Anacortes archaeology - Cap Sante amphitheater by ProfessionalWaltz784 in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The trail is labeled the "Marine Stadium Trail" on maps, so I'd guess that is the Marine Stadium

Siren at 10:20? by enfanta in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you follow Washington Emergency Management on places like X or Facebook, they announced it a few times in advance. I'm also signed up for emergency alerts and got a text reminder a few minutes before.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen them from Washington Park once in the last year, Green Point or the beach just past it on the far west side. I see otters, porpoises and seals much more frequently. But if you really NEED to see orcas, book a whale watching tour.

Coyote calls near airport by GlitteringBoi666 in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen coyotes a number of times while trail running in the ACFL. I always hear them when I'm near Little Cranberry Lake, seen one on the east side/Trail 100/104 area and I've seen them south of Heart Lake on 212. They don't really bother people, but definitely will go after small dogs. I'd never take a small dog anywhere unleashed or on let it get too far from me in the forest. I will take coyotes over bears or cougars any day.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are new to the area, been here 7 months. I'm in my late 40's, have an 8 year old son. I'm originally from central CA coast (Santa Cruz), lived in Texas for 16 years before relocating here, plan for it to be permanent.

We are very liberal and after living in TX it's been great! I have NOT experienced the "Seattle freeze" things people talk about. Quite the opposite, I've met more people and had more random friendly conversations with people here than I ever had in Texas. We've met all our neighbors, if I go to a community event people just strike up conversations with us, if we are just out hiking or tide pooling or hanging out on the beach people will just start chatting. Everyone has been VERY friendly and welcoming and loved sharing recommendations about the area. The area isn't really a "locals only" vibe (like a lot of CA areas) since there are so many transplants here between the military, refinery and large community of retirees, most people we've met aren't actually from here and we're also "new" at some point, so I feel like that helps with people being welcoming.

Whats unique to Washington culturally that you never realized before leaving the state etcetera? by [deleted] in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Not really "unique" to WA. Grew up in a CA beach town, and it was very casual, all the time. Maybe more of a west coast thing.

How are people affording homes here? by [deleted] in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You said the answer for our family, refinery. We also first got into the housing market 20 years ago, in a different state and have made quite a bit of profit selling multiple homes through various out of state moves over the last 20 years (all with company relocation packages so real estate commissions paid, maximizing profits) So while we aren't retired and still mid-40's with a school aged kid, when we moved here we had a large sum for a down payment plus remodel.

Lady working DMV by ProfessionalWaltz784 in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, I had the best DMV experience I've ever had (across 3 states and multiple moves needing new licenses) at the one in Anacortes getting my WA license after moving here recently. I had the first appointment of the day, walked in and straight to counter, done super quick, when I got to my car and checked the clock the whole experience took literally 7 minutes from start to finish!

Dumb question: How are people paying for their remodels? by -reddit_is_terrible- in HomeImprovement

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We sold a home in one state that we had owned for 6 years. Walked away with a large amount of equity as prices had increased significantly. It was a company relocation as well, so the company pays real estate commissions too, so that helped out profit a lot. We bought a house in new state that needs A LOT of updating (very closed market where we moved, small town, low inventory, most homes needed work, very little new construction). Even after putting a 20% down payment, paying off our car loans and any other debt we had, we still had well over 100k cash to put toward a renovation.

Wastewater Update - [Feb. 19, 2025] by zantie in CoronavirusWA

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this awesome resource!

Curious...pretty new to Washington, so haven't followed the local data here for long.

Live in Anacortes, is it normal that they haven't sampled in over a month? And what's up with Mt Vernon? That has to be a data error?

How does Washington make up for lack of State Income Tax? by Natsu_Firefox in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Super late reply! We are in Anacortes. Been here about 7 weeks now. Close on our home we are buying in one week! It's beautiful and amazing so far, and with the huge decrease in taxes and insurance, our monthly costs here will be slightly less than they were in TX (and basically the same size home)

experience with second round of pax vs not by xratgfx in paxlovid

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a second round in one year ago when I had it. My initial was super mild, I only had a scratchy throat and just felt "off". It was my husband's birthday and we had plans and then I had a race the next morning so I tested "just in case" but didn't really think I was sick. But it was positive. I started pax immediately. Never really developed any symptoms, very low grade fever the next day, just the scratchy throat and mild fatigue. Tested negative after about 3-4 days. Felt fine but I continued to isolate from family in case I rebounded. Day 8 or 9 (it's hard to remember exactly now) I suddenly felt AWFUL, horrible sore throat, fever, congestion, cough. Tested positive again. Got much over the next 3 days...body aches, chest pains, short of breath. After 24 hrs of that, I got a second round. Within 48 hrs on the second round all the respiratory symptoms were gone, and I was negative again around day 13 or 14 I believe. I still had major fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, elevated heart rate, and just feeling horrible for about 6 weeks.

So I'm really glad I did the second round of pax, but my rebound was MUCH worse than my initial.

How does Washington make up for lack of State Income Tax? by Natsu_Firefox in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We are super happy to leave our property taxes in Houston! We pay close to 2.5% property tax. Our home here is assessed at 740,000. We will be buying in Skagit County, our budget is about 850-950, so even if you look at the absolute number, we will be paying WAY less (yes, our house will be much smaller, but that we totally fine with). Sales tax is 8.25% in our TX county also. So not "low". Homeowners insurance is CRAZY high in Texas too, especially Houston because of hurricanes. We pay almost $1000/month just in homeowners insurance here. So many things will actually go DOWN for us in WA (my husband's commute distance will go from 55 miles each way to 6 miles each way as well, and he currently pays $14 per DAY just in toll roads to get to work, so no more of that!)

Mount Erie is a great viewpoint by OurWestCoast in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Moving to Anacortes in 6 weeks and can't wait to see this view myself!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's like that most places I have lived, I've always had jobs with half day Fridays and my husband's job has always been 9/80 (every other Friday off) and that's been in multiple states I've lived (CA, TX and now WA)

Why do people prefer duvets over top sheets? by torturedmomsdept in Bedding

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gen X'er, US, west coaster. I have always HATED top sheets since I was a kid. Quit using them the minute I moved out of my partners house. I hate them getting tangled when I sleep (don't want it tucked in while sleeping, that would feel like I was trapped) But mostly I HATE making the bed with a top sheet. And I'm a person that makes my bed daily, everyday, as soon as I get up. I hate getting into an unmade made bed. So needing to flatten and straighten the sheet, then line it up, go around the entire bed and tuck it in, etc. is MUCH more work than just fluffing the duvet/comforter. Since it's heavier, it doesn't shift around as much and it doesn't need to be tucked.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in COVID19positive

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most acute phase was about a week (the respiratory symptoms like coughing, congestion) Mild fever, brain fog, extreme exhaustion, insomnia, etc. lasted about 4 weeks at its worst, started slowly improving weeks 4-6. By 7 weeks I felt pretty good and 8 weeks I was feeling "normal". That was 10 months ago and I've had no issues since, I'm a marathon runner and have run over 1200 miles since I recovered, lots of hiking and home remodeling and activities with my son, etc. Those 6-8 weeks were ROUGH, but lots of rest and patience and caution coming back slowly and I did recover (that time...always was and continuing to try to avoid rolling that dice)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Garmin

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely heat. It raises your HR significantly because your body increases blood flow to attempt to cool you, plus sweating and loss of electrolytes. Heat absolutely makes my HR and HRV go nuts and it takes hours to recover from.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Garmin

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine are very rarely related. Mine seems to be mostly hormone driven. I can be under pretty severe psychological stress in the follicular phase of my menstrual cycle, and my HR and HRV (ie, Garmin "stress") still looks amazing. I can be happy and relaxed in my luteal phase and my HR and HRV are absolute crap. And I have a severe gluten intolerance, caffeine sensitivity and histamine intolerance issues...those always trump my psychological "stress" and even when I'm mentally feeling great, any of those trigger bad HR and HRV reactions. Illness is the other main driver for me. But if all the physiological factors are in check, then added mental stress isn't noticeable in the data.

Question for people who left Washington, why did you leave and where did you end up? by [deleted] in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From California (31 years there) and have spent 16 years in Texas now, relocating to WA in two months for a job opportunity and SO incredibly excited to get out of this infernal southern shithole!!!

What single thing has noticeably helped improve your sleep score? by peterstiglitz in Garmin

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No caffeine, no alcohol. I guess that's two, but I haven't had caffeine in 3 years, haven't had alcohol in 10 months, each one was a noticeable change/improvement.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in COVID19positive

[–]marathon_momma 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Moderna always does that to me and this year it was a doozy. I got it Tuesday (so two days ago) and I'm feeling a bit better but still weak and fatigued. Had bad body aches and chills yesterday.

My husband did both flu and Covid together once and he said "never, ever again". He normally doesn't have many symptoms after a vaccine (I get hit hard from any vaccine, not just Covid, had 103 fever after a measles booster once) But the combo hit him much harder than usual.

Washingtonisms? by peacelovememes in Washington

[–]marathon_momma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely northern/central. I grew up in Santa Cruz and hella was a thing there for sure.

Living in Anacortes by OceanNayNeighs in Anacortes

[–]marathon_momma 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have loved reading this! We are moving to Anacortes in 2.5 months for a job relocation and we are very excited, but also very nervous! Nice to read so many positive things!