I'm only 10 years behind you and I got my first air rifle in Sept. 2015 for much the same reasons; such as scopeable and minute of coke can accuracy. Wanted to squirrel hunt also just for kicks and I was told to get a .22 cal. although I was also told .177 would work. Wound up with a .22 cal. Benjamin Trail with the Nitro Piston 2 system. Came with a 3-9x Center Point scope already on it and so far it's been a lot of fun. Will take squirrels out to about 25 yds. and is lethal on 12 oz. cans. Only problem is that now the MSRP is up to about 280 bucks and the weight is given as 8 pounds. Crosman has a lot of other, lighter. less expensive models in .177 that might be worth checking out; many of which also come with a scope.
