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!"

Moving to Colorado hey? Just watch out for 4 little kids: Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
No amount of preperation will help you with what they do there.

I'm going down to South Park, gonna have myself a time.......
(Really like those episodes. It sums up the state of the world so nicely!) <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Just because you look at the map don't believe the info is complete.

There are quite a few folks ETS even if not registered.

Colorado CAN kill you with- rattlesnakes, drought, tornado, rockslide, avalanche, lightning, flooding, treefall, West Nile Virus, road accident, hypothermia, home invasion, tainted spinach, ballistic sugar beets, mountain lions, black bears, rabid dogs, and so forth.
Some things you CAN do here that you can't in Florida- climb to safety in event of flash flood. Wait for the alligators to freeze in winter, wait for the skeeters to freeze, hunt Elk, hunt mountain lion, pan for gold, cut trees for heating fuel, stand on a mountain ridge and look all the way to Kansas and look down on airplanes going by.
No matter where you go there are threats to survival. New place- new rules.

Unimogbert

That sounds like an interesting story.

Yup. I guess that was the point of my post.

Colorado is, at least to me, a lot more beautiful than Florida. But it also seems more dangerous. Maybe it is because I grew up in Florida, and the thought of alligators, sharks, and the most lightning of anywhere is the US is very familiar to me.

hey Unimogbert,

You really know how to cheer up a guy who is about to move there. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Just watch out for 4 little kids: Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny!

I thought they killed Kenny !?!? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

"You really know how to cheer up a guy who is about to move there."

Sincerity test. We see lots of Californians wither and die in their first snow-driving event. I f igure Floridians may have some similar insufficiency of information.

Ballistic sugar beet- motorcyclist killed by a 4 lb beet to the chest dropping off an oncoming beet truck on a 55 mph road.

Life just isn't safe!

Wow... talk about a freak accident!

That is the one thing that worries me the most. I like cold weather. I got the honor of driving one during a blizard in Virginia - not my idea of fun.

"That is the one thing that worries me the most. I like cold weather. I got the honor of driving one during a blizard in Virginia - not my idea of fun."

It's wise to be concerned. Now go figure out what you can do to help yourself equipment and skillwise. Then get the equipment and learn the skills.

I commute 100 miles per day. Have been doing so for 3 years. A few days each winter I leave early to beat the stupidity,er, traffic. But it hasn't been as much of a problem as I thought it would be when I started this job. But I DO manipulate my working hours so as to not be driving in the peak of the rush.

It's like combat in a way and they ARE trying to kill me (but they'll make it look like an accident).
If you have the ETS mindset you'll be fine. Observe, think, plan, execute and continue to refine your skills and equipment.

If you want to continue this offline shoot me a private message and we can talk some more. I've been here 23 years and Colorado hasn't killed me yet.....

unimogbert