A plan that actually worked

          It has been roughly 46 weeks since Mrs. Leeway and I loaded the dog and plant in the car and drove to our new home in Ohio.

          In that time, the plant got a name and we have adjusted to living outside of California. It hasn’t been the impossible adjustment that some people warned us about. In fact, the adjustment has been easier than I expected.

          Mrs. Leeway grew up in Ohio and knew perfectly well what was coming. I had seen Ohio on television. All I knew was that I didn’t know much about Ohio, aside from it being the cradle of professional football and the home of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

          Then again, what else did I need to know?

          So, a few notes on the transition.

          Coolidge. One of my jobs was to drive our cars to Ohio. Luckily, I only had to

Coolidge during our epic drive across
the country together.

drive one at a time. The final trip was in our new Ford Focus and one of the passengers was a plant. Despite the fact that I watered the thing every day and moved it in and out of hotels, that plant never spoke to me, never even thanked me for the wonderful care I extended it. So I named it Coolidge after former President Calvin ‘Silent Cal’ Coolidge.

          The plan worked. Our reason for moving here was to live less expensively and we have done that. Our mortgage here is significantly lower than our rent was in California. The rent went up every year in California but the mortgage here stays the same. (Positive cash flow)

          Oh my, the dire warnings that our heating and air conditioning bills would skyrocket and nullify our housing savings. ‘You’ll be miserable and broke,’ people told us, ‘instead of only being broke out here.’ This has not been true. We do spend more on heating and cooling than we did out west, but the difference is less than we’d been warned to expect. (Positive cash flow)

          Gasoline prices jump around but we have been generally 30-50 cents a gallon lower than the prices around our old home. Car insurance costs about half here what it costs in California. Food, clothing, furniture, books and most of the other odds and ends that you buy during the course of a year cost roughly the same here. (Positive cash flow)

          Weather. Every time we meet someone and they learn where we used to live, 

During Ohio winters, ice forms.
Sometimes the ice melts. The drops of
melting ice sometimes make for
nice images.

they always ask why we moved to Ohio. Once winter got here last year, even people who already knew us would ask, ‘Are you sure you want to live here?’

          Yeah, the winters are cold here.

          You have to dress properly and you have to be sure your heater is in good working order before winter comes. We had to buy some winter clothing when we got here, something Mrs. Leeway enjoyed more than I did. Ya gotta buy boots, knit caps, gloves and thermals.

          I have the late-night dog walking shift. During the dead of winter, that means three or four layers of clothing. Mrs. Leeway has the early morning duty, which allows her to shovel the snow off the driveway. She enjoys it.

You have to be careful about driving and you have to leave your Mustang GT V-8 five speed convertible in the garage four months a year. Road salts used to melt the ice on the streets will destroy your car’s body. Thus you have to wash your Focus frequently during the winter months.

There are other adjustments, such as trying not to slip on ice while walking the dog and cracking your skull during the ensuing fall. I did that. Probably should have gone to an emergency care center. But Alabama was playing Notre Dame for the national collegiate football championship within half an hour and there was no way I was going to miss that game. Everything worked out: Alabama won handily and I’m sure Notre Dame fans felt worse than I did by the end of the night.

Roll Tide.

Sage advice from one who knows: Be sure your A/C is working in advance of summer.

          Activities. If you haven’t been here, you’d be surprised to learn about all the things there are to do here. From free summer concerts in the town center (which all the cities seem to do here) to minor league baseball, there is a lot to do.

We live within a few miles of two universities, so college sports are easily 

This park is across the street from where we
live. I walk here several times each week.

available. I have enjoyed the Kent State library because it has an excellent history reference section and I’ve been able to do some research there. I’ve been to the archives department of the University of Akron, too, while working on research for a different subject. Nice folks in both places.

The NHRA drag strip in Norwalk is closer to us than the track at Pomona was when we lived in Oxnard and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is about the same distance away. There are short tracks around the state as well.

We’ve been to the Cleveland and Akron zoos already and we want to get to a few more attractions before this summer ends. Cleveland’s baseball and football stadiums are less than an hour away and so is the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is 40 minutes from us. There is a theme park named Cedar Point in Sandusky, roughly 90 minutes from us.

Because of geography, a lot of places are within a day’s drive. We’ve been to Niagara Falls already and we have visited our daughter in Philadelphia. We’ve driven to Gettysburg, two parts of Tennessee and various parts of Alabama.

If you run out of stuff to do, that’s your fault.

 The bottom line is we save money living here and have found lots of ways to have fun. It turns out a California retirement will allow for a successful, fun life in Ohio.

The prediction here is that people will finally decide to leave California, chasing after the jobs that started going elsewhere years ago. We'll see you in Ohio.

 

          Thanks for reading.