Husband possibly getting job @ ONP - moving to Peninsula (Seattle: to rent, home)

[LostDogs68]

Hi everyone! For the past 5 years since our first road trip out West I have been in love with WA and planning on making our move. We are now living in S.Jersey and we are 49 and 51. My husband last month applied for a Construction Mgmt job @ Olympic and we are waiting to hear back on the interview date. Two kids, 20 in college in PA and 15 a sophomore in a very expensive private high school (looking forward to being done with that tuition). We are huge hikers, campers and National Park lovers. We are looking towards the 3rd chapter in life but a little afraid since we will be leaving behind our parents who are 79/80 and not in the best health. We are the only two siblings from each side that have been taking care of them for 20 years and being their constant so this is a huge life decision for us. The other siblings we leave behind are close by and we feel that they can now pick up some slack. Possibly my father might even make the move with us.
Couple questions.

1. How is the local High School in PA?
2. Is Sequim more retired folks?
3. Is PA considered part of the rain shadow or does Sequim definitely get all that extra sun?
4. He's allowed a 50 miles radius to live, is Whidbey Island within 50 miles if they include the Ferry travel?

Thanks for any and all advice and insight you may have.

LD68

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by LostDogs68

Hi everyone! For the past 5 years since our first road trip out West I have been in love with WA and planning on making our move. We are now living in S.Jersey and we are 49 and 51. My husband last month applied for a Construction Mgmt job @ Olympic and we are waiting to hear back on the interview date. Two kids, 20 in college in PA and 15 a sophomore in a very expensive private high school (looking forward to being done with that tuition). We are huge hikers, campers and National Park lovers. We are looking towards the 3rd chapter in life but a little afraid since we will be leaving behind our parents who are 79/80 and not in the best health. We are the only two siblings from each side that have been taking care of them for 20 years and being their constant so this is a huge life decision for us. The other siblings we leave behind are close by and we feel that they can now pick up some slack. Possibly my father might even make the move with us.
Couple questions.

1. How is the local High School in PA?
2. Is Sequim more retired folks?
3. Is PA considered part of the rain shadow or does Sequim definitely get all that extra sun?
4. He's allowed a 50 miles radius to live, is Whidbey Island within 50 miles if they include the Ferry travel?

Thanks for any and all advice and insight you may have.

LD68

1. I cannot speak on this with any direct knowledge.
2. Sequim is mostly a retirement town, but that could change over time. It is only about 15 miles from PA.
3. Part of PA does get some rainshadow effect. Sequim is the main beneficiary, though PT is also in the rainshadow (to a larger degree than PA is).
4. PT is about 50 miles from PA, so the short ferry ride over to Whidbey puts it over 50 miles. And I don’t think Whidbey is in the rain shadow, or at least not much.

[LostDogs68]

Thanks for your input! I thought I saw the rain shadow map hitting part of Whidbey. Is Whidbey Island a completely different feel than over on the Peninsula? Do most locals jump on the ferry to get over to the mainland or do they do they drive (if you know)
Thanks!

[CrazyDonkey]

The crossing from Whidbey Island to PT can be stormy, canceling some ferry runs. Low tides can also cause cancellations.

Port Angeles HS and Sequim HS are rated as B- at Niche. Port Townsend HS is rated as B+. All have Advanced Placement Programs. Check out the Running Start program at Peninsula College in Port Angeles: Running Start | Peninsula College

If looking at GreatSchools' rankings, realize that they are 100% based on test scores, which are highly correlated with family income.

For the rain shadow:



Sequim does get more sunny days than Seattle, for instance, but many non-rainy days are still cloudy (because the clouds have dumped their rain. See:

Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Is Sequim the Sunniest Place in Western Washington?

For mid-winter (Nov, Dec, Jan) there were 20 mostly sunny days in Sequim and 4 in Seattle, but the number of cloudy days were the same. His number of "dreary" days (very low amount of solar radiation) is far higher in Seattle (19) than Sequim (5). His web site (Olympic Rain Shadow - Information and Resources) also reveals that Port Angeles is nearly as sunny as Sequim.

[LostDogs68]

Thank you for your input CrazyDonkey! I think if it turns into an absolute, we will have to rent for awhile to get our bearings.

[pikabike]

My impression was that most locals would drive over Hood Canal Bridge etc to reach the mainland rather than ferrying to Whidbey.

The PT-Coupeville ferry will have routine cancellations due to very low tides and/or bad weather.

But the Hood Canal Bridge brings its own travel bugaboos, namely closures to crossing because a submarine is going through. If it were only the time of actual vessel passage, that wouldn’t take so long. Yet sometimes the wait is very long, possibly due to security fears.

It is best not to *have to* commute between the OP and mainland.

[CrazyDonkey]

50 miles from Port Angeles would include Port Hadlock, Chimacum, Port Ludlow, and Quilcene.

Here's an interesting property:

https://olympic.craigslist.org/reb/d...389998548.html

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

I don’t live in Sequim, but there are a number of young families there, in addition to many retired people. I’m past my child-rearing days, but know people whose children have graduated from both Sequim & PA high schools, or have kids that are currently in school, & are satisfied with the schools, although I think overall that Sequim HS is favored. I know nothing about the HS in Port Townsend.

Where will your husband work? On Whidbey? Or somewhere in the Olympic NP, which is huge? Also, where would his work station be, close to PA, over by Forks, or what? As pikabike said, the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville (on Whidbey) is often cancelled in winter due to weather, & is so packed with tourists in summer that it requires reservations. If you live on the peninsula, you generally cross the Hood Canal Bridge & take either the Kingston-Edmonds ferry or the Bainbridge ferry, both of which basically drop you in Seattle, which is far from Whidbey.

It’s really not possible to live on Whidbey & commute to the Olympic Peninsula for work, or vice versa, unless you have a crash pad at your work site and only come home on days off.

[LostDogs68]

Thanks Marcia
He would be working for the Olympic National Park so we would be living somewhere on either Olympic or Kitsap. I was just curious if Whidbey commute would be an option. Thank you!

[pikabike]

For sanity over commuting, Sequim or PA would be best, unless he will be stationed on the west end part of ONP. Then Forks might be a candidate.

PT high school was meh, from what I heard. Just on my little (former) block, two families pulled their kids from PT and sent them to Bainbridge and Poulsbo, respectively. Both families ended up moving to those towns. But at first, the family whose kid went to Poulsbo drove her to Chimacum, where other families brought their kids. There were enough of them that a small bus then drove the kids from Chimacum to Poulsbo!

Why PT refused to consider merging their HS with that of Chimacum, as some suggested, I don’t know. Any time the subject came up, it was met with a stony silence. Many smaller towns do just that, combine forces to offer more to their students by economy of scale.

Back to the ferry idea...the PT-Coupeville run can be cancelled any time of year sheerly due to very low tide levels. The ferry could run aground if depth is is ignored. However, it is most likely to happen near the solstices and either full moon or new moon, and especially if coinciding with some other astronomical events.