Drowning in OREGON!

[LoveJesus]

I lived in Oregon for over 10 years and will not go back. It IS beautiful and all that, but it is really bad for arthritis. I knew so many people there who were crippled with arthritis. It's too damp and unhealthy like that.

[live4kidz]

My husband and I have planned our week long trip in May to check out some sunnier and drier spots in Oregon. We live in the Portland area. 3 of our 4 adult kids live here, and one of our grandkids. Most all of my family is in the Portland/Vancouver area. It's home! Having lived away from 'home' in NV, AZ, San Diego, UT and TX with husband's job transfers, can I just say that we just can't shake off this dreary, wet, grayness that does prevail here. I never grew webbed feet!! We just plain feel fantastic in the drier/sunnier climes. SAD is dramatically affecting my husband - and I have found myself getting depressed - alot - this past winter. I am a motivational speaker, trainer/consultant. Go figure! This is NOT my nature. Last summer was the best summer Oregon has seen in many a year and I thrived!! I felt on top of the world. We are going to check out K-Falls ( I know, not much there - but we'd rather feel good!!). Also going to check out Shady Cove - east of Medford, I believe, about 20-25 miles. Bend is too expensive, as is Ashland, Jacksonville areas. Putting on rain gear and toughing it out in the rain may be some people's approach. Not mine. I actually have pain from all the dampness - get inflamed in my feet, knees, shoulders - any place I have ever had an injury or a surgery. We moved back to Portland in 1978 for 5 yrs. I was young, a swimmer, danced alot, bowled, played tennis and operated a preschool with 3 kids I was raising! I actually had pain and inflammation back then - being young! Again, so unlike me to be slowed down at all then or now. We moved in 1983 to San Diego for 8 yrs. Wow! No more daily aspirin regimen for me - and we all felt fantastic and got into sailing and other water sports, lots of tennis and swimming, running, bicycling! We moved home to take care of my mom in late 2003 to be greeted by that awful snow and freeze. So many people getting into accidents and injured in falls! Our kids are doing well in jobs and one is completing her degree at a fine university. It may be we'll hang onto our large home and rent it out to our kids, maintaining the lower level 1100 sq. ft. of fully self-contained area for our 'apartment' when we come back on visits and short stays.
Just wanted to lend a sympathetic word of support. Has anyone read "The Power of Place"? It's a great book! Pick up a copy - and you'll see just why we are so affected by our environment/climate, etc.

[live4kidz]

Just a word on all those years of endless blue and cloudless skies. . . .we grew tired of the constant weather patterns in San Diego. We preferred the 4 seasons afforded in higher levels areas of AZ and UT. 4 distinct seasons, each having alot of sunshine - but the blazing colors of Fall, the crisp, cool air of late Fall and Winter, the warmth of Spring with flowers poking through the remnants of snow fall on the ground. . . . . much preferred that to the sameness of a mediterranean climate, which alot of CA has.

[pinkpantherfan]

As a California resident (Escondido) I absolutely can't wait until I can get my job transfer to the Portland area. I plan to retire on the Oregon coast in 3 years, but for now Portland will be home. I hate, hate, hate the hot weather in summer here in CA followed by the hot Santa Ana winds in the late summer/fall, and constant "red flag" fire danger warnings when they blow. By August everything is dry and brown and everytime I smell smoke, I start panicking. The Cedar Fires of 2003 are all too fresh in my mind. 16 people died and about 2600 homes were burned to the ground. I was sitting at my computer that first day of the fire about 2 pm and all of a sudden it was really dark, like twilight. I went to the window and saw the mountains 4 miles away in flames. I packed up my pickup and stayed up all night watching, ready to run. The police announced on the news that when they came to your street to tell you to leave, they meant leave NOW, not start packing to leave. Unless you've lived through it, you can't understand the horror. So, I view rain and cool air as heaven. As far as I'm concerned the Oregon coast is absolute heaven with the fresh cool air, beautiful beaches and yes, rain! I have good rain gear--foot wear, Gortex parka, polar fleece, and when I live in Oregon I'll walk rain or shine. Those who love the crowds and hot dry weather of California and the horrible over-inflated house prices can have them, and as for Arizona--that's Hell on Earth to me!

[janb]

Originally Posted by live4kidz

My husband and I have planned our week long trip in May to check out some sunnier and drier spots in Oregon. We live in the Portland area. 3 of our 4 adult kids live here, and one of our grandkids. ...

Have you considered a dry place in WA? The Rainmap posted under "banana belt' in WA forum is helpful... WA really does have the most diverse climate of USA . (and cool nights in summer are nice)
Sequim, San Juan Island, White Salmon, Walla Walla.

I have considered a few places in OR, but... there are some significant disadvantages. In-Laws live in Roseburg, but due to the danger of OR section of I-5, we avoid getting together much. I had to do frequent trips up WA I-5 (sometimes daily) it is a much safer commute, and A LOT less 'road rage' prone. Commuting to Walla Walla / tricities wouldn't be too bad for family stuff. I'm leary of the 'gray' winter of eastside (I'm a Colorado kid, can handle the cold, but miss the sun).

Our kids just finished college, and I finish in May and was hoping to move to drier clime, but... spouse isn't giving up our 'Gorge View' so easy. The family wasn't too happy when I moved them to the gorge from our beautiful fruit farm in Hazel Dell. I just couldn't take the work of that + traveling internationally 26 weeks / yr and home schooling. I was also tired of fighting Clark County Land use, as they were surrounding our farm with apartments (non-complying zoning... )

[live4kidz]

Just getting back onto this forum . . . .it's been hit and miss for me lately with work and other things going on. Interesting post from janb about the drier places in WA state. We have visited - twice - the Tri-Cities area, where my cousin and his wife have moved (West Pasco - which is growing quickly and has very affordable housing, comparatively speaking to many areas in the NW). Economy is strong, more sunny days than found in western regions of either WA or OR. However, we also have found the gorge route impassable for months at a time due to ice, windy, blinding/driving rains! My husband used to work WA and OR and travel the gorge - getting stuck because of a big semi overturned in bad weather, etc. You get the picture. Walla Walla looks like a grea community - but for working retiriees - the jobs would be 40-50 miles drive to the Tri-Cities area, reportedly. I can work a home-based business and not have to travel, but currently am doing in-state travel, mostly, with my job as a trainer/consultant. I would simply reopen a home-studio - arts based enrichment program for 3-6 yr. olds, which I think would be well received in the Walla Walla area. There is a fair amount of culture there, the university, a healthy arts and crafts community, as well. My husband would be more challenged to find work if we moved there. Sequim gets 14 inches of rain/yr. - equal to that of Los Angeles, however, everywhere else around there - outside of Sequim - gets heavy rainfalls - and there is higher humidity. Not what I am looking for. Arthritis problems already sort of slowing me down living back in Portland the past 3.5 yrs. In May we are going to check out Medford, Shady Cove, K-Falls (although KF is sort of cut off from everything). We know that Bend is colder - and more expensive. We know that some years back I-5 caved in due to heavy rainfalls. If we could afford it, we'd have a place in Prescott, AZ for part of the year - almost a mile high - not too much snow, lots of sunshine and never gets too hot or too cold. Great community - starting to become more expensive, though. As for AZ being a hell hole, well - we lived in Tucson for 8 yrs and traveled to the White Mountains and Prescott alot - and loved those areas - which are more treed and green. Prescott has purportedly the largest stand of Pine trees in the nation! Water not scarce there, either. No hurricanse, tornadoes, earthquakes, humidity, - no heavy damaging rains. Some friends just wrote us that they are moving to Moses Lake - he is coming out of retirement and will be working again as a civil engineer there. They currently live in Shoreline, WA - no. of Seattle - and have lived there for 3 yrs. - too much congestion for them. They'll rent out their $700,000 condo and purchase for much cheaper in Moses Lake - which is in the Scablands (so called) and much, much drier, from what I know.

[PNW-type-gal]

KFalls and Bend have a very similar climate, with KFalls being a little drier - so if Bend is too cold for you, KFalls will be, too. We looked at Lakeview, Prineville, Redmond, Sisters, Bend, LaPine, Sunriver, even Madras before picking KFalls to build.

We looked at Prescott, AZ, too, about 5 years ago and passed on a lot, which we now regret, as the person who bought our option for it sold it 3 months ago for 5x what we would have paid. Definitely one of those very "bubble" heavy areas, but I think the area is so attractive to retirees that the bubble is not going to deflate much.