To move or not to move ?

I've had an itch for the last year or so ... I need a new view, more acreage, easier accessible trails and still be close to the world class climbing mecca that Boulder is. A reduced mortgage would be a plus too. Julia wants more kids close by. Mia & I both want good schools and the fun downtown Boulder offers. Mia isn't so excited about moving since it's pretty dang close to perfect and the rec centers are great! Also as Julia gets older, she'll want to be driven more often to sports stuff, hang with friends etc. I could compromise with more acreage and views and less access to Boulder (I'm thinking western slope) but that'd be selfish and unfair to Mia and Julia. They are more social than I am. Boulder has a lot to offer even if it is too crowded and expensive.

What to do? This is a lose - lose situation for me. I like it where we are but I have this itch ...
Yesterday I convinced Mia to check out this place on Nugget Hill Rd, South of Jamestown. I knew it was too small but it wasn't too far OUT. I just had to see it. So we drove up. It looked pretty quiet so we drove up, over and down to the house (about 400' of driveway). It was empty so we felt ok snooping around a bit. The views were great. I really liked the feel of the place. We live in the foothills now but this is the real deal! We could check out the rooms thru the windows. Too small for us (1500 sq. ft.) but still ... No garage but it had some old leaky mining sheds for storage. It had some acreage but not very useable since much of it was somewhat steep. The real deal breaker was the private road up. (Private because it was too narrow to be maintained by the county.) Man, it was steep!! Mia said she'd be petrified driving down in bad conditions (and we have friends who have said the same about where we currently live...). If it wasn't south facing, it would be impossible for most of the winter. This would be a great place for a couple that didn't have to drive much and didn't have kids and weren't worried about resale value.

Anyway, it was an interesting excercise. I'm gonna keep looking though.