My husband Russ and I purchased our home in Hayes in July 2018 and moved in on Aug. 1, 2018. We had lived in Southern California for 46 years before coming here.

About 10 years ago we began to discuss where we wanted to live after we retired. We agreed that it would be in a place that was on or near the water, that did not have multi-lane freeways, and that had access to good medical care.

I retired in October 2014 and spent time each week researching communities we were interested in, keeping track of homes we liked in each area. Part of the research involved subscribing to local newspapers in communities we were considering. My husband retired in October 2016. We planned to relocate in 2017.

A couple of medical crises in 2017 set us back a few months, but also helped us decide that the East Coast should be our new home because it would put us in the same time zone as our siblings and dearest friends.

In February of 2018 we took a monthlong trip to compare communities in ...