Bill and I had three main reasons for picking the Lake Chapala
area as our retirement destination of choice. We wanted…
- A
temperate climate
- A
lower cost of living
- To
leave the rat race
We had both worked since we were 16, and we were just tired
of it. I thought Bill would want to retire to Florida
(where he lived previously) or Phoenix
(where his daughter lived). We were both tired of Kansas City winters
and never wanted to
shovel snow again. I knew if he chose either of those places, he would
be
saying ‘bye’ to me in his rear-view mirror. I just couldn’t take the
heat or
the humidity. And, I didn’t want to have to live the rest of my life
inside in
air conditioning. I could do that in Kansas
City.
When he brought up the idea of Lake Chapala,
I seized upon it and started doing extensive research. Anyone who has
read any
of my blogs or articles knows I’m an information junkie, and I love the
Internet, so it was a no-brainer for me to look at what I was getting
myself into!
So many web sites, so much time: First I read, “Lake Chapala is Rated
by National Geographic as the 2nd Best Climate in the World ... The
semi-tropical climate in Lake Chapala, Mexico is probably the first
major attraction to the area. This pre-colonial village in Western
Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains makes for unparalleled living in a
quaint Mexican village with all the services and amenities of lovely
Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, only about 30 minutes away.”
So far, so good!
I found out that being nestled in the Sierra
Madre mountains was a huge factor in the temperate weather. Lake Chapala
is surrounded by protective mountains and the effect of the lake water
moderates the temperature. The mountains are also the reason we have no
fierce weather such as tornadoes, violent winds, ice storms, and
definitely no snow! I had always said my whole life that I did not want
to live any further north than Kansas City, Missouri. I had no idea what
I was putting out to the universe! Thank you! Especially with the wild
weather Kansas City has had the last two winters with two years in a row
of at least 35 inches of snow.