Where To Go?
This winter has been hard on a lot of us here on the Oregon Coast this year. It’s been nothing but rain and wind since October. I always tell people I moved here for the gloom, but this winter was more that I ever bargained for. This was the first time we’ve actually considered moving somewhere a bit less gloomy.
Aside from me I’ve been hearing from others who are contemplating a move as well. We are mostly people with horses. One couple plans to move to Eastern Oregon in four years. Another person just wants out. I’ve been emailing another friend that has been sending me horse property listings from Kentucky and West Virginia, but if you’ve ever lived through a summer there this isn’t something that should ever be considered.
My wife would like to move somewhere in the Willamette Valley but not Eugene because of the way I pronounce the name of that town ( Ewe-Gene). I’d enjoy something more desolate like the Blue Mountains or Montana.
No matter where one wants to go there is always a draw-back and that is usually the climate. It’s either too wet, or cold, or hot, or humid. The only place I’ve ever been where the climate was perfect all year was the area of the Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii. One could move there, but then you’d have to contend with Rock Fever. When I first considered moving there 24 years ago, every one I talked with warned me of Rock Fever and how it has driven many people mad over the years. This is a condition where you realize you are living on a big volcanic rock in the middle of the Pacific and you’ll do anything to get away.
Anyway, a move is seriously being considered. Aside from the over-abundance of gloom, I will not miss the growth and sprawl of this area. I will not miss the local media, which I don’t miss now since I no longer read local publications or listen to local radio. Most of all I won’t miss local politics, past and present. They are all big frogs in a small pond, a very small pond. I wonder how they sleep at night.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
14 Comments:
Missouri is great for horses, but it's too EVERYTHING at one time or another. Sometimes too cold (we hit zero the last two winters, fairly often), sometimes too hot (not uncommon for summer temps to be 100 plus), sometimes too much humidity. Can be too dry or too wet. Oh, and there are the tornadoes.
On the plus side, whatever kind of weather you like, you're bound to get it at some point if you hang around.
If I had horses and bees? Okanagan Valley...interior southern BC.
Moose
this weather continues to suck, big time. and even though I was born here, it's even been wearing me down this year.
Spend a day looking around Silverton, OR.
Scio is another really nice town.
There are many quiet, ANTI-growth small towns in the Willamette Valley.
It would be nice for me if you stayed fairly local. One day I hope to blow this pop stand and actually get back there to meet you in person. On the other hand, I've also been thinking about Montana. Maybe I'll start my own dental floss farm there.
I used to live and work as a stockman in the Blues and it is nice..but it was so isolated. Lots of distance between camp and retail outlets. I know there's some good pasture country on the east slope of the north Cascades in Oregon..
This area is getting so overcrowded and screwed up. I've been here sixty years and I have seen some changes, yeah, but mostly in the past 10-15 years. So many new people and, for me, running into someone from the olden days around here is getting to be a rare occurence
I'm not a fan of what Astoria has turned into. Not the same place it used to be. I look back at trying to be involved in local politics and laugh at myself. And move on I have! Brownsmead is heaven though. I love it here during the summer.
On second thought, forget Scio.
Folks there don't wear thongs.
:-0
Sure was nice today................finally.
Donna, Missouri is nice in May and October, And here it is is nice from July through October, so that's two more months.
Moose, Good choice, and I've always wanted to become a Canadian. Wonder if I can pass the test to get in.
Anon, this could be a long cycle.
Gearhead, we could be neighbors, what's the code for your gate.
Anon, I've only been here since 1989 and the changes I've seen are a bit much. I can only imagine how you feel.
g, but that leaves the rest of the year.
Gearhead, Jordan will put in a good word for me, and I'm wearing Keens these days. I could never find that same sandal I used to wear.
Anon, It was after the hail storm.
My wife and I moved to Aiken, South Carolina about 18 months ago, specifically because of our horses. You'd probably not even consider it, because of the summer heat, but we moved from Nebraska, where it was cold and snowy (you can learn to adapt to the summer heat). Aiken is a very distinctive and interesting place because it has integrated horses, and horse activities, so naturally and so completely into the town (training tracks, polo fields, dirt streets, etc., right in the middle of town; Hitchcock Woods, a huge forest with riding trails, that can never be "developed," right in the middle of town). The street signs even have horse heads on them. I've never seen another place like this - it's a real mecca for horse people.
Michael,
Having lived on the East Coast for 33 years one of the reasons I moved to Oregon was to escape the heat and humidity of the summers there. The Carolinas and Kentucky are what is considered the heart of horse country, but i couldn't stand the heat and air conditioned arenas are out of the question.
Where in the east did you live? Of course, a lot of people who live here in Aiken, who can afford it, leave during the summer to retreat back to Vermont or Massachusetts or wherever their other home is located. We'd do that too, if we could afford it. If weather is the prime consideration, then I can't see why you'd move in the first place. As you said, the only "perfect" weather in the U.S. is probably in Hawaii, but besides the problem you mentioned, it's horrendously expensive to live there. It's hard for anyplace in the east, midwest, south, etc., to compete with the west coast for nice weather, at least in terms of temperature. It's all a question of personal priorities, of course. For us, the unique "horsiness" of Aiken overrode the hot summer downside. I grew up in the south, so that probably is a factor too in my tolerance for the heat.
New Jersey
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