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Take a look at Hood River, Oregon, or the Bend area, or anywhere in the Willamette Valley that's outside of the urban centers of Portland and Eugene. Nature at your doorstep, a strong fitness/leisure culture, and hiking & biking galore.
Take a look at Hood River, Oregon, or the Bend area, or anywhere in the Willamette Valley that's outside of the urban centers of Portland and Eugene. Nature at your doorstep, a strong fitness/leisure culture, and hiking & biking galore.
I've thought about Bend, however, the 300 days of sunshine a year is scaring me away. I like long, snowy overcast winters and preferably a mostly overcast fall. Summers and spring are fine if sunny and warm. I've heard that Bend is one of the sunniest places.
300 days of sunshine?!? Must be some other Bend. One website I found states 162 sunny days per year in Bend. The other part of city-data.com, the part that has actual data on cities, has charts showing that Bend is below the US average in sunshine:
Bend does get more snow than the Willamette Valley. The valley gets very little snow but does have overcast falls and winters, and springs, which does bother some people.
300 days of sunshine?!? Must be some other Bend. One website I found states 162 sunny days per year in Bend. The other part of city-data.com, the part that has actual data on cities, has charts showing that Bend is below the US average in sunshine:
Bend does get more snow than the Willamette Valley. The valley gets very little snow but does have overcast falls and winters, and springs, which does bother some people.
That map looks good in terms of overall mostly cloudy days. I was nervous because the Bend Chamber of Commerce, along with some posts on here, say that Bend gets over 300 days of sunshine. I guess it's better to go by the actual statistics.
I'm not really that big a fan of Idaho, although Boise is the one exception. Small, quiet city with lots of recreation and located within a day's drive of most attractions I would want to visit.
What do you mean by "not your crowd" in Eastern Washington? We have been looking at areas like Wentachee. It looks like there are lots of trails and biking. Is this in reference to healthy restaurants and fitness enthusiasts? Please explain further so we don't mistakenly move to the wrong area! Thanks!
Wenatchee is a working-class town. It does have a slight element of what you described, but after a visit, I think you'd see what I mean. The geography of Wenatchee works (keep in mind, it is incredibly hot there during summer), but places to the west like Leavenworth and Cashmere might be more your style.
Even a city like Spokane isn't as "outdoor enthusiast" as you'd might expect. I don't know what your knock is against Idaho, but I would also add Moscow to the list of places to check out. If you haven't been to North Idaho before, I'd strongly suggest a visit. It is absolutely heavenly from Moscow north to the Canadian border.
I will also add, since you mentioned this in your OP, that Eastern WA/North Idaho is the most "I live for the weekend" kind of place I've ever lived. If you want to find people that don't care about work, that is the place.
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