What surprised you most that first year on the Bay?

Memorial Day weekend just wrapped up and the lake traffic is back... boats on the trailers, golf carts everywhere, every driveway full. Got me thinking about my own first year up here.

What got me was how quiet it gets after the summer people head home. Come October you can drive down Dave Ward and not see another car for a while. I liked it once I got used to it, but the first winter on the hill I wasn't ready for it. Ice on the back roads, and I learned fast to keep the pantry stocked because a big grocery run isn't a quick trip. Same goes for anything medical, you plan ahead.

The other surprise went the opposite way... I figured I'd be a hermit with a garden. Instead I met more people in six months than in ten years back home. Church, the lanes, a neighbor who talked me into a yard sale. The volunteer fire department folks seem to know everybody too.

So for the newer folks, what caught you off guard? And the old hands, what do you wish somebody had told you?

Honestly the job thing got me. Everybody says how cheap it is to live here, and then you look at what's hiring and it's the resort, a couple restaurants and the school. Hubby ended up driving to Heber every day, and by the time you count gas and the ice on 330 in January, "cheap" is debatable lol

Also the deer. Nobody warns you they'll eat every hosta you plant like its a salad bar, then come November the whole hill sounds like a warzone. Not complaining about that part, just saying bring a fence.

Agree on the people thing though, I'll give you that. Its just mostly church and golf folks, not so many other parents with young kids, so it took us a lot longer to find our crowd. Took us till the school stuff in the fall.

Good point on the commute... nobody figures gas and winter wear into "cheap." I see it on the real estate side too. Folks buy a place up here for a song, then find out the paycheck is a long drive away. It works great if you're retired and gets harder with young kids.

On the hostas, yep, that's deer candy. I gave up on mine years ago. Daffodils they leave alone, and so do most of the strong-smelling herbs. Otherwise it's a tall fence or nothing.

Glad you found your crowd with the school stuff. The church and golf bunch is a big part of the place, but it's not all of it... sorry it took that long.

The deer, yes. I lost a whole row of hostas my first spring and took it personally. What's held up on my end of Lost Creek Parkway is lamb's ear, salvia, lavender and rosemary. They'll sniff around but mostly leave them be. The veggie beds only survived once I fenced them way taller than I thought I needed. Four feet is basically a suggestion to them.

Your point about the crowd being church and golf stuck with me. I'm not a golfer and I'm not in a pew most weeks, so the first few months I felt like I'd missed the door somewhere. What actually worked for me was yard sales and garden talk. You get to chatting over a box of canning jars and an hour later you've got a plumber's number and an invite to something. It's not the same as finding other parents with little kids though, and I can see how that would take longer.

My own surprise, and it's small, was the restaurants. Summer you've got choices, then after Labor Day some places cut days or hours and a Tuesday night out gets to be a short list. Call first, I learned that one the hard way. Still not sure what to make of the Heber commute you're describing... I'd have guessed gas was the cheap part and the 330 ice was the real cost.

ok the gas isn't the killer, you're right, it's the ice. Hubby's white-knuckled 330 more than once when it glazed over before the road crew got to it, and that truck takes a beating either way. Forty some minutes each way adds up though, thats like 1.5 hrs of his day gone before he even clocks in lol

Will try the lamb's ear and rosemary, thanks. Mine are picky eaters with a gym membership. Maybe a few of them end up in my freezer come fall, that's one way to deal with the hostas.

And yep on the restaurants. Drove to one on a Tuesday and just stared at a dark window like an idiot. Call first, noted.

HA THE FREEZER PLAN IS THE ONLY REAL DEER FENCE THERE IS. just dont go lining up shots out the back deck tho, inside the Bay its a totally diferent deal than out on private land or the nat forest, so check with Game and Fish AND the city on whats allowed befor you do anything. somebody WILL call the sheriff and it wont be a fun conversation.

ALSO TELL HUBBY WATCH THE DAWN DRIVE ON 330 once october and november roll around. bucks are chasing and they come outta nowhere, no warning at all. ive seen more than one bumper and a headlight go that way, and that truck of his is already takeing a beating from the ice.

on the plants, lamb's ear and rosemary help but a hungry deer in late winter will eat just about anything, so dont take it personal when something gets nibbled anyway. a tall fence is still the only thing that realy works.