How many of us are from WA state??

[noodles]

Were in Bothell! My DD is begging me to turn the heat on, I think its finally time to fire up the furnace and start the spider watch!

 

[bouncy54]

This has been an AWESOME thread!

We're in AZ, but planning on moving to WA State as soon as we can sell our house. We haven't settled on any specific area yet, but are considering Island County, Skagit County (Anacortes & Bow), Kitsap County (Kingston, Pouslbo, Indianola) and Jefferson County (Sequim). My dad lives in Coupeville on Whidbey. I am already prepared to grow webbed feet. I'm excited to hydrate my dried out, parched AZ body.

It's been interesting to hear your thoughts on weather, traffic, city vs. rural life, etc. We're looking to be in a more rural area but need to be close enough to get into the city without traveling too terribly far. We also really want to be near the water.

Do most of you fly to DLR? I can't imagine doing that drive. I'm afraid our Disney trips will dramatically decrease once we are in the Pacific Northwest.

I love the Whidbey Island area. Lots of country living there.

We've drove down probably as many times as we've flown. When the kids were young, we enjoyed driving down HWY 101 along the Pacific. We'd always stop at the Sea Lion Caves, the Game Farm Park and the Red Woods along the way.

Driving I-5 is boring, but the quickest route...takes about 23 hours if you drive straight through. We only did this one time... our first trip to DL. That was when we were much, much younger and much less wise.

We love that short 2 1/2 hour flight...worth every penny to us. Why waste 4days traveling when you could spend all that time with Mickey?

 

[SnoWhite]

This has been an AWESOME thread!

Do most of you fly to DLR? I can't imagine doing that drive. I'm afraid our Disney trips will dramatically decrease once we are in the Pacific Northwest.

My DH and I usually fly to DL, but when I was younger my family and I would drive down every year. My Dad has family in CA so we would make a week and a half trip down and visit family along the way. It's actually a really fun drive as long as you don't do it during the winter! The pass can be bad, but it is kind of fun!

 

[spokanemom]

I am in Spokane and have been here for 14 years. Wow, time flies. I came from 'the other side', Kelso/Longview. I graduated from Kelso and all of my family is still in Longview.

I agree with all of you that think it is cold. I sat at my son's football practice tonight and froze my tookus off!

 

[hlbtimes2]

I'm in Federal Way, work in Kent.

 

[TripHHH]

Bouncy54.... Thanks! Ravensdale is nice. We LOVE it! Nothing beats drinking a cup of morning coffee while you watch a herd of antelope meander through your front yard.

KirklandTutu... If you like Chinese food, the Golden Phoenix at Four Corners is my favorite...and it's just up the road from Maple Valley. If you go, try their pot stickers....freshly made and wonderful! Also at Four Corners is the gift shop Quintessence....a really unique gift shop with lots of great finds.

 

[imjen]

We're in Maple Valley.

 

[WA Kay]

Mountlake Terrace….a few minutes North of Seattle and sadly, 1177 miles North of Disneyland. Western Washington is a beautiful place to live with moderate weather that has all four seasons but no extremes. I have lived here my entire life and can’t see myself ever leaving. I do love to visit different states but this is home.

 

[KirklandTutu]

Also at Four Corners is the gift shop Quintessence....a really unique gift shop with lots of great finds.

Quintessence gets WAY too much of my money! lol.

 

[disneycrazzzy]

We are from Kingston, WA.
North of Seattle and then West across the Puget Sound.
We have the best of both worlds....
rural living within an hour of downtown Seattle by ferry.
We worked for 20+ years in Poulsbo.
We now work from home.

We are off to Disneyland on the 24th.

 

[NannyPooh]

Representing Snohomish Washington here!
I actually grew up in Oregon, went to college in Idaho, and have been here for the past 15 years, raising our family!
Gotta love this area - if you look to the west, you see the Olympic Mountains, if you look East, you see the Cascades. South is Mt. Rainier, and to the North, we have a gorgeous view of Mt. Baker. Close to the beach and the ski hills...I just wish it was a little closer to Southern California!

 

[Vacation Dad]

bumbershoot – I have no personal experience with the restaurant BitterSweet, but I have heard a couple people say good things about it. Sorry I can’t help you more than that.

DangerMouse – There may be a few hearty souls who drive to Disneyland from up here, but most people fly. Our flights to John Wayne airport over Thanksgiving time were about $240 a person when the all the taxes & fees are added in.

And I must say that you have made some good choices in the areas you are looking to move to. Almost any of the places you mentioned we would move to in a minute if it wasn’t for unimportant things like jobs, kid’s schools, etc.

 

[DangerMouse]

DangerMouse – There may be a few hearty souls who drive to Disneyland from up here, but most people fly. Our flights to John Wayne airport over Thanksgiving time were about $240 a person when the all the taxes & fees are added in.

And I must say that you have made some good choices in the areas you are looking to move to. Almost any of the places you mentioned we would move to in a minute if it wasn’t for unimportant things like jobs, kid’s schools, etc.

Thanks! Fortunately, we don't have to worry about jobs or schools because my dh works from home and we homeschool. I think the biggest decision we need to make is how important is it for us to be in the rain shadow. My dh is leaning towards the peninsula (Kitsap County) because you can get more for your money, but ooooh my, does it look wet!

 

[lisah0711]

Coeur d'Alene Idaho here -- only about 10 miles from Washington. Dangermouse I lived in Mesa for 13 years before moving to Idaho almost 20 years ago. My Mom still lives in Mesa so we go back often but you can't beat the quality of life in the Pacific NW, especially if you have kids!

 

[jordansmomma]

Moses Lake, WA here. It has been FREEZING here!!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

Thanks! Fortunately, we don't have to worry about jobs or schools because my dh works from home and we homeschool. I think the biggest decision we need to make is how important is it for us to be in the rain shadow. My dh is leaning towards the peninsula (Kitsap County) because you can get more for your money, but ooooh my, does it look wet!

I live in Kitsap County (Kingston). It is no wetter here than anywhere else in Western Washington. I know that the area around Sequim is much dryer than most everywhere else on the West side of the Cascades. I think Sequim housing prices are higher than Kitsap County (outside of Bainbridge Island). However, it is a trek to get to Seattle from Sequim. Sequim itself is a few minutes from Port Angeles and maybe 45 minutes to Silverdale. Sequim is very rural with very few shopping opportunities. I'm not sure I could survive without being near a better grocery store (i.e. Central Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joes).

On the other hand, the scenery is amazing and rural living could be sublime. Just depends on what you need.

Let me know if you ever have any questions about Kitsap County and I can help. I'm mostly familiar with North Kitsap (Poulsbo and Kingston areas).

 

[bumbershoot]

This has been an AWESOME thread!

We're in AZ, but planning on moving to WA State as soon as we can sell our house. We haven't settled on any specific area yet, but are considering Island County, Skagit County (Anacortes & Bow), Kitsap County (Kingston, Pouslbo, Indianola) and Jefferson County (Sequim). My dad lives in Coupeville on Whidbey. I am already prepared to grow webbed feet. I'm excited to hydrate my dried out, parched AZ body.

It's been interesting to hear your thoughts on weather, traffic, city vs. rural life, etc. We're looking to be in a more rural area but need to be close enough to get into the city without traveling too terribly far. We also really want to be near the water.

Do most of you fly to DLR? I can't imagine doing that drive. I'm afraid our Disney trips will dramatically decrease once we are in the Pacific Northwest.

Some thoughts.

You mentioned in another post that the Peninsula calls you b/c of cost of living. I suggest comparing Seattle prices to, say, Tacoma prices. You'd be happier with Pierce county prices then. The Olympia area is also nice, in every way.

The problem with being all the way out there on the peninsula, or OMG over in Sequim, is that you are SO far away from things. Anything touristy (and even after half my life I still LOVE doing the touristy things around here!!!) is going to require a drive with a bridge toll, a longer drive, or driving with a hefty ferry fare. I lived out on the Hood Canal for a year, and it was LOVELY.

But then we had a huge storm with wind, snow, and ice, and we were locked in our house for almost a week with no heat. Half our house was over the canal, so it was even colder than a normal house would have been. When the water went out (the water tanks emptied, and there was no electricity to fill them back up, so all of us were stuck), that's when we worked all day to dig ourselves out of the snow and get OUT.

That can happen anywhere, of course, but being so far away from everything made it feel even worse.

And of course it makes the trip to Disney longer, b/c first you have to get to I-5 or the airport, and pay for parking. Whereas being in Tacoma, before we decided to drive, we were going to grab a downtown bus to get to the airport, and leave our car at home! We took mass transit to get to the train station to start our honeymoon, too.


Anyway, there are other areas besides the very west coast that have semi-reasonable costs of living.


We just got back from a driving trip, by the way. If we were ONLY going to Disneyland, we probably wouldn't drive. But ours was a multi-faceted trip, and we were looking at renting cars and whatnot, so we decided that driving in our plush new (used) car would be a better idea. Everything took MUCH longer than it should have done. We still don't know why, it's a big mystery.


Those are my varied thoughts.

I noticed in your later post that you homeschool! Yay! DS is only 3, and compulsory education in WA starts at 8, so we're not quite to the formal schooling stage yet...but I know there are tons of homeschoolers in this state, and it's pretty easy, it seems, to do it without problems. You can even take advantage of the occasional class or sport without the child being considered "in" school, and I've heard the Running Start program (taking part in college classes while finishing high school work) is even open to homeschoolers!

 

[disney-super-mom]

We ALWAYS fly to DL.

We usually fly Alaska or Southwest. Southwest can have pretty good DING fares around $59-$75 one way.

Maybe we'll make a road trip to DL someday when the kids are older. Go down the coast.....through the redwoods.....MAYBE. I'm not the biggest fan of road trips. I'm too impatient to sit on my rearend all day, day after day, in a car.

 

[2GuysSeattle]

Seattle here. I got the Southwest DING fare to LAX for $77 each way for our 10/27 trip. I've noticed they frequently have fares less than $100 each way. Love to hear that DING!

 

[cardaway]

Lake Stevens. Next trip to the park closer to home is the last week of Oct. Just a few more weeks!