I don't mean to crow about it, but we wouldn't want to live anyplace else than where we are now. It's 70 outside right now, all the windows are open and I am wearing shorts. It was 30 this morning. Our evevation is 5200'.
We have seasons, they're just a little different than most places have.
The spring is usually very dry and windy. June is hot, but we seldom reach 100 and it always cools off at night (we get by w/o AC, if we remember to close the windows in the morning). The rains (about 15") usually show up in July and cool things. We get some cool thunderstorms over the summer until it starts to dry out again in October. We average another 5'' of rain throughout the rest of the year.
Most the snowbird come here for the warm winters, but the monsoon season is really the nicest time of the year, when everything turns green.
Our winters usually have a few dustings of snow, but it is gone by afternoon. We heat with wood and burn less than a cord per year. Morning lows may be down in the single didgits, but your water trough is ice free by dusk. You will see the sun 350 days a year. People in Tucson, (about 70 miles NW of us) think we live in the coldest area in S.E. Arizona, but it is the place a lot of them come to hunt, fish and camp out. Most folks in the rest of the world think we live in the typical SW desert: cactus, sand and really really hot. The area reminds me more of the northern California area arond Red Bluff and Redding.
We grew up in the Pacific NW. The constant sunshine here is easy to get used to. We get grumpy these days when the sun is behind clouds for more than a day. I have yet to see a foggy day in the 6 years we have lived here.
Ok, it's not all perfect. We have killer bees, tarantulas, scorpions (the kind that will kill you) and 6 different varities of rattlesnakes. Mosquitos are not to bad most months. Flies will get out of control, if you don't take some preventitive measures.
Most every other plant has spines, stickers or is toxic. I still haven't figured out what plant zone we are it. We just make sure whatever we plant is good to -10. Peach trees do very well. Roses grow like weeds.
Sales tax is a little high at 7.8%. Electricity is 11 cents to 15 cents a KWH, depending on the demand. Property taxes seem reasonable, compared to what we were paying in Oregon on much less value. Fire season (Feb ~ June) can be a little harry. When fires get going around here, the usually burn up acreage measured in the thousands of acres and take out the power lines, making it tough to pump water without a generator. Wells are hit and miss with volume and depth. We are 60 GPM @ 220', the neighbor has 12 GPM @ 280'. Some others are over 450'.
Here is what it looks like today.
Here is August.
Winter and 7 degrees.
Hope you find what you are looking for.
