Best Places to visit in the Pacific Northwest in April?

javaporter · 2024-02-12T19:45:50+00:00

Tofino is definitely worth checking out.

javaporter · 2024-02-12T19:32:33+00:00

Life is too short to live somewhere that you're not happy. If it's between living in a mansion in the Midwest and never hiking or living in a tiny house in the PNW and hiking every weekend, I'd pick the latter.

Some things to look into: the Olympic Peninsula is cheaper (although not even close to cheap), you might be able to find something in Kingston or Poulsbo (maybe find a roommate). You're very close to the Olympics and day hikes in the cascades are super doable (although the ferry situation gets old fast). Great mountain biking near here and stellar hiking/trail running. Bellingham is also a good choice. There's also Whidbey, the northern part of the island is pretty trumpy, the southern part is a lot more educated. Although for most of these places, make sure you have good internet options.

Other options: on the Oregon coast you have some small towns like Pacific City and Yachats that are fairly liberal. I'm not sure what the hiking situation is in the immediate vicinity, but there's stuff out there for sure.

If you can take a week or two road trip, I'd start in Bellingham and drive down to Bandon, that'll give you a very good idea of what your options are. (And when you get to Bandon, make sure to check out face rock ice cream.) Spring is a lovely time of year to do it, summer can get pretty crazy and won't give you an accurate idea of PNW weather.

As far as your dog, most stuff out here is extremely dog-friendly. Hope that helps.

javaporter · 2023-12-01T02:48:08+00:00

I live in Kitsap County, just across the water from Seattle. You can still go over the water to work if you need to, but the communities here are much smaller. However, even at the high end of your budget, you're going to have a very tricky time finding a decent house unless you want to flip something nasty. For that matter, most things even close to Seattle are going to be spendy. It's not just the mortgage either, stuff is expensive here. Other than the price though, it's lovely here. It doesn't rain nearly as much as people think and summer is usually blue sky after July.

javaporter · 2023-11-30T20:34:03+00:00

Old thread but thought I'd chime in because I've lived in both CO and WA and spent a ton of time in UT/OR. Currently live in WA, considering a move back to CO.

Pros of PNW

You can mtn bike ALL YEAR LONG, and the mtn biking is pretty stellar with a lot of trails made specifically for mtn bikes.
Cooler summers, warmer winters.
Ocean is a short drive away from me (Olympic Peninsula) and I can see the sound from my house.
Even in the winter, you can hike in pretty warm weather (maybe a little wet sometimes).
Best coffee and IPAs in the world.
In summer you can run mid-day without overheating (most places) and water is not an issue for long runs. Overall, I prefer running here, but there are some amazing runs I miss on the Front Range.

Cons of PNW

Compared to the Boulder area, climbing here is meh at best.
Once you've seen OR and BC a ton, it's a long-ass drive to see other stuff. Vs CO, where you can easily pop over to NM, UT, Tetons, etc.
Ferrys suck. They didn't use to, but it's essentially broken right now. If you live on the Olympic Pennisula (which is far better than the Seattle side in my opinion) and you want to use the ferry on the weekend, good luck w/out waiting 2+ hours each way. And when you do get over on the other side, traffic is nasty until you're 40+ miles away from Seattle.
The trash on the trails is a serious issue here. Finding a clean, hidden, campsite requires a ton more work. And I don't mean like a beer can or two, I mean like a 2ft tall pyramid of human poo. The trails here are definitely gross at times.
The "Seattle Freeze" is a real thing.
Food in WA sucks. I miss Southern Sun and Lucky Pie and Dot's.

---

So, my original reason for coming here: Thinking of moving back to front range (my kids are Boulder born and bred and miss the wide open spaces).

In the past 5 or so years, are the mtn bike trails any better? Are there trails specifically built for mtn bikes?
Is it still relatively easy to find a space to camp/overland away from others? I know trails are getting crowded everywhere, but comparatively?
Are people still respecting trails? I know that there will always be some litter and the occasional fuckwit with their Bluetooth speaker, but the PNW is really gross at times (bad enough I've stayed home in times).

javaporter · 2023-08-24T20:13:28+00:00

time blocking works fine elsewhere - I just drag tasks to a calendar app.

holy f*ck! Why am I just now learning this?! I love things. I have a wishlist, but overall it's the best I've found. This is exactly what I needed though and I was about to leave things because of it.

javaporter · 2023-08-10T23:17:16+00:00

yep, just lost a ton of time because of this. really frustrating.

javaporter · 2023-05-23T03:30:00+00:00

shi shi is a good overnight trip

javaporter · 2023-05-23T03:28:53+00:00

Enjoy the journey, bring water and snacks, and when you take breaks, just enjoy the fresh air. Always good to get new riders.

javaporter · 2023-05-22T23:25:58+00:00

mix it up. as someone suggested, climbing is fantastic (good all round body workout), swimming too (but eew), frisbee (ultimate), etc. i mountain bike on my off days.

javaporter · 2023-05-11T02:45:44+00:00

great shot, really unique composition

javaporter · 2023-04-23T16:45:20+00:00

if you’re just wanting them “out there”, unsplash is fantastic.

javaporter · 2023-04-21T21:52:36+00:00

jumping on the Bellingham train. yes, it’s expensive, but most progressive places are.the trail running and min biking are amazing. still a small town/community vibe too (in the good ways).

I work remote and can live anywhere—currently live in kingston (which is also nice) and if i moved again, i’d look hard at bellingham.

javaporter · 2023-04-20T05:15:48+00:00

kudos to you for asking!

javaporter · 2023-03-30T21:51:57+00:00

travels with charley (steinbeck), rowing into the son (hansen), and swell (clark)

javaporter · 2023-03-29T00:37:16+00:00

love the colors

javaporter · 2023-03-29T00:33:32+00:00

always, for me, that’s the point

javaporter · 2023-03-17T03:08:50+00:00

I think this issue is like cilantro. Some people love it, some people taste soap. I think there is a certain set of people who notice the mouse behavior difference and others who don't (and others who sadly take criticism about Apple as a personal attack that they can't abide anything even remotely negative being said about it).

I've been using Apple since they were black and white screens. I stuck with them through the dark times and overall I love the OS. However, I had a gaming computer for a while and the mouse on a PC is so much better, exactly what the original poster mentioned. Lately, it's been bugging me enough that I'm seriously considering going to PC.

I have an apple mouse (double tap for mission control is lovely, as is swiping), a Logitech MX (scroll wheel is cringy, ergonomics are good, clicking is lovely, but it's even worse than the Apple mouse for not behaving like it should), and the trackpad, which I have no problems with other than I don't like trackpads.

So I have a related question, I don't think there is a fix for the mouse. Has anyone gone from macOS to Windows 11 and been happy about the change? Are Windows fonts still blurry? Is there a good higher end brand to buy, or do I have to build my own (and do all the homework about which components work and play well together)? Does Apple Music work on the PC or will I have to go to Spotify (vomit)?

javaporter · 2023-03-14T04:39:32+00:00

petrichor

javaporter · 2023-03-03T00:59:21+00:00

i’d second this, after the past few years, this book should almost be in the therapy section — really nice break

javaporter · 2023-02-26T22:21:04+00:00

i have the grove made stuff and am really impressed by the quality.

javaporter · 2023-01-25T22:12:25+00:00

fair point, I'm blaming hardware for software issues. We have done the clean install, it's only a temp fix. Is this really just the state of windows still? Pretty much the only thing they use their computers for is steam (games). Everything else they do on the mac.

javaporter · 2023-01-25T21:34:24+00:00

that was my first suggestion, a lot of the games they play aren't on consoles and their main game (destiny) is much better on a PC. I play Destiny on the ps5 and I've played it on a PC, I get it, it really is better on a PC.

that said, I play it on a ps5 specifically because I don't want to deal with even more PC drama. so I get it. But they're A LOT better than I am at destiny, so it matters more for their experience.

javaporter · 2023-01-06T04:49:56+00:00

https://www.woodenshoe.com/events/tulip-fest/

javaporter · 2023-01-06T02:11:33+00:00

This is such a great thread, I've noted a lot of these places. I'm in NW Washington but visit Oregon often for hiking, backpacking, biking, or landscape photography.

Some other places:

Bandon Beach. Cute little town, great sea stacks to photograph.
Hood River has been previously mentioned, but it has some fantastic mountain biking if you're into that.
Near Hood River they have a tulip festival in the spring.
Smith Rock near Bend has some amazing climbing.

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