[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by Oregondunes

the half drained lake is located at about the 1500 ft elevation mark. HUGE douglas firs, fairly thin air and crystal clear (as clear as melted snow water can be) water. The town of Detroit has about 200 full time residents and during the summer weekends it climbs to 2500-4000

My little brother lived in Eugene for about 18 mos while he followed his job and said he loved it out there. Unfortunately? his wife was from Oklahoma and has strong family ties so that's where they ended up. Everywhere has its plus/minus issues.... it all depends on what appeals to you.

[Oregondunes]

I was born and raised in Eugene. Went to the UofO, so Im a duck born and bread.

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by Andy b

Of course you are right mikey, the grass is always greener over the fence.
Although Heathrow and Gatwick airports are both toilets! In my opinion…
Like you I have travelled a fair bit, in fact I spent a month in Australia last year with a view to emigrating.
I live in a nice part of the UK, I’m in the New Forest just outside of Southampton on the south coast. Just a small woods compared to your national parks…
The problem with over here apart from always being told what you can’t do all the time is space! There is none. It’s such a crowded place and getting worse all the time with all the Eastern Europeans (ex-soviet bloc countries) coming over.
I’ve been to the states a few times and enjoyed the sense of freedom you have. The fact that you can drive off into the middle of nowhere and not see another sole for hours, if not days.
I was in Florida a couple of years ago and while Mrs B and my daughter wanted to do the parks I was off looking at boats/fishing and working out house prices….lol
(Oh and I know Florida is not a real representation of the states also been to California, Nevada, Colorado & Michigan)

I haven't been thru Gatwick but i try to avoid Heathrow at all costs. Sometimes though u just dont have a choice. One thing Heathrow does have though is the World of Whiskey store. Sigh...

Oz has been on my bucket list for a while now and one of our members (Dudders) has offered us a place to stay in Perth when we finally go over. Trouble for us is the very long flight time & high cost of the plane ticket.

There are lots of great places to go in the US & Canada. I love the Florida Keys and parts of the Carolinas, I've driven from Denver down thru Las Vegas and then east to Oklahoma City a couple of years ago and loved the drive along parts of old Route 66. I've been to California a couple of times and drove from San Diego up the coast along US1 to San Francisco. I've done the New England trip a couple of times and really liked the Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket and Rhode Island areas. Ii haven't been to New York City yet and would love to do a short trip there for a few days and the same goes for New Orleans. I've driven to the east coast of Canada & stayed there for a month a few years ago and thought P.E.I. would be a great place to retire to and yet i haven't been west of Ontario to date in my own country. So many places to see and so little time & money....

[Andy b]

If you are going to Perth you’re going to need some $$$, it very expensive there.

Beer was $15.00 AU a pint, a 6" sub and coke was $28.00 AU. And eating out for the 3 of us in a pub (not restaurant) was on average $200.00 AU.

Western Australia is so remote from anywhere else that its economy has run away with itself,
my friend who i was staying with is a digger driver in the gold mines and is on $240,000 AU a year. So he don't think it's that bad.....lol

Although it is a wonderful place, it’s spotlessly clean and the fishing was good