We're Moving to Nanaimo

Well looks like we're moving. For me the major deciding factors, in more or less order of importance, are:

1. The idyllic setting here and much wild-ness and ready opportunity for outdoor adventure and commune on Vancouver Island
2. The huge appeal of being covered by a first-world health insurance system.
3. As best I can tell, by and large, Canadians don't admire and aspire to ignorance, belligerence, and arrogance--in other words, they're civilized, mostly.
4. The much more sensible lifestyle (compared to a city/suburb) we can adopt here while still being able easily to enjoy city fun in nearby Vancouver. (I see this part as a welcome return to the lifestyle I enjoyed when I lived in Frederick, Maryland in the 1980s: Baltimore and D.C. were close, but not too close, while Frederick offered a charming downtown, parks and services within an easy walk, and a small-town atmosphere.)
5. The climate is much milder than Minnesota's, something I think will become more important, even for cold-loving me, as we get old(er).
6. My penchant for prudent adventure and shaking things up periodically.

Our goal is to move August 1st. I'll be back in Minnesota April 3rd. Laurie will spend a couple of weeks with family in California, then join me. We've got A TON of stuff to do to prepare to move. If we decide to try to sell (vs. rent) the house, we'd like to get it on the market no later than June 1st, and I needn't mention the stress level associated with trying to sell a house in the U.S. right now. Somehow we'll get it all done. Or we won't, and in the end it won't matter anyway. :-)