A Fond Goodbye to the IL Region!

[SmoknTires]

Emailed, but forgot to make a post to all the IL region gang who may visit our forums. As the new year begins, we find our place in a new home - in AZ. After a long road, this has been my final year as IL president. This departure goes even deeper for Kristina and I as we're also physically moving out of state to Arizona. Lots of wonderful things happening and on the horizon for us, but it's bitter sweet since we have to say goodbye to the IL Region club completely.

As we shift into a much easier gear in our work and social life, the ironic thing is that we would have loved to take advantage of the club now as regular "members"! I envisioned my last day as President being much more joyous than this. With all the work we've invested and responsibilities over the years, I’d love to shout “good luck with all that!” as I pin the peddle, but I instead leave with much more sadness as we also separate from the PEOPLE we’ve shared experiences with over so many years. As much as my wife and I are very excited for the future, leaving isn’t as easy as I wanted it to be. This club is truly a "once in a lifetime" situation. I've been part of the club since I was 19 (yes I still have all my badges starting from the first year!). We have so many best friends and acquaintances we would have never had if it wasn't for the club. There have been so many memories we've created, many tied to some really interesting events and activities we've been privileged to attend. The club has changed our life profoundly.

I want to thank all the new officers who stepped up to fill various roles. I wish your new President, Rob Buckman, the best on leading the club. Eric Ludewig will also be replacing Kristina as Secretary. I know you're in competent hands with the new officers. The fun will indeed continue.

This is a good group, there's none other like it. Cherish it and protect it! Take care of yourselves and take the time to enjoy every part of those memories, and keep the levity going! Reflecting back, it's the thing I'll miss most, I never laughed so hard as the times I was with this group. So with that thought in mind – if you do glimpse a freshly laid set of wide tire tracks with a car leaving Illinois at an obscenely high velocity – you’ll know it was me… and if you listen closely you might just hear me saying - “Good luck with ALL THAT”!!! ;.)

Take care my friends! I'm sure we will see each other again!

[BlknBlu]

Big shoes to fill. Arizona should be nice

Bruce

[Rocket]

Nice? AZ is AMAZING! Been here for 4 months after moving out of Iowa and have loved every minute!

Welcome to AZ Alex - you are going to absolutely love ALL of the drives in the Viper!


Big shoes to fill. Arizona should be nice

Bruce

[Stretch]

Good luck with the new adventure!

[XSnake]

Good luck and enjoy all the warm weather!

[SmoknTires]

Holy cow, can't tell you how much we love it down here. Last 2-3 months been focused on getting the house settled but have taken a number of road trips. We're having a ball and the weather is perfection. We've always loved AZ and figured why not enjoy it all the time, feels like we're on perpetual vacation. And yes the roads... longer, less congested, and smoooooth! Tipped 150 a few times last weekend. Loving it!

[Martyb]

Where are you at in AZ Alex? We have a home in Chandler, I drive my 01 GTS every single day when I am there, unless it rains. We simply love it out there.

Marty

[SmoknTires]

We're in Anthem, just north of scottsdale/phoenix. Don't want to rub it in to my friends in IL (hasn't stopped me before though) but the roads are insanely smooth and scenery is amazing. We take a lot of road trips, added 2500 to the viper in just a few months of exploring (and that includes many trips in other cars). Absolutely loving it. Best of all, no potholes or klip-klopping on the highways.

When you're out, ping us. In the viper today as a matter of fact.

[Martyb]

Certainly will! I drove my car out there two years ago from Chicago, what a trip! I have put about 12,000 miles on it since, and yes the roads are great.

Enjoy!

[01sapphirebob]

I so need to move to AZ. My wif eand I have a plan to move out there. She wants to go like tomorrow. lol Scottsdale area is where I was thinking. I have to live in a place where the snakes can be driven year round.

[SmoknTires]

Do it as soon as you can. That's all I'll say about it. ;.) Wish we did it sooner, and glad we didn't decide to wait any longer.

Love it. Scottsdale is a big place, runs the entire length of phoenix, it all depends on where you choose, lots of places in Scottsdale aren't great. We picked the northern area due to the landscape, mountains, and newer neighborhoods. Surrounded by mountains. Also 5-8 degrees cooler.

People tend to enjoy life more. And as for the heat, it's in no way as bad as people think. 110 here is like 90-95 in Chicago. It doesn't get in the way of much, not like 6 months of winter... And the weather is fairly predictable and stable. And yes, perfect driving 12 months out of the year.

[01sapphirebob]

What makes those parts of Scottsdale not great. Bad neighborhoods? General appearence of the neighborhoods?

[SmoknTires]

Yep, both. There's lots of areas in Scottsdale that have homes in the millions and they're surrounded by sub $100K homes and trailer parks. Definitely more bad then good, but LOTS of places I'm sure you wouldn't want be. Age is another factor, older areas don't necessarily have the "mystique" of age lending them a different beauty. Because "old" doesn't really go that far back, it just looks more like a place that needs renovating. Congestion also changes in various areas. You won't have anywhere near the congestion of Chicago and other cities, but there are wider-open places you may like better.

[01sapphirebob]

Yep, both. There's lots of areas in Scottsdale that have homes in the millions and they're surrounded by sub $100K homes and trailer parks. Definitely more bad then good, but LOTS of places I'm sure you wouldn't want be. Age is another factor, older areas don't necessarily have the "mystique" of age lending them a different beauty. Because "old" doesn't really go that far back, it just looks more like a place that needs renovating. Congestion also changes in various areas. You won't have anywhere near the congestion of Chicago and other cities, but there are wider-open places you may like better.

Gotcha. I look at houses every so often and prices arent too bad for what you get. Found a nice one last night actually. :)

[SmoknTires]

That's a whole different story. We didn't initially decide on AZ for cost savings but real estate taxes are insanely cheap. I used to pay $16K/year in the suburbs of Chicago for a house slightly larger than 4,000 sq ft. In AZ the same size house with pool and insane view... $2,400... That was a shock.

I will say however that I learned there's just as much of a shock when it comes to the taxes on license plate renewals - however it goes the other way. I've never been a stickler on auto registration, Chicago vanity plates were $120. I was told it was expensive, I figured 2X, maybe 3. Well, I was off. For just a few cars it costs thousands (each year). That was surprising (it's based on the cost and age of your car). Now I know where all those nice roads come from. ;.)

[01sapphirebob]

That hurts. :( ok so...one downside to living in AZ. :)

Thats pretty cool on the property taxes. I think thats close to what i pay now.

[SmoknTires]

There's no show stopper. Of the things that are the worst things:

* Car taxes
* Heat - but isn't that big of a deal. It's more of an inconvenience. I'll take 5 months of heat over 1 month of snow and cold any day (and I don't have to shovel sunshine). The hottest 115 degree day feels like 90-95 with humidity in Chicago. The humidity makes a BIG impact, it really does. When you're in the shade in a 105 degree day, feels like 85 in the Midwest.
* It's the sun that can be dangerous, you can't simply be outside with no shirt working in the yard and expect not to die... On really hot days the sun can heat up the plastic on your car to the point that is can burn you. However putting on a windshield screen takes care of all of that (and tinting windows - which everyone seems to do).
* Dangerous critters. While you don't seem them often (especially in the city), but there's more that can kill you here than the midwest. Scorpions are overstated. They can't kill you, it's actually like a painful bee sting. It's rattlesnakes and things like that which you have to be careful of. Of course I'm talking to those who go out hiking in the desert. We've seen a few.


The benefits outweigh it all - by far. Even little things like the lack of mosquitoes and flying insects, makes it wonderful. I fall asleep on the pool float staring at the sky - because of the temps and no bugs. In Chicago I couldn't bbq a steak after 7pm without being attacked by mosquitos. Drove me nuts, could never sit outside at night with friends. People out here, LIVE outside. They seem to spend more money on the outside of their house (backyard) than in them. That outdoor activity also raises the old vitamin D due to the sun, so your immune system is stronger - and yeah hardly anyone coughing and hacking at you for 6 months during the cold spell. Could go on forever on the big stuff, but it's the little stuff that ended up being near surprises. And yes, we see blue skies. We'd get 10 of those a year in Chicago. I didn't think the color of the sky would be such a big deal, but wow, what a difference it makes to see that beautiful of a dark blue sky.

But the only thing we miss are friends. We didn't really feel homesick and actually don't lack people/places to keep us busy. But it's the TYPE of friends you leave that make it tougher, I like the old gang, it'll take time to develop that. Luckily we have frequent house guests from the Midwest to get us over the hump. ;.)

Our neighbors all said the biggest regret they had is not doing it sooner (they're in their 50's and 60's). We share that regret even being as young as we are. We always felt it may be too far, too hot, leaving friends, leaving family, seemed selfish, etc... But life is what you make it, and the excuses do get in the way of realizing the real benefits. This ended up being better than we expected. OF course not for everyone, but I can't see many complaining.

And yes, I'm going to become part of their visitors bureau!

[01sapphirebob]

There's no show stopper. Of the things that are the worst things:

* Car taxes
* Heat - but isn't that big of a deal. It's more of an inconvenience. I'll take 5 months of heat over 1 month of snow and cold any day (and I don't have to shovel sunshine). The hottest 115 degree day feels like 90-95 with humidity in Chicago. The humidity makes a BIG impact, it really does. When you're in the shade in a 105 degree day, feels like 85 in the Midwest.
* It's the sun that can be dangerous, you can't simply be outside with no shirt working in the yard and expect not to die... On really hot days the sun can heat up the plastic on your car to the point that is can burn you. However putting on a windshield screen takes care of all of that (and tinting windows - which everyone seems to do).
* Dangerous critters. While you don't seem them often (especially in the city), but there's more that can kill you here than the midwest. Scorpions are overstated. They can't kill you, it's actually like a painful bee sting. It's rattlesnakes and things like that which you have to be careful of. Of course I'm talking to those who go out hiking in the desert. We've seen a few.


The benefits outweigh it all - by far. Even little things like the lack of mosquitoes and flying insects, makes it wonderful. I fall asleep on the pool float staring at the sky - because of the temps and no bugs. In Chicago I couldn't bbq a steak after 7pm without being attacked by mosquitos. Drove me nuts, could never sit outside at night with friends. People out here, LIVE outside. They seem to spend more money on the outside of their house (backyard) than in them. That outdoor activity also raises the old vitamin D due to the sun, so your immune system is stronger - and yeah hardly anyone coughing and hacking at you for 6 months during the cold spell. Could go on forever on the big stuff, but it's the little stuff that ended up being near surprises. And yes, we see blue skies. We'd get 10 of those a year in Chicago. I didn't think the color of the sky would be such a big deal, but wow, what a difference it makes to see that beautiful of a dark blue sky.

But the only thing we miss are friends. We didn't really feel homesick and actually don't lack people/places to keep us busy. But it's the TYPE of friends you leave that make it tougher, I like the old gang, it'll take time to develop that. Luckily we have frequent house guests from the Midwest to get us over the hump. ;.)

Our neighbors all said the biggest regret they had is not doing it sooner (they're in their 50's and 60's). We share that regret even being as young as we are. We always felt it may be too far, too hot, leaving friends, leaving family, seemed selfish, etc... But life is what you make it, and the excuses do get in the way of realizing the real benefits. This ended up being better than we expected. OF course not for everyone, but I can't see many complaining.

And yes, I'm going to become part of their visitors bureau!

Ha! You'd do quite well working for them! :)

Friends is a big factor for us BUT the bigger factor right now is my kids. While they are young and dont have solid friends yet the bigger issue I Struggle with is the grandparents. I struggle with taking my kids away from them. That would be the harder part. At least for me.

[LeadfootRT10]

How did i miss this post....until just now! And you haven't come out to any events yet, are you not getting the mass emails?

[SmoknTires]

Getting there my friend. Will happen, can't wait. Just been busy moving our household, bought my mom a condo and moved her, bought a couple other properties, and finishing up some items tied to my business. Throw a lot of travel in there as we wanted to get caught up on some fun and also learn the area - and 6 months flies by.

[webby]

I missed this too. Thanks for all you did in Illinois, Alex!

[docwviper]

You are missed in Illinois Alex. I'm glad you are having a good time!