My recent Oregon vacation ...

[mdvaden]

Read your other topic ealier today. And replied here and here if I link this right:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/9286358-post58.html

and

http://www.city-data.com/forum/9286358-post59.html

Guess Astoria is an okay town. Seems that's the city with the mutiple DUI mayor. Cute place though. Not far from Portland and a lot of other coast towns. Pretty stormy though - like a double whammy in the winter, due to the Columbia River.

I like the north coast a lot though.

[ACTS Mom]

Funny how we can so differ in our perceptions...we've been up and down the coast of Oregon several times and to some of the inland cities/towns. We'll stay as far away from Portland as possible! The Willamette Valley was indeed beautiful and some of the areas actually look like postcard pictures. Crater Lake is awesome! But for any length of time, we prefer the southern coast by far. I think I could live on Cape Blanco if they'd let me!

Being a southern girl, and having made my home in Florida for many years, I really need sunshine. On the northern coast - or even inland in the northern half of Oregon - sunshine is more of a rarity than anything else. The sun shines quite a lot more from say Salem southward.

Then eastern Oregon is like another world, but all of Oregon has its own brand of beauty.

[spike klobas]

lewis and clark had a bad time there. but all the coast is lovely and the people are odd to the right degree. just enough to fun. try tillmook co. close to portland for shopping but after awhile you will not want to go to portland. rather walk on beach or hike , fish .

[ACTS Mom]

We're leaving tomorrow morning, heading for the Oregon coast! We're taking 2 1/2 - 3 weeks for the trip out so we can enjoy some of the other sites along the way. I can't wait to go to Cape Blanco SP again...we'll probably spend most of our time at the beautiful campsites there!

[bluebird39]

"""Overall, to us, it seemed like a bunch of uptight, wealthy people who thought they were better and too good to smile or say hi."""

LOL! We lived in Medford and Central Point for many years, and even before the big housing boom (and bust), we used to say similar things. There used to be more normal people there, but over the years they've been pushed out by the housing prices. There are still a few, some I call friends, but overall, Ashland is quite the anomaly. Unfortunately, they have some of the best schools in the area, but few families can afford to live there.

When I first moved to Oregon from Louisiana, I felt exactly the same.... each turn of the road was breathtaking. I still miss the beauty, and we're actually looking at job opportunities in the Portland area and in Pendleton.

The coast is beautiful!! It's one of the amazing jewels of Oregon. Yes, its gets LOTS of rain, and in the winter, being so far North it's going to be difficult to live there if you're affected by weather. If you live in Missouri, I'd keep that in mind that even in Southern Oregon, the days during the winter are going to feel incredibly short, while the reverse is true in the North. It took me a few years to get used to it after moving there. Michigan is very similar, but at least we have a blanket of snow on the ground all winter to reflect any light. I actually like winters here in Northern Michigan better than in Oregon, but really miss the other 3 seasons of the year in Oregon, except fire season....

I'll have to take a look at your pictures. Glad you had a good time.

Oh, BTW, we were looking at a job in Salem too, and that might be a good place to look... lots more families there it seems, and lower housing costs, still close to a big airport... DH didn't' get the job though....

[Smiled]

Glad you had a nice time. I love it here. As for the climate, it's like this: On Oct. 1 there is a 20% chance of rain on a given day. On Oct. 31 it's 80%. November-March are mostly cloudy+light rain, with some times a week of blue sky/a false spring. Southern / Central OR are sunnier but colder.