[prairiebreeze]

That 'splains it then. There's nothing like living in the heartland. Mr. Prairie and I hope to be able to move out of Crook Co. IL in the next few years, in fact he's looking at Realtor.com listings right now, LOL!

We just aren't there quite yet as daughter is still in college. But hopefully.....soon.....

[sweetliberty]

You might consider this area. The 4-season climate is as near perfect as I've ever seen, it is a beautiful area and the cost of living is relatively low. There is an abundance of lovely and spacious properties and lots and lots of water. Check into the Baxter and Marion county areas. If you get over as far as Boone County, you're into some white supremacist territory. Any farthur to the west, and you're getting into north Mexico. Tyson brings in countless illegals that settle in the Springdale/Fayetteville area. Go too far to the east, and you get into the delta poverty belt (read: liberalland).

We're not too close to any big city, but accessible to one in every direction (2-2 1/2 hours). There is Little Rock to the south, Fayetteville to the west, Memphis to the east and Springfield to the north. I have talked with several people who came here to visit and fell in love with it and stayed...or came back, and a couple of people who ran across it by accident (browsing real estate ads) and decided to check into it and this is where they ended up.

We have our share of dysfunctional people and democrats (is there a difference?), as my other posts are testament to, but I prefer to think of them as local color, rather than public liability. It's pretty homogenous here though, so if you're big on the diversity thing, you would probably not like it. :-)

[sweetliberty]

Check our local paper. Of course, most real estate listings are not in the paper, but it will give you an idea. Besides what's in the classifieds, there's another link at the top of the page that says "Homes." It gives you a couple more area links. The prices here would probably make the average California resident cry.

The Baxter Bulletin

[Lakeshark]

Our small town got around the problem by donating the nativity scene to a private group about twenty years ago, which displays it in the town park (a central feature of the town btw). It is the only scene there, right at the large gazebo. It is beautiful, lit and visited by a lot of families.

as daughter is still in college

We discovered too late that liberal indoctrination is heaviest on young females, plus we weren't aware just how bad it had infilitrated all colleges......FYI