Anyone else headed to MAINE?

Rangeley is actually about 2.5 hours north of Portland. It's to the west of Bangor. It would be a great place to retire in the lakes and mountains.
 

Myquest - - - - -In case you're wondering about roadside rest areas, on your way to Rangeley, they are fairly plentiful in western Maine. This particular one is alongside the gravel road that takes us to our cottage. We've never had to take advantage of it, but it's comforting to know that it's there.

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OMGosh! Good to know! I had heard that Maine was a little rustic but......hmmmmm.

(Last time I used one of those was in the 1960s.) We're hoping to find a house with indoor plumbing! :cool:
 
Myquest - -call you husband over here where he can see the screen. You've come to the right place if you're looking for a real estate investment here in Maine.

I think that it's ready to move in and once your settled, your husband can get started on any minor improvements that he thinks are necessary.


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The ladder on the roof, allows your guests an unobstructed view of a mountain range, off in the distance. Home Depot and Lowes are about 25 miles distant for needed home supplies. Don't let this mountain view paradise slip away!!!
 
For anyone else considering heading to New England, it was an amazing summer! Houses, in the Portland ME area, came on the market and were immediately under contract! We finally made an offer on one, encouraged by our Realtor, for $26,000K OVER asking price and were still out bid! The next one we offered over the asking price too and were out bid again however, the first buyers fell out so we re-wrote our offer for less and were accepted. We're going to MAINE! Looks like prices are starting to stabilize - even drop a little - for the year so, now is the time to buy!

So, we're flying up on Sunday to actually look at the house before the Monday inspection locks us in. I intend to measure rooms and take lots of photos so we can fly back to Tennessee and decide what we can cull from the herd. Once we close we'll be putting this house on the market so anyone interested in a larger home just north of Chattanooga TN - send me a private message and we can talk. It is the perfect "almost empty nester" home - open concept, live on the main floor with 2 large guest suites upstairs.

Will keep you posted.
 
Congratulations, myquest, and welcome to Maine. I hope you'll be very happy here.

Wild horses could not drag me away from here in May - October, but I have just bought a snowbird nest in the south for the winter months. I have enjoyed plenty of winters in New England, and now it's time for a change for me.
 
We're heading from Maine next Tuesday, Myquest. Not to live but for a fall stay at the cottage in Brownfield. We'll be up there 'til early October. Love the state but have always enjoyed the rural portions more than the more developed areas. I suppose that it's the contrast, for us. We live a couple of hundred miles south of Portland, on the coast in southeastern Massachusetts, on the outskirts of a city of roughly 100,000 people. I think that the town where we vacaton in Maine has more like 1600 residents and it makes for quite a different atmosphere. We are only about 45 minutes from Portland or 20-25 minutes from North Conway, New Hampshire but we rarely travel to either on our vacation stays. Bridgton is our little "center of our universe'' for groceries, shopping, etc., and that's also about 25 minutes from the cottage.

I congratulate you folks on your purchase of a home and think that you will enjoy the State, and if the winters are not to your liking, you can follow the route that we took, for many years, and spent Jan - Mar. in Florida. The best of both worlds. :)
 
It is our plan, to relocate to the Portland area of Maine in about 2 years. Would love to hear from anyone who has retired there or anyone who also is considering cooler climes.

Lets chat and share information!

I would love to go to Maine if you will adopt me. I am from Portland Oregon and the terrain is pretty much the same. If cool is what you are after you will love it. Try to get close to a major river, or the coast. If you like to fish and boat you will be in heaven.
 
I would love to go to Maine if you will adopt me. I am from Portland Oregon and the terrain is pretty much the same. If cool is what you are after you will love it. Try to get close to a major river, or the coast. If you like to fish and boat you will be in heaven.

I am pretty sure that I would choose Oregon anytime over Maine. I haven't actually lived in Oregon; but I lived in Western Washington, and worked all up and down the coast of both states, and my dream place to live would be somewhere near Astoria, Oregon. It has a cooler climate than where I now live, but it does not have all of that snow in the winter that the northern states have, and I have shoveled more snow than a person ever needs to in their life.
Oregon has beautiful lakes, rivers, and is close to the Pacific Ocean, and there are lots of great places for fishing near Astoria as well.
For a while , when I was living in Western Washington, about halfway between Seattle and Portland, near Lake Mayfield, I had one of those pedal boats and I used to take that out on the lake fishing for blueback (Kokanee).
I am in Alabama, so I know what Myquest is saying about not wanting to go out and do anything because of the heat and the humidity in the summer.
 
I am pretty sure that I would choose Oregon anytime over Maine. I haven't actually lived in Oregon; but I lived in Western Washington, and worked all up and down the coast of both states, and my dream place to live would be somewhere near Astoria, Oregon. It has a cooler climate than where I now live, but it does not have all of that snow in the winter that the northern states have, and I have shoveled more snow than a person ever needs to in their life.
Oregon has beautiful lakes, rivers, and is close to the Pacific Ocean, and there are lots of great places for fishing near Astoria as well.
For a while , when I was living in Western Washington, about halfway between Seattle and Portland, near Lake Mayfield, I had one of those pedal boats and I used to take that out on the lake fishing for blueback (Kokanee).
I am in Alabama, so I know what Myquest is saying about not wanting to go out and do anything because of the heat and the humidity in the summer.

Yes, Astoria is nice. We used to fish south of there, lost of coast streams. I have stood shoulder to shoulder with my friend while hooking one silver salmon after another. Once you found a school you were good to get your limit. That was when I was 16 and 17 years old. Not that way any longer. I finally gave up drift fishing because crowds of people started following the fish up stream. I have watched people getting snagged up every other cast. That is when I started catching other types of fish. I really like channel cats and have caught some flat heads. Cat fish, pound for pound are the strongest fish. Plus are great eating. And I was usually by myself on the river.
 
Thanks for all the encouragement! Most of our family is sprinkled up and down the east coast so we opted to stay east of the Rockies. One of our sons and his family are in SC as well as my sister and her family on the GA coast so I figure we have some options for warm days if we get too tired of winter.

We've "met" several people from online sites (some in person) and feel like we have some friends in Maine already. A group of knitters from Ravelry.com hooked us up with our amazing Realtor so reaching out on the internet has been a HUGE help! Anyone else contemplating a move should certainly make use of these tools - it makes it much easier. So, anyone else out there in Maine - I'll let you know once we make the big move - maybe we could all meet up for coffee!
 
Thanks for all the encouragement! Most of our family is sprinkled up and down the east coast so we opted to stay east of the Rockies. One of our sons and his family are in SC as well as my sister and her family on the GA coast so I figure we have some options for warm days if we get too tired of winter.

We've "met" several people from online sites (some in person) and feel like we have some friends in Maine already. A group of knitters from Ravelry.com hooked us up with our amazing Realtor so reaching out on the internet has been a HUGE help! Anyone else contemplating a move should certainly make use of these tools - it makes it much easier. So, anyone else out there in Maine - I'll let you know once we make the big move - maybe we could all meet up for coffee!

Isn't it amazing what the internet can do? In its way it is a collective consciousness. I wonder what might happen if the whole internet was turned to one task. I will bet you there are people who have already started working toward some sort of goal. In any case, have a nice time. I love new adventures.
 
Maine is absolutely awesome! My cousin has a summer place there just outside of Waldoboro. There is a picture of her and I on her dock in my album. I love to visit up there. Of course I've never been there in the winter and if I had I might change my opinion but in the summer it's fantastic!
 
I visited Maine several years ago when I went with my sister-in-law to help her move her daughter who lived in New Hampshire back home to Kentucky. Her daughter took us to Maine first and I loved it. It was so beautiful. I just loved the rugged coastline and all the lighthouses. We shopped in Portland and walked on the cobble stone street. It was October and we were freezing. It was funny because we saw a lot of people who were wearing light jackets and ever some in shorts
 
I visited Maine several years ago when I went with my sister-in-law to help her move her daughter who lived in New Hampshire back home to Kentucky. Her daughter took us to Maine first and I loved it. It was so beautiful. I just loved the rugged coastline and all the lighthouses. We shopped in Portland and walked on the cobble stone street. It was October and we were freezing. It was funny because we saw a lot of people who were wearing light jackets and ever some in shorts

I miss crisp foggy air in the morning just thick enough that there is no sound. I was once in a fog so thick that I could not see beyond my hood. I had a friend walk in front of me so that I kept on the road. That was absolutely spooky.
 
I am pretty sure that I would choose Oregon anytime over Maine. I haven't actually lived in Oregon; but I lived in Western Washington, and worked all up and down the coast of both states, and my dream place to live would be somewhere near Astoria, Oregon. It has a cooler climate than where I now live, but it does not have all of that snow in the winter that the northern states have, and I have shoveled more snow than a person ever needs to in their life.
Oregon has beautiful lakes, rivers, and is close to the Pacific Ocean, and there are lots of great places for fishing near Astoria as well.
For a while , when I was living in Western Washington, about halfway between Seattle and Portland, near Lake Mayfield, I had one of those pedal boats and I used to take that out on the lake fishing for blueback (Kokanee).
I am in Alabama, so I know what Myquest is saying about not wanting to go out and do anything because of the heat and the humidity in the summer.

Oregon coast is beautiful, and probably not as cold in winter, but Maine does not have earthquakes.

O
 
Just an update to say we are a few weeks away from making our move. DH is officially on long term sick leave and Unum (his Long Term Disability Insurer) has said they would walk him through whatever it takes to get SSDI until his full retirement age of 66-1/3. We already purchased our retirement house in a hot market, at the recommendation of our Realtor (Who is fantastic, BTW) and flew up for the inspection to see it for ourselves. I flew up for the closing and am getting ready to drive my car up and do some cleaning & painting ahead of the movers.

The next door neighbors came over and introduced themselves to the Realtor one day, saying they would keep an eye on the empty house until we could get moved. I confirmed their address and wrote them a short, handwritten, note. I received the nicest e-mail from the woman yesterday and cannot wait to meet them! We didn't have that kind of welcome in TN in person! There has been an overwhelming number of offers to help - in any way - and my husband has declared, "we're moving to Heaven!" We already feel so welcome and are so looking forward to becoming a part of village life. We anticipate some winter weather and have books, sewing projects, knitting, movies to watch and stuff to do while the weather is snowy or icy. When its not - there are plenty of places to walk and explore!

Now, to get the TN house listed. Anyone looking for the perfect, spacious "empty nester" place just outside Chattanooga? Private message me!
 
I would not move to any place that is cold in the winter if I had to move again.

However, if I could afford to go to a warm place in the winter, then that would be a different story.

Winters are horrible on old bodies.
 
You folks should be able to do a bit of world traveling, once you get settled in.

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I'd guess you're about 25, 30 miles from Denmark so you could probably visit 6 or 7 "countries" on a leisurely drive some nice spring day. :) I actually hold a library card from the Denmark library so that may make me a semi - citizen of that "country".

How they arrived at the names is a puzzle to me but these are actual towns in the State of Maine!!
 
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I know everyone thinks it will be so very cold there but along the coast it isn't so bad. We've been in TN for the past 11 years and the heat/humidity is killing us! Both of us have north Atlantic heritage so the north and cooler weather suit us just fine. It is beautiful, has fantastic people, much better medical and an incredible creative and innovative community so...we're off!

PS - the state has already formed a group to plan ahead for an influx of people, should the climate change continue. Maybe we'll see you there!
 


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