southern AZ.or California. Any suggestions? A trailer would be okay. Not too rural but safe. Nogales or someplace like that. A little town with some charm would work. El Paso maybe. Are there any snowbirds that go far far south?

and got distracted. It has been colder than usual years it seems up here. I went to Brigham some days ago and it was so much warmer over there and no snow on the grass or very little.

I usually don't mind winter that much, but I do THIS YEAR. My daughter and her husband are headed to St. George the end of the week. They work for Princess and he trains the bus drivers. This year they decided to train them in St. George.

North Dakota here. Snowbirds in our area generally head for Arizona or Alabama. A big change from 30 below winters.

in the winters, lots of ppl from Alaska & Northern cold spots come to Sequim;
In summers, ppl from the SW come here to escape-evade heat extremes of SoCal, AZ, etc.

You definitely don't want Nogales. Too much crime, flash flooding, no scenery. Want you want? I hate to mention this but Pima or Thatcher or Safford. It's big enough (the three towns share a super Walmart). It's big enough to support one of the biggest Community Colleges (Easter Arizona College) but they still have Pecan Orchards and cotton fields. They have a Mountain (Mt. Graham) with an observatory. They have an apple orchard halfway up the Mountain that's nice to visit during the season. They have local plays at the college, small shops downtown, but many got wiped out when Walmart moved in, but it is historic looking. The only issue is too many Mormons, but no where near the Utah pop. They do have a McTemple, between Pima & Thatcher. Good small hospital, great Mexican restaurants, fun Christmas parades. The economy there is good because of copper mines; but that's only when the mines are running. Last time I lived there they were doing great because China and U.S. needed so much copper; but during covid and slow downs??? touristy things to do are Tombstone/Bisbee is only about 60 miles away; Tucson only about 100; Globe is 60. There's always too hot of summers though, so don't plan on enjoying past May.

Thank you for the input. That is just what I need.

I agree - Benson, Willcox, Tombstone, Safford, or Thatcher. AZ

down in maybe New Mexico. I'll have to ask again. You can camp for $180 for the year. He has a travel van with room for 4 to sleep and what else? Shower, toilet.

BUT we have our son and his problems. I don't know that he'd go with his dad and they always argue and son is worse than he used to be mentally. I'll kill the "husband" if he decides to leave me here with our son as we can't predict his behavior.

So here we are in the deep freeze for the winter. Can't even walk the dogs as it is so cold. They are small dogs.

That’s Imperial Dam near Yuma, Arizona. Yuma and Borrego Springs, California have the warmest overall winter temperatures in the southwest.

Imperial Dam is a Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA), $180 for September 15 to April 15. There are also some free places here and there, as well as campgrounds and rv parks. And of course there’s Quartzsite, AZ.

We’ve spent 12 winters in the Southwest now. No snow or freezing temperatures that sometimes hit Florida or Texas. The lower the elevation, and the farther south, the warmer it is.

TG

Yes it is. Imperial Dam is about 25 miles north of Yuma, and I don’t know what impact that may be having on Imperial Dam. The LTVA area has no stores, houses, fast food places, or other services, so it still may not be overrun.

TG

That article reports some very disturbing trends.

TG

My school in the mid-Atlantic is also seeing an influx of immigrants. In a normal year, I might get one or two new students whose family recently crossed the border, and now it's up to eight so far. I think this is probably typical. The families seem to be in more distress, too -- they are often sharing housing, losing their housing, and moving, sometimes within weeks or months. It is making the job of educating their children very difficult.

Plus, there are simply not enough qualified teachers to service the students. The current situation is putting a tremendous strain on our public educational system.

We were looking at Sierra Vista for a while, nice area but I worry about the long term water situation. Plus, I don't think I could take the heat in the summer. For the winter I think it would be great but not year round for me.

At 4600’ Sierra Vista gets a bit cold in the winter. Looks like a nice place, though.

TG

Las Cruces, Jal or Hobbs, NM? January lows are around 27F, but I imagine it wouldn’t stay below freezing for too long.

Anyplace close to the Mexican border is not good right now. The Mexican cartels have come in. El Paso and Yuma are particularly bad. The politicians are on the take or being threatened.

If you want to stay in the US I like Charleston, South Carolina.