Posted by Melody on 7/28/05 11:38pm
Msg #55534

OT / Life in the Pacific Northwest is good. Read and weep.

You've seen postcards of the Pacific Northwest. Large bodies of water with small islands filled with pine trees. Mainland pictures show snow-capped mountains of 10,000' or more.

It is all true.

Lush green farmlands, stepped foothills, and huge 5-acre gardens. This is my NSA coverage area.

Fish is fresh, cheap, and plentiful. Right now I am enjoying fresh cooked Dungeness crabmeat at $14 a pound. Fresh caught filleted salmon is $6 a pound - less if you go down to the docks and buy off the boats.

My county is the US leader in raspberry and blueberry production and sales. We get both at the farms' curbsides' cardtables for $1.25 a pint.

Tired of the country life? One of the world's most sophisticated cities - Vancouver, Canada - is less than an hour north.

Weather here is mild. Mid-70s in summer. It hit 80 today and people were consoling each other on the miserable heat while standing in grocery store aisles. It's mostly 40s in the winter. We only get 10 days of snow in early January. No one wants to sign loans right after the Holidays so I visit friends in San Franciso then. I may go to Italy this winter.

I post all this to brag and make you feel envious. We are saturated with NSAs here.

But if you have a new career in mind, you might start thinking about moving to the Pacific Northwest.

Reply by TCMN on 7/28/05 11:51pm
Msg #55538

Life in the Pacific Northwest is good-not liking you now...


I'm very envious. I would trade the signings for that.

We've had like 21 days or something at 93 or higher. Grass is NOT all that green unless your "stealing" water on the oppisite days your supposed to by setting your sprinkler to start at 2am when noone would ever know.

The flowers are leaning away from the sun and die after one day if you forget to water them (so forget going to the cabin for a weekend unless you're willing to pay someone to sweat standing still doing it for you).

A pint or blueberries or raspberries cost $2.50 to $4.00 a pint last week. Not to mention cherries are $6.00/lb.

I could eat 2-3 of the little lobster tails but it would cost me about $45 and that's frozen.


When we trading places?

Reply by missy_socal on 7/29/05 12:10am
Msg #55541

Where exactly are you located, Melody? If you don't mind me asking...

One of my and my husband's favorite things to do is compare real estate in different areas of the country. (it's actually a little self-torturing, really) Wait, we could have ALL THAT for THAT price???
There was a website that had the top 100 best small towns in the U.S....a neat site. One of these days we'll actually get up the nerve to cash out and GO!

I adore the Pacific Northwest...it's beyond beautiful. I also really like Ohio, for some reason. :-)

Reply by Melody on 7/29/05 11:52am
Msg #55657

Cheap no longer

4 years ago this county was cheap to live in.

Then it made #2 on AARP's 100 best small towns to retire in.

House prices have doubled in 4 years. A modest 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath house goes for around a quarter million now.

But there are still wonderful and cheap undiscovered towns in Washington and Oregon. NSAs are in every one of them. So pack your bags, change careers, and come on out!

Reply by ChristiSocal on 7/29/05 2:21am
Msg #55564

ahh Melody, your're being mean! It's been so hot here

Reply by ChristiSocal on 7/29/05 2:24am
Msg #55565

hit enter instead of message. soo finishing my message

it's so hot here-- I'm not sure if it's hot flashes or not.

Reply by rfeliciano on 7/29/05 8:43am
Msg #55589

oh my gosh that sounds gorgeous!!!
where are you?

Reply by Lisa/WI on 7/29/05 9:07am
Msg #55592

Melody,
Are you in Washington?? If yes, my significant other lived there and explained the weather just as you did. He said it was the perfect place as far as weather went. And also gorgeous country.

Reply by Charles_CA on 7/29/05 10:38am
Msg #55608

Re: OT / Not in the Pacific NW but don't weep

Hi Melody:

I'm glad you are enjoyeing your life inthe Pacific Northwest, but there is no need to weep. Yesterday my day was filled with clear skies, a crisp breeze from the ocean kept the temp to about 68 and then the fog came in after dark. It was a great night for sleeping. This morning the fog has burned off by 7AM and we are in for another crystal clear day. Our average daily temperature varies less than 20 degrees throughout the year and we may have frost three days out of the year. Water spouts out of the hillsides all around me and I have a stream cutting across my fields which are irrigated from my own dam in the towering redwoods. I live on the banks of a navigable river and can walk downtown and to the ocean. This morning there was a herd of deer chomping on my pear tree, seals barking in the river, hawks wheeling overhead, and a family of osprey teaching their young how to fly. When it starts raiing every day for 9 months in October I'll be thinking of you while sitting on my deck in California, still enjoying the great weather. Our rain starts seriously after New Years and ends by April. We even get some nice days in between. We are hardly saturated with notarys or much of anything else for that matter. My county has only 60,000 inhabitants and is primarily agriculture. the area is mountainous and hard to get around in. We are 150 mile North of San Francisco but it takes 4 hours to get here. I belong to the local chamber of commerce and the lodging association, check out this area at gomendo.com and www.mendocinocoast.com. Please feel free to visit anytime, we love visitors, but don't forget to go home afterwards, there's not a whole lot to do to make a living in this area.

Reply by Kate in CA on 7/29/05 10:58am
Msg #55619

Re: OT / Not in the Pacific NW but don't weep

Hi Charles, I have been in the vicinity before. Absolutely beautiful!!