Moving to Vancouver from Florida (Camas, Battle Ground: houses, top school, live in)

[RedMc]

I'm moving from Clearwater, FL to the Vancouver area. I have some questions about the area. My wife is a little concerned about the weather and the lack of sun. We have been out to the area in the summer and loved it, but my wife has heard all the horror stories about the rain and the clouds in the winter. I look forward to the lack of sun, because where we live now the summers are way too HOT and long. In the summer we go from A/C houses - to A/C cars to - A/C buildings. That's if we are not boarding up for a hurricane. Can anyone shine some light on this subject? I have heard a lot of good things about the schools in Camas, but I was wondering about the schools in Battle Ground, Washougal and Vancouver. We have to boys in Elementary school, which we are proud to say are both in the gifted program for students who are excelling in school. Can anyone tell me about programs like this in that area? The last thing for me is about the extra activities like Little League. I'm looking to go out there and get use to the area and then move the family out at a later date. I would like to hear some of the things you like about the area. I thank you for any help and if there is something I'm missing please add it.

John

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by RedMc

I'm moving from Clearwater, FL to the Vancouver area. I have some questions about the area. My wife is a little concerned about the weather and the lack of sun. We have been out to the area in the summer and loved it, but my wife has heard all the horror stories about the rain and the clouds in the winter. I look forward to the lack of sun, because where we live now the summers are way too HOT and long. In the summer we go from A/C houses - to A/C cars to - A/C buildings. That's if we are not boarding up for a hurricane. Can anyone shine some light on this subject? I have heard a lot of good things about the schools in Camas, but I was wondering about the schools in Battle Ground, Washougal and Vancouver. We have to boys in Elementary school, which we are proud to say are both in the gifted program for students who are excelling in school. Can anyone tell me about programs like this in that area? The last thing for me is about the extra activities like Little League. I'm looking to go out there and get use to the area and then move the family out at a later date. I would like to hear some of the things you like about the area. I thank you for any help and if there is something I'm missing please add it.

John

Camas and Washougal are fantastic areas. I grew up there and miss them terribly. (We're in AZ right now...and I SOOOO understand your thing with the A/C from car, to home, to work, etc.)

The NW weather is pretty funky. I've seen days with rain, shine, snow, hail, ice, thunder, and sun again...all in one day. Camas is pretty mild with snow usually only in the higher elevations like Prune Hill, Fern Prairie, and Bear Prairie. Washougal's weather tend to be a bit colder in the wintertime, mainly because of it's proximity to the Columbia River Gorge. The gorge blows very cold air from eastern WA/OR during the wintertime.

But there will be days here and there where the sky will be ice blue, without a single cloud with crisp air and a chill. It's sunny, all right...but maybe only 42 degrees outside. It's gorgeous, but chilly. Your wife is right about there being lots of cloudy days. I don't see it as a big deal. I kind of like and miss the rains. But there are also lots of sunny days, too. Just not usually in the wintertime.

Here's a good breakdown on the weather by season:

Winter: cold, wet, sometimes sunny, windy, occasional snow/ice storms
Spring: warmer days, 50/50 wet and sunny, windy...typical Spring type stuff
Summer: even warmer days, rains occasionally but not much after July 4th
Fall: still warm sometimes into late Sept/early Oct, cooler evenings, crisper days, rains come more frequently than they did in the summer

When it's warm, there's usually little humidity, (less than 30%). When the humidity increases, it's normally colder and ends up raining.

If your wife is seriously concerned about the lack of sun during the wintertime, make sure your home as lots of window and good sun exposure. That really does seem to help. Even overcast days can be bright enough.

If you have any other questions, ask away. I lived most of my life in that area and love it.

[Flzia]

Hey REDMC, my husband and I live in Port Richey, Fl. Just north of you by 30 minutes. We are also moving to Vancouver area,don't really know when yet.(we have family in Beaverton, Or) and are also looking for honest info about the area. I really can relate about the heat, and hurricanes. Weve been here for 12 years and at first it was fun, but now I'm just burned out on the whole thing. Ready to move on. My husband is less enthusiastic about it. He loves all the fishing and boating. We are looking for property to build a house on, about an acre or so. So good luck in your venture.

[momof5]

you need to worry about gray clouds. We are talking Mid October through mid july... if you don't like gray find someplace sunnier like Bend or Roseburg or even Corvallis is better.

East county schools are good. Fisher's landing is the top school in the state... we have boys there and they are so happy there.

We are looking to move next year due to the damp and the mold and the rain but mostly the CLOUDS!!!

Interested in a house swap? HEE HEE.
Good luck you your search. Vancouver itself is a nice town. I like it better than Portland which is close and you get to do lots of fun stuff there but Vancouver has a better home feel.