RFI: Moving to the Mountains of NC/VA

[mtnbkr]

Oh, I have two specific questions. First, the majority of houses we are looking at do not have air conditioning; just heating. I am assuming really hot days are few? Down here, A/C is a must have. Any comments on the lack of A/C?

Second, are termites a concern in NC/VA/TN? Was wondering since a lot of what we are looking at has log cabin construction.

Termites haven't been an issue in my experience, but I'd still take precautions.
AC is a requirement unless you're at significant elevation AND have a house surrounded by trees. Even then, I would personally find it uncomfortable. Across VA it's not uncommon to have 100deg swings in a year (ie 0deg in winter to 100+ in the summer). Mid June through Mid Sept, you'll want AC. I've even seen days above 70deg in November in the mountains. When we moved to SW VA in the late 80s, the real estate agent tried to tell us AC wasn't required even though we were house shopping in the summer and it was hot and humid at the time.

Chris

[blues]

Tensaw, I don't think I could be comfortable here without AC and I'm glad I have it.

My good friend and neighbor, who was born and raised here (and an Appalachian State grad) doesn't have it in his home and he doesn't feel he needs it. (He grows much of his own food and was the former plant manager of the last large industrial concern in the area, so it's not that he couldn't afford it. Just a lifestyle choice.)

We've never had an issue with termites though I do have a Terminix contract. A month or two back my wife came running in off the deck with the dog as a huge swarm of termites was helicoptering by out of the woods.

I had the Terminix guy out as a precaution. Though most continued flitting along on their way, enough landed on the deck and grounds (and died) that I wasn't going to take a chance.

The cost of living in western NC is very reasonable imho. Property tax, insurance etc are much cheaper than where I've lived before. Temper this with the knowledge that I've lived in NYC and South FL previously.

[farscott]

Another option is northeast Alabama or northwest Georgia. It is much less humid than the coast and has some decent hills with great views. The nearest university towns with decent medical and social would be Huntsville, AL, Knoxville, TN, and Rome, GA.

[RJ]

Bump with a few questions. Mrs. RJ and I have made the decision to retire (for good this time) 1 May. We did the whole RV thing, but this summer, to escape the heat in Tampa in August, we might just travel. We are contemplating a long-term (perhaps AirBnB) stay in the western NC mountains. Specifically The Boss has located some properties in Banner Elk.

I've had a look at the area online, and we've actually been up in that region in 2018 (family reunion in Boone) briefly, and have quite positive memories. Anyone local know if there are any good USPSA options? Local Clubs? How about indoor or outdoor ranges?

I did a search on uspsa.org and located this club in Asheville:

http://www.ashevillepracticalshooting.com/

For an indoor range, this popped up, but appears to be over in Hampton TN:

http://www.barnettsguns.com/

Any local info appreciated.

[TGS]

@TC215

[TC215]

I’ve not been to Barnett’s, but I’ve heard good things about it. I called up there once and they seemed like real nice guys.

Hampton is a very small, rural area, but it’s not a very long long drive from Banner Elk.

[BN]

There used to be a good IDPA club in Boone. They held several state matches. We went one time. It was well run.

[wadavis]

Great IDPA in Boone and Wilkesboro.
Nice people.

[MD7305]

Barnett's is a pretty nice shop. They have a good selection of merchandise, staff is helpful, and the indoor range is nice. They do require you to use their ammo on the range. This is due to their previous range getting burnt to the ground after some guy was shooting tracers. Prices are kinda high, in my opinion.
There's also the Watauga Gun Club in Boone, NC and Unaka Gun Club in Johnson City, TN. There are other clubs in the area but those are the closest that I know of.
I'm in Bristol, TN if you have any questions about that area. Goodluck finding a place.

[Tensaw]

Huh. I guess I never posted an update to this thread. Well, as a small PSA to RJ et. al., Here’s what I got.

So, almost exactly a year ago, we pulled the trigger on a place in SW Virginia located about 30 minutes west of the town of Independence. Found a place with some acreage comprised of wide open pasture (that used to be an apple orchard many years ago), some wooded hills, and most importantly to my wife, a legit creek. The area is fairly isolated. I can see a few other houses in the distance if I get in the right place, but they are a pretty good ways over yonder.

Upthread, someone said that most PFers would mesh best in SW VA or the Shenandoah Valley area. Well, so far, that has been correct. I have very much had good experiences with the other humans I’ve interacted with - even in the big city of Blacksburg. This has been an especially gratifying aspect of the whole experience. I’m sure I will come across an a-hole before it is over with, but as it presently sits, I am pretty stoked about the values held by those around me there. I had concerns about fitting in with the locals, but so far, they have been nothing but fantastic.

The climate aspect has been...interesting. For sure, we accomplished the goal of fleeing the heat and humidity. It is still pretty chilly there in the morning and evenings. Last summer - probably July or August, I had been running the mower in the middle of the day, full sun, and realized I wasn’t really sweating very much at all. It was very pleasant even in the full sun. This house has no AC. There was about one week where, during the evenings having AC would have made sleep more comfortable. Heh, the locals bitched all summer about it being an unusually hot summer. To me, it felt like a dream. There is a window unit in the great room, so if we have that issue again, we might just sleep down there until it cools off. The fuel oil heater (a Monitor brand) took a dump when I went to fire it up this winter. I will need to repair or replace it. Parts are tough to come by though. We replaced a propane heater (faux wood stove) with a Jotul 600. This thing tore the wallet off my be-hind, but has totally been worth it. The 600, located in the far end of the 2,500 sf house, easily heats 2/3rds of the downstairs and almost all of the upstairs. That thing was a lifesaver this winter. So, getting back to the climate - it has been great. It takes some adjusting to get used to the cold/cool - but that is what we were shooting for. I will say that I was up there in January during a cold snap. I was in the shop working on some project and was wearing both nitrile gloves and leather work gloves for warmth, but I had to stop a couple of time and go inside so I could get some feeling back in my fingers. It was *cold*! All that said, we love sitting on the porch drinking coffee in the morning, and also sitting there at sundown. It is pretty nice.

Last week, a line of storms came through and apparently dumped a ton of rain on some mountains somewhere. My wife (who is there avoiding the covid at present) took the dogs out before daylight. She could hear a roar, but didn’t know exactly what it was. Yeah, that was the creek out of the banks ripping through the driveway and front yard. Locals have commented that this was a 100-year flood event. I sure hope so. We lost 30 feet of yard where the creek makes a hard 90 (or gained 30 feet of creek depending on how you want to look at it).

Speaking of covid, this county continues to have zero confirmed cases of covid-19. An older couple up the hill from us, came in from Virginia Beach to ride the covid thing out as well. So there’s that. Of course, the nearest decent hospital is easily an hour away with mountain roads between us and it.

Also mentioned upthread is the notion that NOVA drives the politics in VA. So, I knew that going into this - but I will admit I did not see the whole gun control thing coming. That has been the one blemish on the whole move. And it is not insignificant. That said, I have been heartened by the response of my fellow Virginians and at least with respect to that, feel validated in that I at least gauged all that correctly. I have adopted the position that one can only hide from these sorts of politics for so long and so I am not going to let that sour me. I will probably end up being more politically involved than I would like to be in retirement, but whatever. I will note for the record that my county Sheriff, *The* Sheriff, went to the Richmond rally, in uniform, marched in the street, with a sign, and was interviewed on TV. During the interview, he basically told Northam to stick his legislation where the sun don’t shine. Let’s just say I am looking for an opportunity to shake his hand and he definitely has my vote.

One thing I was surprised to observe in the year or so of looking for a place is how much each state has a pretty distinct vibe, or gestalt. NC is different from VA which is different from W. VA. Now that I have the place in VA, I frequently drive through NC when traveling to/from my current residence. The other (arguably more direct) route is through TN. (The trip down I-80/75 in TN is pretty consistently a shit show.) Driving through each state only further cements the whole vibe thing. VA is just a better fit for us (no offense NC/Blues).

It’s still early, but I am liking the call we made. I’m still living full time in coastal Alabama. I have longer than I would like between now and retirement, but I got to work to pay off the place in VA. Currently, I live vicariously through my ARLO cameras on the property (it a pretty great system) and I go to VA as often as I can tolerate the drive. I am super-stoked to be edging toward being able to live there full time.

So there it is guys. SW Virginia for the win!