Anywhere? Hawaii, the Big Island, near Kona, but not inexpensive.
Mainland? Hanover, PA, close to Baltimore, weather's decent, although land there probably isn't as cheap as in OK or TX. I spent a few weeks there and have fond memories.
Don't know about TX, but in OK, I'd say NE corner. It's not called Green Country for nothin'. It's never too hot or too cold for long, although we get our extreme ice storms and heat waves. Grove is where we're at, right on Grand Lake, 90 minutes from Tulsa, 45 minutes from Joplin. I should be getting a commission from the Chamber of Commerce for pimpin' Grove.

Pacific Northwest in the "Banana Belt"!!!

Another vote for Grove. Being a military family we have lived and visited many places, and we love it here. All of the places you mentioned have a much harsher climate than we do with the (possible) exception of Tahlequah.

Alabama, Tennessee, or Skiatook, Ok.

Seriously, if you don't have kids schools to think about, and if you want to be just outside a city, I'd pick Skiatook, Collinsville, or Owasso. You can find some really good land on the edge of those communities for $3k/acre, and a lot less of you are willing to get outside of their school districts.

I get sick to my stomach thinking about living near Denton, even though the people are mostly great there.

Ah, a subject near and dear to my heart as we've been going through the narrowing-down process for a year or two now. I think we've got it down to northeast Missouri (from the options we have). We do love it here but will likely be moving for personal reasons and, honestly, I'm rather looking forward to a bit of an easier life as far as gardening, home building, and country life in general. Life down here can be very trying at times and full of extremes -- that has both good and bad aspects to it.

Scott, what's up with Denton? I've never been and you have me curious now...

Diane

We love Missouri, as Diane mentioned, especially where the Burmuda grass doesn't thrive. But along with that comes more cold. One of our daughters is in college in Bolivar, MO; and she always comments about how much milder it is, here in Tahlequah.

Personally, I love right where I'm at. If I could change anything, I'd pull up our ten acres and plug it into a place a little farther out from town, on the end of a less traveled gravel road. But we're not complaining. We have a couple of springs on our place, which feed a pond and a pasture which is the envy of many during a drought year.

Diane is right though, there are challenges. I still shake my head at how much more work it takes to cultivate a garden, and the rapidity with which weeds (Bermuda and Johnson's grass, especially) take over.

The longer we're here, the more we appreciate the people.

George

I wake up screaming Good Morning. My name is Travis by the way. Anywhere in the world? Well, I guess I might have to learn about Kiwi and sheep. The answer is New Zealand.

I grew up on Puget Sound between Seattle and Tacoma. And incredible place. Depressing in the winter though with all the fog and clouds. So cool all summer that nobody had AC. So few bugs that our windows had no screens. The grass was always green because even though it seldom rained between May and Sept, everybody watered their lawns. It's a different story now--40 years later. We were there last summer. Now it is so crowded that there are no woods and fields left for miles up from the sound. Just houses and strip malls and the houses were surrounded by dry lawns because water rationing is the norm now. And it was a record 103 F while we were there although it was a dry heat and got back into the 60's overnight.

DH grew up in Cal and used to want to return. His sister lives in Bishop which is a small town that can't grow because of the limited water available to it. The water that drains off the eastern Sierra that used to irrigate the Owens Valley now goes to fill swimming pools in L. A. But they only get 10-12" of rain a year and it is incredibly expensive to live there.

So even though I hate the summertime humidity here in Adair Co, I wouldn't trade our little piece of it for anything. We go to the garden at 6 am and come to the house before noon to eat and sleep and go back at 6 pm for another hour or two. We're thankful for AC, and if we ever lose it, will dig a cave to spend the middle of the day in. So I vote for Green Country as well.

Born, raised and lived in Texas for 39 years. Moved to northwest Arkansas, which is a little known metro area, in 1989 and made the 40-mile move to Grand Lake and Grove in 2000. My career took me all over the continental United States and I have seen America in a way that I feel privileged to have been able to do. That being said, I have to say every time the aircraft began its final approach to land here in Green Country, I always realized that as breathtaking as some part of America that I had just seen was, it really didn't get any better than this. The trees, natural water, rainfall, grassland, property prices, and taxes make this part of the world hard to beat.

No wanderlust for me......

Marcy

Tracy,

Although there are many parts of Oklahoma with better soil, more consistent rainfall and somewhat cooler and more pleasant summers, I'd still choose Love County and it is because of the people. Our neighbors here are simply the best and living here reminds me of what a community is and should be. However, I expect you'd find wonderful Okies (natives and transplants) everywhere in the state.

To tell you the truth, when I read your question initially and before I read everyone else's replies, my first thought was that I'd move next door to Scott and my second thought was that I'd also choose the Grove area because the folks who live there rave about it so much. Scott's area has great soil and plentiful moisture. Anywhere in NE OK would be great, though, because most of that area does have really wonderful soil (though I'd surely pick sandy loam over clay if I had a choice) and plentiful rainfall.

As much as it pains this native of Fort Worth to say anything negative about north-central Texas, if I am to be honest, I must do just that. When we left Fort Worth to move here in 1999, the population of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex was about 4 or 4.5 million. Now it is around 6.5 million and that's a huge increase for such a short period of time. Back then, we could drive from Denton to Gainesville and see just a couple of small towns and mostly rural, open areas. It doesn't look like that any longer. The growth has followed us right up the I-35 corridor and a massive amount of growth it has been. I love Denton, but I wouldn't move there. The great, wide-open rural areas are quickly disappearing and the concret jungle, traffic and cars are taking over at an incredible rate. The air quality in the whole D-FW metro area is awful, and they haven't planned ahead and built water reservoirs, so most cities like Dallas implement automatic watering restrictions for about 6 months out of the year, and the restrictions get even worse during drough.

Denton is beautiful and the people are nice, but in some areas the traffic is bad beyond belief because development happened when there were still little 2-lane roadways with bar ditches and they've been playing catch-up ever since, widening roadways and such. I hate the traffic there.

The growth in north-central Texas continues unabated, electric rates are very, very high and property taxes go up, up, up nonstop. So, even though I'm a native Texan from north-central Texas and I do love Texas, I wouldn't move back there for anything.

Dawn

This is getting to be funny. It seems Oklahoma's happiest people live in Green Country, at least those that are gardeners.

I grew up in south central Oklahoma, about 30 miles from where Dawn lives. I had been to a lot of Oklahoma, but had only lived in the OKC/Norman area, and near Ardmore. We came to a conference in Grove and spent 3 days here and I told my husband that I could live here. Several years later we had the chance to move here. Lucky me! The northeastern part of the state is VERY different from the Oklahoma that I had known.

I liked living in Alaska when I lived there, but I was working everyday so the long, dark winters didn't really bother me, and the summers were lovely. It's like a lot of places in the north tho, I just don't want to have to work that hard just to live.

I liked living in Colorado until I moved to Colorado Springs, and it is the pits (or maybe the armpit). Greece was pretty and interesting, but I lived there in a rather dangerous time, and now with their economy I wouldn't want to be there. In fact, I don't want to live outside the US, and have gotten more selective about travelling outside the US.

I didn't live anything in Ohio, that I need to go back for. Texas is too hot.

After Al's AF retirement, we moved back to the town where I had gone to high school and lived there 12 years. It was nice to be close to family, but it didn't feel like retirement.

Living on Grand Lake is like being on vacation. If you would like to go fishing, or ride the jet skiis, or take a swim, the lake is a block away. If I want the feel of camping, I walk out under the trees and cook on the grill, or start something in the dutch oven, but get to sleep in comfy circumstances and get a hot shower. LOL

Tulsa is about 85 miles, but we rarely go there. For shopping we normally choose Joplin MO which is a 45 minute drive.

If you like country entertainment, we are not that far from Branson. I am not a country fan, but have seen some really good shows there.

There are some great places to live in our great country, but if you have set your sites on Oklahoma or Texas, then don't fail to check out Green Country because the NE part of Oklahoma has a great deal to offer. As you can see from above, a lot of people agree with me. Have fun looking!

Okiedawn- what towns are in Love country? I have a feeling I'll know right where you're talking about if I know some towns.
We have friends in Gordonville and Whitesboro. Relatives in Denison, although I hate Den-Sherman.
I lived in Green country (Hominy/Cleveland) from 1993-97. Loved it. Also, lived in Medicine Park, (Lawton) from 1998-2005. Loved that too.
Hubby and I have both been stationed at Ft. Lewis, in Tacoma, WA before we met each other. Neither of us want to live there again.
No worries on school district or jobs. No young kids and if I do get pregnant (trying but chances are slim) I will home school. I'm a physician and hubby is an engineer who works online so jobs are not a problem either.
Hawaii would be nearly impossible for dog shows and training, not to mention my horse breeding. I have multiple world champion producing horses so I don't want to give that up.
I don't remember much about Grove or Talequah. They sound nice.
Oh, I've worked a bit in Guymon and also Idabel. Won't live in the panhandle but Idabel is sure pretty. Awfully sticky, though from the humidity.
Some good ideas so far!
We also would consider SW Mo and some parts of AR but don't know much about them

I wouldn't go to OKC area. The weather extremes there are just too much for me. I wouldn't come here. Although I love my home and farm, it's just very different from the rest of Oklahoma, and not in a necessarily good way. I'm not a flat land person and this is about as flat as I'd ever care to get.

I would go to Arkansas, in the vicinity of Hot Springs. It reminds me a lot like my hometown of Piedmont, Missouri but with a milder climate and plenty of mountains. I really like the outdoors and there is a lot to do in the area. Plenty of gardening and lots of folks who share my ideals of self-sufficiency.

Anna

I did have the best soil ever in Hominy. Sandy loam, had it tested for the hay and the only thing it needed was a bit of nitrogen.
I too have had the opportunity to travel and live many places but I keep going back to how much I loved OK. Both the NE and SW. Just have to narrow it down and find some affordable land. We want about 40-80 acres, fenced. Some woods, some pasture. Would love to have a stocked pond again!
We have 3 years but would like to find a place ASAP so that we can start making improvements.
About 90 minutes from the nearest large town or city would be the max but that's most places that we're talking about.
I have fond memories of Skiatook, too. What an awesome lake! We could even do some diving there!

One more requirement. Needs a fox hunting club within an hour or two. Our winter passion is fox hunting. Right now we have to travel 150 miles or more and it makes it really tough. Harvard Hounds in Tulsa, Wichita Falls and Denison (actually I think it's Celeste) all have active clubs. The Artillery Hounds at Ft. Sill disbanded awhile back but I would sure love to see them return. A long, long tradition lost from Fort Sill.

Given your set of circumstances, I would probably give serious thought to Bartlesville OK. My son just bought 100 acres north of there and it is lovely. It's a nice town, and not so far from Tulsa or Coffeyville KS.

Given your set of circumstances, I would probably give serious thought to Bartlesville OK. My son just bought 100 acres north of there and it is lovely. It's a nice town, and not so far from Tulsa or Coffeyville KS.

I'll start looking at Hot Springs along with these other areas.
I realize it must be hard to consider OKC mild after yesterday! But, compared to other places I've lived like CO, IA (nasty weather), and here in blistering hot,dry Phoenix, it's pretty nice.
My tomatoes are trying to die from 110 degree weather already and only my early varieties had time to produce. Fall planting will have not enough time before first frost.

I almost forgot the Stillwater area! I love it there and my husband wants to teach if possible. He's doing his doctorate in public policy.

Tracy,

Northwest Arkansas has a great regional airport (XNA) that is very well-served given the major corporations headquartered there. It is 45 miles from Grove/Grand Lake of the Cherokees. Tulsa International Airport (TUL) is 90 minutes away, but the only difference in service is the price occasionally.

My husband and I bred, raised and trained horses for much of our adult lives. In fact, we finally got out of the horse business only two years ago. Northwest Arkansas is very "horsey". I do know they have active polo clubs and hunter/jumper clubs, but not sure about fox hunting. The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville is very oriented to the agricultural/equine/farming/ranching lifestyle of the area and support it well. The singular reason we moved from Northwest Arkansas over the stateline to here on Grand Lake is that my husband was born and raised in NWA and got sick of the traffic as the area and population exploded. As he told me, "I spend half my life on the East and West coasts. When I come home, I want to get my perspective back." I couldn't argue with him and as I had stopped working, it was a great thing for us to do. As Carol so eloquently put it, here on the lake we are on vacation all the time, but not far from "civilization" if we so choose. In fact, we are only three hours from Kansas City which is my choice for a few days of city life immersion. What a great place for shopping.

Cleveland and Hominy is considered Green Country, but to my way of thinking is not anything like this particular area of NE Oklahoma/SW Missouri/NW Arkansas/SE Kansas. Please come visit and if we may help you in any way, please let some of us here on Oklahoma Gardening know.

Gee, guys, us Grand Lakers need to get a job at the Chamber of Commerce!!

Marcy

Tracy,

I'm west of I-35 in Love County, halfway between Thackerville and Marietta. If you know where Bomar is, that's where we are. Or, if you're familiar with the Shady Dale Community, we're practically there. Or, if you know where the Falconhead community, along with its golf course and small air strip are located a few miles west of Marietta on State Highway 32, that's just a few miles north and west of us.

If all the folks from Green Country haven't convinced you to consider moving there, what would it take? It sounds practically perfect, doesn't it? Little Rock is perfectly lovely too.

Keep us posted on the places you're checking into and let us know when you find your perfect place. By the way, I've seen photos of Carol's son's and daughterin-law's place, and it is pretty awesome so that's a great area to consider too.

Dawn

Grand Lake and Grove sound really nice. I remember driving by on the way to Carthage horse shows. Never stopped off the turnpike, though. Isn't that where everyone takes the big cabin cruisers? My parents would love to get a boat and enjoy being on a lake. Don't have many in AZ, those we do have are yuck!
I think Beaver Lake in AR is a really popular diving spot. I've never been.
I think the Harvard Hounds hunt mostly NW of Tulsa but I'm not sure. We used to have our Hunt Ball together but I've never gone up there to hunt.
Ft. Leavonworth has the best hunt but I wouldn't want to live there. I would drive up there if I was in Green Country. They are really nice people, a fun group and I have friends from OKC that drive there to hunt every week.

Tracy, Maybe we should find a middle-age to older doc around here so you can just slide right in and be ready to take over their practice. It would be nice to have a ready-made practice. We don't even know your speciality and we are already looking for a job for you. LOL If your DH wants to be near a university to teach, then that starts to narrow things down a little.

I have a son working on a PHD who would also like to teach, so we will see where that goes. That is not what he does now.

The son that just bought the farm has been in Africa for the last 3 and a half years and will be coming home this week. I can actually visit Copan, but Nigeria didn't interest me much. LOL

I love Oklahoma. I have relatives in Spearfish, South Dakota and I take 45 North to Dallas, merge into 35 and head north out of Dallas and so on. I feel the merging of people and their cars all the way through Texas, until I finally cross the Red River. Then about an hour into Oklahoma, there is an area that I cannot remember,some lookout right on 35. Everything turns reddish in tint and your climbing in elevation with blasted rock on either side of you. My ears pop every time I make this 18 hour journey. I love Oklahoma, and Wayne Coyne is a very inspiring individual. Oklahoma has a ton to be proud of!

Travis Street from Sam Houston State National Forest

I grew up just south of Perkins (south of Stillwater) and loved it there. Now I live in OKC and like it pretty well for in town. I have friends in NE OK (Grove, Hominy, Wynona etc.) and it is beautiful there. Okemah is really pretty too. All I can tell you is Oklahomans are the same wherever you are- wonderful!

Travis Street - you must be talking about the Arbuckles! That's just north of Ardmore, where I grew up until I was 6. I know how the ears pop when going thru there from everytime we made the trip to OKC!

Tracy - I live in NE Norman and there are lots and LOTS of horse ranches around this area. I have a friend in Blanchard that breeds Quarter Horses and prize Palamino's (she's was the owner of Zippity DooDah, RIP). Great land around here for that, but I've got to agree with the others here about Green Country. It would serve all your wishes plus they are also really close to Tulsa's fine medical community and colleges. In the meantime, keep us posted until you too are a transplanted Okie? I've looked at the other area forums and this one is the most active, not the mention the most helpful and has the nicest people. Heck, you're already a part of us!

Paula

I like the Stillwater suggestion since my mom has a beautiful place 6 miles east of there, for sale. 15 acres.

I, myself, would choose Cannon Beach, OR.

I am fond of the Texas Hill Country. Topography reminds me very much of Southern Germany and Northern Italy. Which would explain why it has so many German and Italian people there. Very pretty and not terribly far from San Antonio and Austin, and just a few hours from Houston.

Tracy,

I lived in Cleveland (OK) from 1990 to 92. I was working on my masters and teaching at OSU while my wife was attending med school in Tulsa. I really liked Cleveland although it was even smaller back then. I so enjoyed the amazing pelican migration through the lake in Sept and seeing the bald eagles, etc. If it had been 30 minutes closer to my family's pecan farm, we would be living there today.

We lived in the DFW metroplex (mostly Mansfield) for 10 years and we moved back here after that. We could have chosen any place to buy land and build a house and some of the finalists were Perkins, Chandler, Purcell, and a few places around Tulsa. In the end I had to have a place where there was more rainfall and more "green" than where I grew up south of OKC. Anything within 100 miles north or east of Tulsa fits me just fine, but we ended up 30 miles SE of Tulsa and our place not far from the Arkansas River is a great fit for us also.

I would suggest looking into the small communities just north of Skiatook. The land is not too expensive, it's convenient and pretty, and you don't have to worry about the local schools. I have a lot of relatives around there.

Diane, my thoughts of Denton are of how hot, dry, and ugly it is for months each year, and of the traffic on I35 that I endured so much. Driving I-35 from Fort Worth to Norman 10 times each year made me have a strong dislike for Denton although the NE side of it is probably entirely different than what I saw from my car all the time. In my time in DFW we had one summer where we had no precipitation at my house in July, Aug, and Sept at all, and another where we had none between June 20 and the Labor Day weekend. One of those summers we had over 50 days of 100 degree temps as I recall although my memory is not what it once was. I just will not live with that and with that traffic and population density anymore.

Understood, Scott. I've only driven that route a couple of times in my life so couldn't recall what it was like. Personally, I can't stand any crowding at all. Even down here in the southeast corner, it's getting far too crowded for my taste. I need nothingness. And lots of it. Agreed on the hot & dry as well. Another reason for me to look forward to our move -- less heat and more water during the hot parts. (Not that it's dry here, just that it's driest during the hottest parts.)

Diane

What about Madill or Marietta? I like the idea of being close to friends, with a farm and livestock you never know when you'll need help.
I'm looking at all your suggestions and checking real estate sites for prices.
Thanks everyone, this is helpful and fun!
Oh, I'm a family practice DO but do a lot of ER and urgent care too. Also, retired military.

What about Madill or Marietta? I like the idea of being close to friends, with a farm and livestock you never know when you'll need help.
I'm looking at all your suggestions and checking real estate sites for prices.
Thanks everyone, this is helpful and fun!
Oh, I'm a family practice DO but do a lot of ER and urgent care too. Also, retired military.