Considering a Move?

[Dave Siegel]

We have lived in the south west corner of Florida for the last 10 years. WE have two acres of property and a pole barn. (Lots of room for our bus and house and a couple more buses if desired). The land down here is very flat and easy traveling for the bus. (Enough of south West Florida.)

My wife (Jan) has a shot at a teaching position at a University in Rome, Georgia. We know nothing about that area, so I am asking: Can anyone tell use about that part of the country? What would it be like driving, keeping, and storing our bus? How cold does it get there in the winter? Do we need inside storage for the bus during the cold weather?

Thanks for any input.

Dave Siegel

[jjrbus]

I had a bus and no house for several years. But for some unknown reason decided I wanted to mow lawns, kill weeds, repair stuff, be stuck with the same view and worst of all not be able to leave my neighbors behind!!
So I started a search for a good place to live. There are many out there however most places in the southern US, east of the Mississippi and north of I-4 share the same common problem.  Very hot humid summers and cold winters.
I find summers in SW FL unbearable, If I need to do something outside I have to get it done early or in the evening. But then the winters can be wonderful, not so north of I-4.
                                                                                             HTH JIm

[bottomacher]

Rome, as I understand it, is located in a "bowl" and has a tendency to become very hot and very cold, according to the locals. On the other hand, I know one individual who loves it there. It's hilly and crowded up there in any case. You might check with the weather bureau for more accurate weather records and look at Google maps for an idea of the terrain. FWIW

[JackConrad]

Dave,
   Maybe this site will help with weather/temperature information  http://www.city-data.com/city/Rome-Georgia.html  Just 1 question, what will SW Florida do without a tooth fairy?  LOL   Jack

[Dave Siegel]

Thanks Jack, maybe that position I was talking about involved the Tooth Fairy teaching other Tooth Fairies? 

[cody]

I think it's warmer than northern michigan, the water temp probably gets above 48F in august but then our water doesn't have slithery things that bite in it, course 7 months of the year you too can walk on our water.  It also has mosquito's like we do but ours wear long underware but ours don't carry much for diseases like malaria or potato famine.  We purify our yards for most of the year by covering them in a nice white blanket about 6ft thick or so.  In the beginning there was nuffin, so on the first day God created the UP, on the second day God created the partridge, the deer the bear, the fish, and the ducks,  on the third day he said, 'let there be Yoopers to roam the UP',  on the fourth day he created the other world down below and on the fifth day he said let there be Trolls to live in the world down below.  On the sixth day he created the Mackinaw Bridge so the trolls would have a way to get to heaven, God saw that it was good so on the seventh day he went fishing.

[DaveG]

Cody, that is the first thing that came to my mind...cold, in Georgia?

[Songman]

Rome is about 30 minutes southwest of my hometown of Dalton, GA. In my opinion, there is no more beautiful place in the country. Of course, you have to like rivers. lakes, and mountains to appreciate the scenery. Rome itself is not mountainous but it is just at the bottom of the Cumberland Plateau, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and you have all the mountains of North Georgia on the horizon. The Oostanaula and the Etowah Rivers meet at Rome to form the Coosa River which flows into Lake Weiss 30 miles away.

The average temps in Northeast Georgia are around 85-90 for the summer and 35-40 for the winter. You might see a few days above or below those but it is not common. It is humid. Average humidity is between 80 and 90 percent year round. (After 8 years in CA, I still prefer 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity to 110 degrees and 50 percent humidity!)

The population of Rome is still around 40,000 so if you are crowded it is because you want to be. There is plenty of beautiful land there and not a big population. You have Atlanta and Chattanooga both close enough to call them convenient if you want something from the city but if you are like me, you can find all you need right there at home without having to deal with those crowds.

You might be able to tell that I love my North Georgia home and am homesick being away from it so long and out here in a flat dry desert. I have 35 acres of my old family property just south of Dalton and I will be back there one of these days whenever I can.

Driving the bus would be a little more challenging than driving on straight flat ground but you get all that scenery to enjoy it so for me it is worth it. There are lots of good highways and interstates around Rome that make it convenient to go just about anywhere. I don't think inside storage is a necessity. Most people I know in the area don't store their stuff inside. If you can afford it, I guess it is a bonus no matter where you live. Your bus will get rained on if it is outside and it might even get snowed on once or twice a year... but it will rarely last more than a day or two. It is definitely not like up north where people put their stuff away for the winter and bring it out of hibernation after the thaw! haha...