Though not west, we hope to bug out for a month or two this winter from New England and head south (again!). We will be taking the FWC but also looking for a place to rent and then travel from. We definitely do not want to be in a tourist town but seek a small rural town in Georgia, South/North Carolina or northern Florida. The mountains are nice but that just gets us back into the cold. Being within an hour or two of places to paddle/ride bicycles/walk dog is the goal. It is hard to find a place that is not controlled by the AirB&B people; ideally avoiding that if possible. I have been finding ads in local newspapers and have seen a few places that way. House sitting is also a possibility. If anyone has wandered around in small town America down that way and has a suggestion, appreciate the heads up. Coastal towns seem pretty crowded with the likes of us northerners and can be pricey too, but we haven't given up completely to finding a backwater place. Nothing to lose for asking!