Well, I am taking a big step here and moving from Florida to Colorado. I just wanted to throw out a couple of thoughts that I had...

According to the unofficial ETS map, I will be the first ETSer in Colorado. Are people in Colorado really less prepared than in other areas?

From an equipped point of view, this is definately going to be different. Florida is not exacly a very comfortable place to live for many months out of the year, but there is really very little here that is actually life-threatening. Almost everywhere in the state you are close to water. If you have a good filtration system, finding water is almost never a problem. If anything, the problem is that there is too much water. Mosquitos and opressive heat and humidity might make things miserable, but not very likely to kill you. The native fauna is another story, but you can avoid them. The total amount of time that is spent below freezing can be measured in hours per year.

Colorado, on the other hand, will be more of a challenge. Out there, the weather can kill you. Besides freezing cold, it is also a much drier state. I do intend to spend as much time in the mountains as my family can tolerate (which might not be much since I have a five-year-old and a four-year-old). I have only spent a couple of days in my entire life in snow, so this should be one heck of a learning experience.

Well, as Cody would say: "Party on!"