The Picos: From “Aloha” to “Howdy”
At first we thought it was a joke. Their voice-mail said that they were a couple looking for a retirement home near Tyler. The part that caught us by surprise was that they were living in Hawaii. Who would leave the island paradise to move to our relatively unknown neck-of-the-woods? As it turned out, Barbara and Gary were quite serious. He owns a home in Oregon and Barbara had lived in Texas for years before they found each other in Hawaii. As they began to approach retirement, though, they came to the realization that Maui was just too expensive to consider, whereas East Texas, with its low cost-of-living and no state income tax, was a realistic alternative. Over a matter of several trips we previewed properties in a four-county area, before finally finding the perfect home overlooking Lake Palestine, albeit one needing some TLC. Recently Barbara sent me several photos of the wonderful updating they have completed. They still spend summers at Gary’s home in Oregon, but winters find them just down the road, enjoying their East Texas retirement home.
Our best wishes to Barbara and Gary in their Lake Palestine home.
