocean, or way up north in CA?
Then there's our girls...Sara's moving to San Diego soon and Holly and family are an hour north of Los Angeles. What are their plans down the road? Who knows. So, it's up to Mark and I to pursue an area where we would be happy to live in. These are the areas we're currently researching: San Luis Obispo, Lompoc, El Dorado Hills, Placerville, Catheys Valley, Mariposa, Sacramento. I'll write about what I'm finding in a future blog.