Snow birding or why?

We are bikers and they are put away when the temperature drops below 60.

Next year will be the first year we become snowbirds. I spent 30 years driving around 8 hours a day in really nasty winter weather taking care of others who had gone in the ditch or were in accidents. I had to stand out in below 0 temperatures directing traffic 100's of times wondering if the drivers could even see me. Numerous times over the years I had to take a tactical position by laying in the snow for hours while we negotiated with deranged individuals to come out of the house they barricaded themselves in. I was treated for frostbite 4 times over the years. Now that I'm retired, I stay in the house when the weather is ugly. I have a heated shop too. I could use it after I spend a couple hours snow blowing and shoveling our driveway and walkway but by then I'm pretty tired so I go back in the house and do a whole bunch of nothing. Living here in the Northeast in the snow belt means I do this routine from the end of November until April. I love this area in the summer but I've had enough of the extreme winters (Just a few days ago it was Minus 10 degrees). That's why we're becoming snowbirds.

NMDriver2 wrote:
Your weather seems warmer than the mild winters I get in southern NM which is where snowbirds come to for winter cold relief.

It's not the temperature, it's the constant rain.

I am not sure I would call what you get in Oak Harbor very cold weather. You get relatively few freezing nights and the ones you get are like 30 and upper 20's. Most days are up in the 40's and 50's in Jan and Feb.

Your weather seems warmer than the mild winters I get in southern NM which is where snowbirds come to for winter cold relief.

Tom/Barb wrote:
I see no reason to leave it just because the weather is nasty.

We all have different levels of tolerance. How does an average winter in Oak Harbor, Washington compare to an average winter in northern Minnesota, Michigan, New England etc.?

If I could snowbird, we would be gone and wonder/worry about what I could be doing when we got back. :)

Not me. Bad weather depresses me, so I'm constantly thinking about how nice it would be to be in warm sunshine.