Army sending us to Umatilla Chemical Depot (Portland, Medford: credit, houses)

[skinem]

Originally Posted by snssewell

LOL. Yes I heard about the rain. BUT.....I LOVE SNOW....and I am assuming all that drizzle will turn into snow flakes in the winter So ones I made it through the rainy summers I should be a happy camper :P Thanks again.

It snows only a tiny bit more often than Ft. Campbell...and they handle driving in it about as well as Southerners.

But, you won't have far to go to be in snow 12 months out of the year, and there is good skiing not too far away. Elevation makes all the difference in the PNW between a blizzard and a little rain.

[Nell Plotts]

It's not only the elevation but where you are in relationship to mountain ranges. East side of the Cascades (Umatilla) is very dry, west side (Fort Lewis) is wet.

I have seen 3 feet of snow around Fort Lewis. Rare, but it does happen.

[snssewell]

Well came to find out that they would not change it to Ft. Lewis. So we will still be going to Umatilla. However, we talked to the Commander at Umatilla and he told us that there was on-post housing available for us. He said its old but he will fix it up and put up a fence for out 2 dogs and it will be ready when we get there. There are only a hand full of soldiers left there and my husband is going to be 1st Sgt there which he is very excited about and we will be there until they shut it down.
So now with the living situation taken care off I cant wait to get there. I love to go on walks with our dogs and there are not very many placed here to go walk them unless you drive to a walking trail or something. I think with the river right there....I think its only about 3 miles from Umatilla from what I seen on the map, the dogs and I will have a blast!!!!!
Thanks again for all your answers and I am just really glad everything worked out for us.

[mamh]

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, your going to love it....

[skinem]

Good luck, snssewell!

It really won't be as bad as it first appears...really!

If nothing else you may get to see one of the genetically inbred antelope that some say look like a Gary Larson cartoon...

[Nell Plotts]

Welcome to the Pacific NW. Your Umitilla assignment will be a great illustration that not all of Oregon is wet.

The Columbia River Gorge is stunning. Take some time to visit Hood River, the best sail boarding short of HI. The Dalles is undergoing a transformation with Google's data center and I hear Boeing is planning a drone development center right across the river. Near where you will be is a windmill power generating facility. Right now the blades should be tethered (their investors are not happy) and the coal fired power plant at rest as the amount of water going through BPA's turbines is overwhelming the system. It is almost to the point that they can't give electricity away - the Intertie needs more capacity. Hugs & kisses to the COE for balancing out the flow down the Columbia Basin.

[snssewell]

Originally Posted by skinem

Good luck, snssewell!

It really won't be as bad as it first appears...really!

If nothing else you may get to see one of the genetically inbred antelope that some say look like a Gary Larson cartoon...

LOL. I seen some of those on a picture I found taken on Umatilla Depot and was like WOW its like a Safari Park! LOL!

We love stuff like that...well me anyway. I don't need a lot of people and entertainment. I can do nature even if its desert! lol. As long as there are no Japanese Beetles landing on my head and getting tangled in my hair and from what I read Oregon is really good as far as Japanese Beetle Pest Control . Its really bad here with them. Other people have birds come to their kitchen window every day....I have Japanese Beetles coming to my kitchen window everyday!

[Hawk J]

Here in Oregon we get some beautiful Humming birds who come around if'n ya put up a feeder...



There should be some good fishin' in your area. www.oregonfishingforum.com

[skinem]

Originally Posted by snssewell

LOL. I seen some of those on a picture I found taken on Umatilla Depot and was like WOW its like a Safari Park! LOL!

We love stuff like that...well me anyway. I don't need a lot of people and entertainment. I can do nature even if its desert! lol. As long as there are no Japanese Beetles landing on my head and getting tangled in my hair and from what I read Oregon is really good as far as Japanese Beetle Pest Control . Its really bad here with them. Other people have birds come to their kitchen window every day....I have Japanese Beetles coming to my kitchen window everyday!

If you like nature, you'll like Oregon and will probably be surprised at the wildlife that exists in what at first looks like a barren wasteland.

There are a fantastic amount of birds in the area of an amazing variety, including nearly any type of game fowl you can think of. There are more hawks in more varieties than nearly any where else I've lived, 2 kinds of eagles. There are cougars, the occasional bear (yes, in the desert) and there have even been the occasional wild buffalo in the area...descended from places that raise them. Lots of deer, elk, Rocky Mountain goats nearby...just about any kind of animal you can think of in the western US is there. The McNary Wildlife Refuge is nearby and you aren't far from the Blues, or the Cascades or the Wallowas, or the Strawberries, or the Ochocos, etc.

A lot of great fishing, too, from sturgeon to walleye, to salmon to steelhead to trout to a variety of warm water fish as well.

If you love the outdoors and outdoor activities, you'll like it there.

Get you some Wranglers and ropers, a belt buckle bigger than your brain and a cowboy hat and you'll fit right in. Just don't make it a red or purple cowboy hat...that's how you can tell who the outsiders are!

[bluebird39]

FWIW, I'm in Pendleton, but grew up in Louisiana, and Kentucky. Yes, it gets hot here, but it's like an oven rather than a sauna, and unlike back East, it cools down at night, and only lasts a month or 2. Not nearly as many bugs too. Plus, I love the sun on this side of the state vs the West side (I've lived in Portland, and Medford, also near Klamath Falls.

As someone mentioned, Hermiston is the biggest town near the depot, but Tri-City is only about 30-ish minutes away. Tri-Cities has practically anything you'd want in a city... COSTCO, a mall, big hospitals, a small airport, medical specialists, etc... There are also some colleges there. Hermiston and Pendleton have only community colleges. I'd guess Tri-cities is about 200-300,000 people, and due to the Hanford nuclear facility, lots of other federal workers. Schools are better there too.

But I like Hermiston too...It has a big Wal-mart, plenty of restaurants, a small hospital...

I think Pendleton is the prettier than either place, but it's about the same size as Hermiston, so you wouldn't gain much more than a commute living here.

FWIW, I think Pendleton is more racially diverse than where I lived in Medford, OR. I can't really speak for Hermiston. When I moved to Oregon from the deep South, I was struck by how white it is here in Oregon (and I'm white!). But unlike the South, there's a much larger population of Hispanic people, Native American, and Asian people than there was in the South. There's going to be racism anywhere, and it kind of aggravates me when people say it isn't out here (look at the police shootings in PDX), but for the most part, the culture of the West is very different in a good way. I love it!

FWIW, I also love small towns, and folks who say it's the end of the line are sadly mistaken. Give me horizons that you can see rather than non-stop traffic any day!!!