Family says move.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by nyphotographer

Our background- Me: Data center Technician and Landscape Photographer,
Wife: Retail Manager, Three children 10, 9, 2 years old.
Prefer: outdoor activities such as camping, fly fishing, hiking, culture and the arts.
Don’t want to be to far from the coast or mountains
Home life: Prefer country setting with some property- minimum 1 acre.
Commute: Although I don’t want to live in the city, my line of work forces me to
Stay within commuting distance (no more then an hour and fifteen minutes)

OK- these are the basics, any areas come to mind? Just looking for basic stuff
Now. I will be out there in June and would like to visit a few of these areas.
As well as discuss this with all of you as the replies start coming in!

Thanks!!

You might also look into the Camas area, too, when you visit. It has great schools for the kids, is close enough to Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR that your commute to either wouldn't be horrible (could be anywhere from 10-60 minutes depending on when and where you'd be commuting to), has some pretty great residents, low crime, nice hiking trails around LaCamas Lake, a small art gallery, a phenomenal new library, the new "Jack Will & Rob Center" which is run by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland, is within 2 hours of either the WA or OR coast, is within a couple hours of skiing/snowboarding, and is within an hour or so of excellent hiking, hunting, and camping in the Gifford Pinchot National Forrest.

Good luck and hope you enjoy your visit! I love the NW and can't wait to get back there. We're currently in AZ so I totally understand your desire to avoid the brown dusty wasteland areas.

[scirocco22]

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[diggitydot]

I just can't wait to get out of the desert. I'm soooooo tired of the "brown cloud" of dust and crap in the air. Being born and raised in the NW, it's odd to live somewhere with weather that is ALWAYS sunny. Seems almost surreal, at times. And I miss having grass in my yard instead of rocks.

Or maybe it's just the people. They're very different here than what I was used to in the NW. When I hold open a door for the person behind me, the person behind me looks at me like I have six heads or something. I helped an elderly lady while she was trying to get a gallon of milk out of the cooler at the store the other day and you'd have thought I'd just given her a kidney or something the way she reacted. Common courtesy is just not nearly as common here as what I'm accustomed to.

Not that everyone or everything is horrible, not in the least. I guess I'm just homesick.