Profile: Karen, 60, and Ellery Berg, 62, Kenmore/ Black Butte Ranch, Ore.

Retiring: In June — Karen, after 20 years as an elementary-school secretary; Ellery, after 30-plus years as industrial-project manager with a painting company.

Where: Three-bedroom, three-bath house at Black Butte Ranch, near Sisters, outside Bend, Ore., for eight months of the year. They discovered it on a vacation, first bought land, later sold it to buy the house. They also keep a basement apartment in Karen's dad's Kenmore home.

Why: Ellery is an avid fly fisherman; Karen loves the horses, pool, tennis and hiking; both enjoy cross-country skiing from their front door and four definitive seasons. "We're in this pristine, low-key, no-hassle environment. We have two wonderful golf courses and a gated community where a good half of the people are retired."

Downsides? "[Nearby] Sisters is the second-fastest-growing city in Oregon and Bend is the first. That's not appealing when I'm seeking solace in a pastoral setting," says Ellery.

What about the six-hour drive to Seattle or three hours to Portland? "We listen to a lot of books on tape."

If you had $50,000 in Seattle, you would need approximately $40,000 to maintain the same standard of living in Central Oregon (includes Eugene/Springfield), according to bestplaces.net