Snow in Smith River:

[SmithRiverPond]

Snow in Smith River, CA, is very unusual, but I woke up to the strange white stuff on the ground this morning. I believe leaving the pump running in my pond kept it from freezing. Goldfish are probably happy!

 

[j.w]

You got the white stuff too! It's funny to see that snow there and then look at the one picture way off by itself on the rt and you can see what looks like a Fuchsia blooming at the very bottom of the photo B)

 

[SmithRiverPond]

Imagine my surprise when I opened my blinds this morning and saw that white stuff. Yes, that is a fuchsia in bloom. My rhododendrons are also blooming. I love living on the coast, among the redwoods and all the beauty we have here. My husband and I moved here from San Diego three years ago.

 

[j.w]

How hot does it get there in the summer? We are always on the lookout for a nice place to retire. I suppose the cost of living is high down there and property costs also. What is it that made you want to move there and what are the things you like best? Hope you don't mind my asking all the questions. I did a search and found this site and photo's of Smith River are beautiful and close to the ocean also. Looks like good fishing and fun camping and hiking: http://www.smithrivercalifornia.com/open.html

 

[SmithRiverPond]

I don't mind answering questions and telling our story. My grandmother lived in Fort Dick (4 miles south of where I live now) when I was a child, so I was familiar with the area. We wanted to get away from the summer heat in San Diego, as well as all the people and traffic, so we looked along the coast up to Southern Washington. When Jeff saw the redwoods he fell in love with this area. Our average summer high is 65, average winter high is 55, with lows averaging about 10 degrees less. Of course, there are days we get warmer and colder, such as today. It is now 39, but that is not the average. We hit the high 80's one day last summer.

This is a great place to retire if you aren't a big shopper. We have a Fred Meyer in Brookings, OR, and a Wal Mart in Crescent City, CA (we are right in the middle of the two. I can see the ocean from my living room. We're about 3 miles from it, elevated about 125 feet, with nothing between us except Easter Lily fields and the Smith River. The nearest "big" shopping is 2 hours away in Medford, OR, or Eureka, CA.

The fishing is great here. The Smith River is the largest river in California without a dam and is well know to fishermen for steelhead and salmon. We are also big for dungeness crab in Crescent City and Brookings. We have elk that come into our front yard to eat the apples.

What do I like best about the area?..... Everything. The only part I dislike is that my daughter and granddaughters are in Southern California and I don't get to see them as often as when I lived down there.

If you ever make down here to our little slice of heaven, let me know. Would love to show you around.

Snow is almost all melted!

 

[sissy]

we have not even gotten a dusting yet and love that , I don't want snow .Rather have warm weather like we are getting .But funny to see how people who never got snow react to the white stuff

 

[j.w]

Thanks for the info SRP..........hope you don't mind if I cut your forum name short. Sounds like a nice place to live w/ mild temps. Do you get lots of sun even tho your temps are low? And what about rain...........we get so much up here that I wouldn't want to move somewhere w/ too much of it. Had enough to last me til forever! My sis lives in Jacksonville, Ore. not far from Medford where I know there is a Winco, Costco etc. I think it must be hotter in the summer and colder in the winter up there where she is.
Must be really pretty to view lily fields when they are all in bloom. Next time that happens you should show us a picture here. Oh was gonna ask you if property taxes are really high down there? Pretty high up here. Wondering if housing prices down there have gone way down like everywhere else. It'd be nice to be able to buy now when prices are down and keep this home and sell when or if the prices ever go up. But that's kinda hard to do when you need the money to buy the new home. Anyways thanks for letting me know about your area. Would be really nice to live close to my sis but w/o her high/low temps!

 

[SmithRiverPond]

SRP is fine. My name is Susan, so that works, too. We are in a rain forest, so do get a lot of rain.... 2010 - 106", 2011 - 76", measured in our back yard. That's why it's so beautiful and green here. I really don't mind the rain, since I don't need to be out in it all the time. There is sunshine even when the temps are low... unless it's raining. It has been very sunny all day today and the temp has been in the mid 40's.

Property taxes in California are 1% of value, which is way down right now, as are home prices. Our cost of living isn't as high in Del Norte County as in Southern California.

Brookings, Oregon is just north of us, and their property tax structure is different from ours. Brookings gets a little warmer than Smith River, but not as hot as inland. And they have no sales tax. I do most of my shopping in Oregon.

 

[j.w]

That's what I was afraid of Susan about the rain. We have beautiful green up here also and of course it's cuz we get so much rain. We've thought of moving to Oregon but like you said their tax is done differently up there and will have to confer w/ my sis on how it exactly works. Would love to live somewhere w/ more warmth and dry than up here but no colder in the winter than here either. Hard to find such a place w/o getting too hot in the summer and I don't care for the humidity of the east or south. I'll have to check into Brookings and see what that area is like. Thanks again Susan.

 

[Jennywren]

Sounds like you live in a lovely area, Susan. The temperature range is very good for easy living....if I can remember F correctly...

Like the pond.

 

[SmithRiverPond]

Yes, Jennywren, it is beautiful, much like Eastern Australia. My husband and I spent two weeks in May 2005 In Lismore. It was gorgeous. Didn't make it to the west.