Vanity: Advice wanted, Delaware vs Virginia

For nearly 35 years I've lived in Montgomery County, MD, about 25 miles outside of DC. It's a beautiful place and in some ways I will always love it, but as most Freepers know, Maryland has been dominated by Democrats and has become almost uninhabitably liberal and expensive. Taxes, regulation, overzealous penetration into one's private life, crime, crowding, and traffic have made life here very difficult for a conservative.

For many years I have told myself that as soon as my children were grown and I was free to do so, I'd sell my suburban house and move to rural central Virginia, where I have some ancestral roots. I could buy a shack on five acres and have chickens and a horse. Its charms need no additional description; to a Marylander, it seems like paradise. I have no kin there anymore but I know the area an suspect I could get a job.

Now the kids really are out the door, and to be honest I have to get out of here ASAP before I get foreclosed on. The house is going on the market next week at a price that should make it sell fast. I need to decide where to go very soon.

Issue: my conservative daughter now lives in southern Delaware. She loves the rural life there and the warm normal attitude of the people. She's urging me strongly to move out there instead of to beautiful VA. We are very close and despite my good physical condition she is concerned about me living alone since I am pushing sixty. She does not want to have to drive 4+ hours to see me or to bring any future grandchildren to see me.

What is the sense of my fellow Freepers on Delaware? I would love to live near my daughter but I know nothing about life in Delaware. I have a Southern lady's sensibilities: I love hunting, trucks, guns, and tools but am a cultured person too, which means I fit in in Virginia, but will this attitude fly in DE? How can a state that elected the Bidens be habitable? Am I right to be concerned about being isolated on the Delmarva in case of a hurricane, SHTF, or other grid-down situation? Does it really smell like chicken crap all summer?

I love hunting, trucks, guns, and tools but am a cultured person too, which means I fit in in Virginia, but will this attitude fly in DE?

DE has very little culture. I don't like DE at all. It's a very boring state. But I can understand the draw of having family nearby.

Hmmm, lesseeee - Delaware does have it's chicken manure... yep, and Virginia has turkey manure around Rockingham County.. After a while, you hardly notice it.

If you believe Delaware's Governor, it is doomsday for us... water is rising, only saving grace would be to invest billions into pinwheels... ooops windmills to reduce carbon dioxide... And don't dare let anyone do anything that would upset Al Gore - make all Southern Delaware into a big park for strolling and watching wildlife (with bicycle lanes of course)

Oh yes, he's one of those New Castle County former duPont snobs - you know the union hack supporters like the ones that thought Biden was so sharp and smart. They've got the big bucks, welfare recipients and university twerps up there supporting them (wish they would stay there) but they outvote us down here. But Richmond and Northern Virginia do it to the rest of that state too.

Now, if we could cut the peninsula off at the C & D Canal, and make it the State of Delmarva, cut off all those nuisance bridges and we would have a really wonderful place! Nice and conservative...

From a 73 year old native, I say there are too many transplants from Jersey, New York and D.C. (which I call Disneyland East) that moved here. But, having kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, I say keep them close... you won't regret it...

My apologies...the picture I posted dropped off.

My 11 YO son and I took a road trip about 2 months ago, driving to Las Vegas via Southern Utah. One of those days was spent canyoneering outside of Zion NP.

The hike in was 2 1/2 miles, and we gained about 1000 feet in elevation. On the way out, we did 5 rappels, ranging from 40-90 feet.

I thought I was in good shape, but the hike in was exhausting. For next year's trip, I'll put some serious time on a stair-stepper.

Apologies in advance should this picture drop:

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