Copper Mountain, Dillon and Frisco

So even though he gave up a 6-figure salary, a big house and luxury cars, he made the best out of a horrible situation.

Not sure where we were really, in relation to all we could be seeing, doing, eating and drinking, we left the itinerary up to our local guides.

 

Dillon:  Part One

An excerpt from Book Four in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Rocky Mountain State.

Recall author David Petersen’s interview about leaving Laguna Beach, California for the higher quality-of-life he found between Pagosa Springs and Durango, Colorado.

It wasn’t the magic of living off the grid that he wrote about in “On the Wild Edge.

It was more about self-reliance than self-sufficiency.

I find self-sufficiency an impossible dream in this modern world.

You can’t get away from it entirely, and frankly, there’s a lot of good stuff there that you don’t want to get away from.

The important thing, no matter where you live, is for a self-directed life, a recognition that by choosing simplicity in whatever ways you can, you reduce your reliance on materialism.

But, over time what he feared about Durango’s development came true.

The big houses, the Humvees, the SUVs, all of that is just the same here and in a way, people are really conspicuous consumers here in the country just like in the city.

In the shorter term, Finnmark would have quite a few “Landed Gentry” towns to choose from.

The first one is the same one we first discussed that connects Parker, Colorado with Austin and Lake Arrowhead.

It shares the neighborhood profile with another famous springs – Steamboat Springs in Colorado, as well. Look, there are connections to some of the better Colorado ski resorts – Breckenridge, Snowmass and Beaver Creek.

He (and you) could consider like-minded resort towns outside of Colorado.

In Utah, look what pops up – Park City and Deer Valley.

Even Sun Valley in Idaho and Incline Village in Nevada.

In each you’d be happy to find others like you:

Ages 35 to 45 and 45 to 64  – these are the knowledge worker profiles — well-educated executives, professionals, and technical white-collar workers.

They prefer to live away from the city.

Most families have more than one income.

So, they’re affluent and enjoy spending money on an active, outdoor recreational lifestyle, and on remodeling their homes – or at least reading about it or watching the cable channels devoted to the homeowner.

Colorado Regions

Where did Finnmark imagine living next, all things being equal?

If he moved he’d probably look in other exurb areas north, northwest and west of Denver.

How did they end up in Dillon?

Parker isn’t that far from the mountains.

Remember, mountains pulled them away from their Chicago suburb.

And, Dillon is in the mountains, duh!

And, for Finnmark a part of his Norwegian DNA probably drove him, right?

Things change.

As a couple, both of them were still relatively happy, until …

Finnmark lost his job like so many others.

In the local Denver job market, the telecom industry resembled a roller coaster of ups and downs.

Working in marketing and business development and product development, like in human resources, meant you weren’t critical to the success of the business.

If you have to cut back, start in those functions.

And, once you’ve turned 50 years old, as we’ve already acknowledged, it’s hard to compete with the “lower priced spread.”

Those eager, techno savvy Millennials.

If the roller coaster finally starts to climb out of its bottom depths.

But when one door closes …

Another door opens.

Though it may be hidden.

He volunteered, networked, and searched for jobs during the week.

But, on the weekends he began doing what he loved.

Teaching others how to ski at Copper Mountain Resort.

He found a job in the medical imaging technologies industry that lasted for about six years.

But didn’t quit doing what he loved on the weekend.

Finnmark wasn’t alone.

Later, when we profile Northstar in Lake Tahoe you’ll discover a 100-day bucket list story.

A 38-year-old landed a host position for the 2009 – 2010 winter season.

Stationed strategically on the mountain, he helped visitors figure out where they wanted to go and how to get there.

It was something he always wanted to do.

Ski the entire season at one of the premier resorts.

Plus he got to ski for free.

And, as it turned out he could do it, because of all the free time he had.

Unfortunately, it was due to the bankruptcy of his real estate business he had built over eight years.

He shared a three bedroom apartment with other roommates to make ends meet.

So even though he gave up a 6-figure salary, a big house and luxury cars, he made the best out of a horrible situation.

Luckily, for Finnmark, his Copper Mountain Resort position lasted more than one season.

He didn’t face such a dire situation.

And he was doing something he always wanted to do.

His ski instructing job gave him stability, when his new job of six years came to an end during the 2012 – 2013 ski season.

But, the long commute between Copper and Parker on certain weekends, similar to the Southern California traffic, got to him.

It could take him a couple of hours or as many as seven in the I-70 winter season congestion  triggered by tourist drivers out of their element and snow-driven accidents.

No one likes Monday mornings.

But, to kick off the work week after one of those commutes?

It’s enough to drain the passion right out of doing what you love to do.

His solution?

Buy a condo and stay for the weekends.

And choose a different day to travel, since Monday morning was no longer a work requirement.

As a couple with no children to complicate matters, they began to wonder.

What’s keeping them from relocating to where they want to really, really live?

They revisited the same process that led from Chicago to Parker.

  • What if?
  • Could they?
  • Should they?
  • Neither one worked for bosses they could respect any longer.
  • So why not?
  • But, how long would it take to sell their Parker home?
  • What about the timing?
  • Maybe not at the peak of the real estate market, but …

And, they felt a major problem might be how steep their driveway was for those frequently icy days and nights.

No problem.

Everything happened faster than they expected.

  • Their new owners told them they should have seen the driveway leading up to their last home.
  • Finnmark’s was child’s play in comparison.
  • Then things became real.
  • The pace quickened.
  • They had to step up their house buying process and pick a neighborhood near enough to Copper Mountain.
  • The clock ticked down to the deadline for moving everything out of Parker so the new owners could take possession.

But to where?

On scouting trips, they stayed in their condo.

Two of Parker’s Wireless Resorter lifestyle profiles, 05F1T1 and more specifically to them, 11Y1T1 match several of Summit County’s Monied ‘Burbs.

Premier Resorts – WRPR

05F1T1 Country Squires 45+ Baby Boomer, Families, Accumulated Wealth, Landed Gentry

And …

Maturing Resorts – WRMR

11Y1T1 God’s Country, 20-44, Couples, Midlife Success, Landed Gentry

Those two, it turns out, matched nicely what they cherished in Parker to what they found  in Summit County – friendly neighbors welcoming them with open arms.

Both profiles show up together in Frisco, and as we’ll see later, in resort towns on the banks surrounding Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada.

Finnmark’s closest lifestyle, 11Y1T1, populates neighborhoods in

They chose Dillon.

With the built up equity from sale of their home they were able to take advantage of local real estate market.

For all intents and purposes, they retired early while doing what they love.

With a rental and long-time renter at Copper Mountain providing a cash flow.

A few days a week in a helping out in a Frisco boutique.

Winter ski instructing.

Summer seasonal temp work – festival and event security – and some construction work.

They earn time off for good behavior while paying their bills without depleting their longterm investments.

That was then.

This was now.

The next day, we dropped off our rental at the local Enterprise office in Silverthorne.

Who knew?

For the first time in rental car history the price of gas per gallon offered by Enterprise turned out to be significantly cheaper than what we could see along the way to Dillon and during our local tour of the mountain communities.

I know!

With that out-of-the-way, and the long drive fading into memory, we were eager to vacate.

We had only one question on our minds, how much can you squeeze in, into one day?

Not sure where we were really, in relation to all we could be seeing, doing, eating and drinking, we left the itinerary up to our local guides.

So, there’s this little restaurant we both love in downtown Breckenridge, so let’s start there.

We like to eat.

He’s driving.

Why not?

Steps:

(8) Sit down with your spouse, partner or friends and write-up your bucket list of places.

(20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play?  Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?

(21) Spend the time to find the best places to live and invest. It will be worth your while. The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life. 

Dillon

“What would you do if you had ten years to live and $10 million in the bank?” and “Where Would You Live, Anywhere On The Planet?”

Two what we now describe as “Wireless Resorters” – Premier Resorts and Maturing Resorts – called Parker home.

 

An excerpt from Book Four in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Rocky Mountain State.

When Siri told us we had arrived our host, Finnmark, waved down to us from his slightly worn natural-colored wooden deck.  

He leaned over his dark green metal railing as we pulled into his driveway and greeted us. 

From behind him we could see the smoke from his grill drifting up into the cooling dusk night-time sky.

When he called inside, his two large poodles scampered out.  

He climbed down his entrance way steps to quickly help us bring in our suitcases and ran back to his deck barbecue to flip the chicken one more time.

And then in minutes we sat at his kitchen table which probably was set much earlier than the time we arrived.  

We visited, settled into our room and then hit the bed early since we were clearly worn out from our drive. 

For the next few days we would enjoy our own base camp for hiking, touring, visiting, eating and drinking at the best of what Summit County would offer.

  • Dillon.
  • Frisco.
  • Breckenridge.
  • Loveland Pass.
  • Shrine Mountain Ridge.
  • The Continental Divide.
  • Keystone Resort.
  • Copper Mountain Resort.
  • Vail Resort.

And, discover what the attraction was to our hosts when they followed their dreams.

For the second time.

Colorado Regions

A decade earlier we visited them when they called Parker, Colorado, their home, an exurb Southeast of Denver.

They went out of their way to show us the off-the-beaten-path experiences no tourist would find in and around Denver.

How did they end up in Parker?

From Southern California, by way of Chicago. 

As a couple, they inspired me to write this “Guide for Leaving California.”

Both of them missed the outdoors, sports and mountain living – hiking, backpacking, and skiing. 

Both  grew up nearer the Pacific Ocean.

Both frequented the local mountains and the Sierra Nevada’s – Mammoth Mountain.

Finnmark worked summers near Tom’s place, where we’ll visit later following the Birds-of-a-Feather (BOFs) resort bucket list itineraries in California.

Rock Creek and Little Lakes Valley to be more exact. 

After the move out west again, everything they loved was in driving distance. 

Except the ocean, of course.

Finnmark told me it was the congestion.  

How all of Southern California became overdeveloped.

It forced him entertain second thoughts about returning to California, when he realized Illinois just didn’t suit him any more.

And what was wrong with the Windy City? 

The Great Lake comes close to being an ocean.

For a Southern California boy, it was the fact that he had to wear long underwear under his suit during the first winter there.

It wasn’t the cold so, much, he told me – Denver gets cold, but the humid cold of Chicago was something else. 

And no access to “real” mountains gnawed at them.

He told me it hit him when he waited to cross a downtown street at a pedestrian cross walk. 

A big SUV came barreling through the intersection, hit a puddle and drowned him with gray slush.

That slush broke the camel’s back! 

All the little things just added up into a general recognition of dissatisfaction for them.

They both had jobs.

They owned a home.

But, they recognized if they didn’t act the opportunity to move might just slip slide away.

He and his wife sat down that weekend – at a little resort hotel they both enjoyed — and answered two questions: 

“What would you do if you had ten years to live and $10 million in the bank?” and 

“Where Would You Live, Anywhere On The Planet?”

They listed their passions and their dissatisfactions. 

When they combined and prioritized their two lists into one common one they discovered they were in synch on the vast majority of their “Musts” and “Wants.”

So they transferred their jobs to a better quality of life location?

That was the hard part. 

They tried.

But, in the end they took a leap of faith.

They took a big risk. 

They gambled that they could both find jobs to support their lifestyle in a climate and geographical location where they’d be happy.

But, it was a calculated risk. 

  • They did their homework and tapped into their “Birds of a Feather” – tribal connections, if you will — ahead of time.
  • They knitted together a small group of like-minded people for the sole purpose of trading inside information and referrals.
  • They needed inside sources of business intelligence and introductions to make the best life decision they could.
  • And, they took several scouting trips – some on business trips, some on vacations to confirm what they had researched. 

They double-checked advice they had received from family, friends and new acquaintances they met along the way.

They set up their own “outpost” by renting outside of the Denver urban area while they explored where they wanted to live. 

As it turned out, Finnmark managed to finagle a position with his Chicago-based company by opening an office for them in Denver.

Shortly after arriving his wife landed her job.

In the same industry and function, with the flexibility to work from her home office since she conducted audits “in the field.”

In fact, like a farmer you could say she was outstanding in her field.

Look, I didn’t say you would, but you (I) could.

Point?

She earned an outstanding reputation recognized by her new employer.

And in a few months both began living their version of the “Colorado Dream” lifestyle in a beautiful home in Parker. 

Over a decade ago we profiled Finnmark in “The Journal of 2020 Foresight.”

On our chart it is in the upper right hand corner at the intersection of “Doing What You Love in Current Geographical Location.” 

We visited some of these neighborhoods in Parker, Colorado to which our friend moved from an exclusive Chicago suburb. 

They don’t have to live in congested, urban areas so you find like-minded residents in the elite suburbs. 

Statistically, these neighborhoods house a high concentration of the wealthiest in the United States. 

If you are familiar with the Southern California – you’d find them in … 

  • La Jolla, 
  • Torrey Pines, and 
  • Escondido (San Diego County) and 
  • Newport Coast, 
  • Newport Beach, 
  • Corona del Mar, 
  • Huntington Beach, 
  • Irvine and 
  • Mission Viejo (Orange County).

Not all of Parker’s neighborhood lifestyle profiles grouped together within the elite suburbs.  

Two what we now describe as “Wireless Resorters” – Premier Resorts and Maturing Resorts – called Parker home.

Here’s how we described the broad grouping and then two lifestyle segments – Country Squires and God’s Country –  in the “Journal of 2020 Foresight.”

And Landed Gentry?

They’re the fourth most affluent with multiple incomes from executive, professional and technology-related knowledge workers. 

They prefer to live in the exurbs – beyond the suburbs and dense urban areas.

And the Country Squires and God’s Country?

Both yearn to escape urban stress and prefer to live away from the city. 

Country Squires have been called “big bucks in the boondocks” by Claritas. 

God’s Country neighborhoods apply their dual incomes to support an active, outdoor lifestyle.

Slowly neighborhoods change.

You can see the fit that Finnmark and his wife found when they first moved to Parker many years ago. But over time, what once was exurban now becomes suburban, and almost urban as communities mature.

If they had to do it over again, they might check out Parker’s 2025 Master Plan to decide if there was as much fit as they had anticipated.

Here’s a kernel of an idea that grew over time. 

It evolved.

When the opportunity presented itself, it burst to the forefront of Finnmark’s planning.

In the long term Finnmark said he wouldn’t mind living off the grid – becoming more self-sufficient like in the Lone Eagle scenarios. 

We now call the Lone Eagle scenarios – High Country Eagles.  

And, in many of the mountain resort communities you’ll find them living farther away from the towns in Rural Cowboy ranches, farms and other sparsely populated rivers, lakes and open land.

Steps:

8) Sit down with your spouse, partner or friends and write-up your bucket list of places.

20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play?  Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?

21) Spend the time to find the best place to live and invest. It will be worth your while. The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life. 

Itineraries

“It is obvious that you are a young, smart-a– who probably moved from LA to Mammoth, couldn’t afford to live there and ended up here.” “I was born here. You’re obviously a hypocrite.”

Winter Season
Itineraries:  11 resort towns in 3 travel regions in California; 14 resort towns in 3 travel regions in Colorado

Changing Regions for Changing Reasons during Changing Seasons.

Let’s help you put together a travel itinerary.

Summer Outdoors

Your goal is to plan two vacations, one for opposite seasons – winter and summer.

In the regions of your top bucket list destinations.

To sample the good, bad and ugly community factors.

With the help of our knowledge bank, you can choose for variations in your new neighborhood by:

But to zero in on the best place for you you’ll have to visit and schedule time to explore potential new homes in a region.

For our “quality-of-life purposes” we can help you plan two mountain itineraries —

  • one for the Rocky Mountain Region and
  • one for the Sierra Nevada Mountain Region.

Whitefish, you’ll recall is located in Northwestern Montana in the Glacier Country Travel Region within the Rocky Mountain Region of Western United States.

Best of Whitefish, Montana

Phew!

You’d like it for all of those quality-of-life outdoor activities like

  • skiing and snowboarding in the winter, and
  • road and mountain biking, hiking, camping, kayaking, horseback riding, and whitewater rafting in the summer.

That means, of course, to build your own bucket list, you should focus on the four-state region Rocky Mountain Region which includes

Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

So from the common (Premier Resorts –WRPR 09M1T1 and Rustic Eagles –HCERE 58M4T4) and the lifestyle-specific lists we’re eliminating some states.

The first to go is Arizona, followed by parts of California and Nevada, and New Mexico and Utah.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

But, first you may enjoy our “Best West Road Trips – Route 66” which traces the “Mother Road” from

the Texas Panhandle Region through New Mexico, Arizona and

ends up on the Santa Monica Pier in California.

Oh, and if you’re planning to move your lifestyle business from Whitefish to an artist colony, you may want to keep

Bisbee, 85603 and Jerome (Prescott), 86305 in Arizona and

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 on your list.

Jerome (Prescott), 86305 in the Northern Arizona travel region was once a notorious “Wild West” town, a hotbed of prostitution, gambling, and vice — “the wickedest town in the West”.

Today Jerome is known as an art destination, with more than 30 galleries and working studios.

Bisbee, 85603, on the other hand, is in the Eastern Arizona travel region known for high desert lands, Wild West history galore and small towns near the border.

Art Galleries

“Bisbee offers some of the best art galleries together with highly Zagat-rated restaurants and brewpubs. 

Main Street’s antique shops and galleries are surrounded with examples of Victorian architecture.”

In our “Best West Road Trips – Route 66” magazine profiling the North Central travel region of New Mexico  you may enjoy discovering all that Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 has to offer you as one of the

Santa Fe, New Mexico Art Scene

“world’s top destinations for its long history of artists (especially Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz) , musicians and fine dining.”

Oh, and before we dismiss Montana, if Dudley and Arthur and the long-term locals, Charles and his brother relocated as part of the Rustic Eagles –HCERE 58M4T4 migration, it’s entirely possible that they would prefer Red Lodge (Billings), 59068.

You’ll recall that they fell victim to astronomical tax valuations based on the skyrocketing land values that had turned much of western Montana into a real estate gold mine over the previous 10 to 15 years.

So if they took some of their friends advice, “Your sitting on a couple million dollars; why don’t you sell it?’ they might have capitalized on a hidden opportunity.

Most other Montanans got relatively small property tax increases in the same year — some, in declining areas like eastern Montana, actually saw their tax bills go down.

And, not only is Red Lodge still in Montana it is on the eastern side of the Continental Divide roughly an eight hour drive southeast of Whitefish.

Like Whitefish, Red Lodge offers many outdoor recreation opportunities: skiing, mountain biking, and backpacking.

Red Lodge in Montana

In April it is host to a popular triathlon called the Peaks to Prairie.

Red Lodge’s population increases from about 1,200 people in the winter to over 1,800 people during the summer tourist season, arriving via the Beartooth Highway.

Pretty much just like Whitefish in the good old days before the celebrities, sports stars and CEOs made neighboring Flathead Lake their playground.

With sometimes as much driving time and distances to cover as from Whitefish to Red Lodge and with only a week or two vacation time to spend, we recommend organizing your itinerary by travel regions.

In the Rocky Mountain Regions, Colorado is often considered the gateway to the Rockies.  Within Colorado tourism areas are broken down into:

Colorado Regions

Denver Area

Eastern Plains

Front Range

Northwestern Colorado

South Central Colorado

Southwestern Colorado

In California the travel regions vary greatly, ranging from forested northern coastal regions to the rugged interior mountains to the harsh southern desert.

“Outside California’s major cities one finds some of North America’s most rugged national parks, incredible skiing/snowboarding opportunities, and quiet and ancient northern forests including the highest mountain peak in the contiguous states, Mt. Whitney.”

California’s 10 travel regions are broken down into:

Goin’ Coastal on PCH

Southern California

Desert

Central Coast

San Joaquin Valley

Sacramento Valley

Sierra Nevada

Gold Country

Bay Area

North Coast

Shasta Cascades

If you’re interested in the Desert and part of the Southern California region, you may enjoy the “California Regions” edition of “Best West Road Trips – Route 66

“California Regions – the last leg of your journey. From the desert and the mountains to the sea. Ending In Santa Monica at the Pier. It’s all there if you dare!”

If you’re fascinated by the beach towns and breath-taking scenery along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), then you might enjoy, “Best West Road Trips – Goin’ Coastal,” an itinerary.

Iconic Hotel Del Coronado

It that takes you from

the historic beach Hotel del Coronado in San Diego

through South Coast beach towns to

the laid back Central Coast,

the Bay Area and finally  to the North Coast before continuing into

Oregon and Washington.

California – birds-of-a-feather (BOF) towns sorted by regions.

Southern California – Idyllwild, 92549; Del Mar, 92014; Escondido, 92026; Julian, 92036; Lake Arrowhead, 92352 and Malibu, 90265

Bay Area – Mendocino, 95460; Healdsburg, 95448; La Honda, 94020; Napa, 94558 and St. Helena, 94574

Sierra Nevada – Truckee, 96161, 96162; Lone Pine, 93545; Oakhurst, 93644; North Fork, 93643; Bishop, 93514; Squaw Valley, 96146; Tahoe City, 96145; and Truckee, 96161

Central Coast – Baywood – Los Osos (San Luis Obispo), 93402; Cambria, 93428; Montecito, 93108; Morro Bay, 93442; Santa Cruz, 95064; Santa Ynez, 93460 and Scotts Valley, 95066

Desert – Indian Wells, 92210; La Quinta, 92253; Palm Desert, 92260 and  Rancho Mirage, 92270

Gold Country (Western Sierra Nevada) –  Murphys, 95247 and Roseville (Granite Bay), 95746

Shasta Cascades – Susanville, 96137

Colorado – birds-of-a-feather (BOF) towns sorted by regions.

Denver Area – Golden, 80401

Front Range – Boulder, 80301; Winter Park, 80482;

Northwestern Colorado – Aspen, 81611; Basalt, 81621; Beaver Creek, 81620; Dillon, 80435; Edwards, 81632; Frisco (Copper Mountain), 80443; Snowmass, 81654; Vail, 81567; and Walden, 80480

Southwestern Colorado –  Crested Butte, 81224; Creede, 81130; Lake City, 81235; and Silverton, 81433

South Central Colorado – Pagosa Springs, 81147

Organizing potential quality-of-life mountain towns into travel regions for the migrating Premier Resorts –WRPR 09M1T1 and Rustic Eagles –HCERE 58M4T4 BOFs eliminates from the Southern California region …

  • Del Mar, 92014,
  • Escondido, 92026, and
  • Malibu, 90265.

We also skipped those towns in California’s Shasta Cascades, Desert, Central Coast and Bay Area Travel Regions.

So, our itinerary in California focuses on  the Western Sierra Nevada – Gold Country and nearby Sierra Nevada travel regions.

In preparation for the Colorado itineraries, we’ve eliminated the Eastern Plains, because no potential towns attracted ex- flocking neighbors.

And, by passing on the Denver Area and Front Range travel regions, we’re concentrating on the potential bucket list towns in the western half of the state, Southwestern, South Central and Northwestern Colorado.

California Itineraries 11 resort towns in 3 travel regions:

Southern California – Idyllwild, 92549; Julian, 92036; and Lake Arrowhead, 92352

Sierra Nevada – Truckee, 96161, 96162; Lone Pine, 93545; Oakhurst, 93644; North Fork, 93643; Bishop, 93514; Squaw Valley, 96146; Tahoe City, 96145; and Truckee, 96161

Gold Country (Western Sierra Nevada) –  Murphys, 95247 and Roseville (Granite Bay), 95746

Colorado Itineraries: 14 resort towns in 3 travel regions:

Northwestern Colorado – Aspen, 81611; Basalt, 81621; Beaver Creek, 81620; Dillon, 80435; Edwards, 81632; Frisco (Copper Mountain), 80443; Snowmass, 81654; Vail, 81567; and Walden, 80480

Southwestern Colorado –  Crested Butte, 81224; Creede, 81130; Lake City, 81235; and Silverton, 81433

South Central Colorado – Pagosa Springs, 81147

So the good news is you (and the migrating BOF from Whitefish, Montana) won’t have to visit all 75 potential communities.

By taking travel region itineraries you can cut the total by 66% and not have to deal with the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

However, since we’ve eliminated most of the Southern California travel region you won’t have a chance to visit one of the three chicken-war battle fields, “Wealthy Influential” Newport Beach.

But the better news is, by traveling the Sierra Nevada regional itinerary,  you’ll (and former  BOF) be able to compare notes during Bishop’s Mule Days Celebration over the Memorial Day holiday at popular Erick Schat’s Bakkerÿ on north Main Street.

Come Early to Skip the Lines

You might run into those “hypocrites” …

“It is obvious that you are a young, smart-a– who probably moved from LA to Mammoth, couldn’t afford to live there and ended up here.” 

“I was born here. You’re obviously a hypocrite.”

And, so it goes.

Steps:

(32) Plan extended seasonal vacations during summer and winter months. Group destination locations together in regional trips to explore what several bucket list towns have to offer in the general vicinity – with only a week or two vacation time to spend, we recommend organizing your itinerary by travel regions.

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.