Out of California and heading to Oregon

[artist traveler]

Thank you guys so much for all of the thoughtful suggestions! This really helps me narrow places down a bit.

[jdland]

I'm from Roseburg. You might try Glide. It has a bank, a small grocery store, and borders the Umpqua National Forrest. There is snow there in the winter and is on the way to Diamond and Crater Lake. Roseburg is only 20 minutes away for larger shopping purchases.

Glide runs right by the beautiful North Umpqua River and is close the Umpqua trail that zig zags back and forth across the highway for easy access. This trail can be used to hike a short distance or for days. Waterfalls dot along this highway and are absolutely breathtaking.

[ClassicalContractor]

Well, there's a reason that I always say Oakridge is the best-kept secret in the state, if not the entire Pacific Northwest.

As another poster suggested, it sounds like you need to be in the foothills of the Cascades. That is precisely where Oakridge is, on the WEST side of the mountains, so we have a much milder climate than you would find on the east side. Having said that, we still get about 12 inches of snow a year, so we do get some of the white stuff but not too much. We are also high enough in elevation that we are ABOVE the fog line that socks in much of the western half of the state in the winter.

Surrounded by green? How does surrounded by a National Forest sound?

Land and housing prices are what you would find normally on the east side of the state.

Small-town America? Right down to one of the last A&W car hops in the country. Talk about Americana! They closed down the last A&W car hop in California a couple of years ago.

We are on a major highway (58) only a 35-45 minute drive to the Eugene-Springfield area to the west and about a 20-minute drive to the breath-taking Salt Creek Falls and a ski area at the pass to the east.

Just do a Google on Oakridge and look it up here at city-data.

[artist traveler]

Nice, thanks! I'll keep checking back every so often for new responses.