just got back from Oregon...

[Narrock]

Last time I was there it was a family trip about 30 years ago and we pretty much just drove thru, so I didn't remember too much about it. Yesterday, I had to go pick up a refurbished tank trailer in Portland, off exit 306A, the columbia river hwy or something like that, then down to NE 21st street, and then head back to Sacramento. So, this is my observation about Oregon from the I-5 perspective (which I know you all care about). Southern Oregon is gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. From Ashland to Eugene... Medford, Grant's Pass, Rogue river, Umpqua river, Roseburg, etc. Mountains with beautiful pines and breathtaking views and clean crisp air. Then you get beyond Eugene and the state turns into a steaming asspile of shit. Ugly, cold, boring, retarded highway engineering with tight curves, etc. I stayed the night in Salem, and continued on to Portland to a very ugly run-down old-looking industrial area. What I would say about Portland is (again from the I-5 perspective)... I can see the allure of a romantic evening out with the wife, say to a seafood restaurant overlooking the Columbia river, or take the kids to the museum or something, then get the fuck out before that city consumes you. The most interesting thing I saw (above Eugene) was a sign on the side of the freeway (somewhere north of Salem I think) that read "The 45th parallel - half way between the equator and the north pole." I'm not picking on Portland. I don't like any big urban centers except for maybe a couple hours then I have to get out. If I ever had to move to Oregon and had to live in the vicinity of I-5, I'd pick Grant's Pass or Roseburg I think.

[Tossica]

tl;dr

[vonkaar]

1) You should have messaged me, we could have had a beer.

2) It's a DECENT time of year, though a month from now the remaining trees would be completely green and the whole state is a wonderland. We're just now entering paradise (from my 14 months of experience, anyway).
3) I left Portland and live in a little bedroom community called Scappoose now. I'm 30 minutes up the Columbia, live on 5 acres on top of a ridgeline and have views like this:




It's not ALL bad above Eugene. The Columbia Gorge, especially by Hood River is my favorite area of the state. Unbelievable. Medford is definitely the shit though. I'm climbing Mt McCloughlin in June with a few buddies from work.

4) Are you still driving a class 8? I work for Daimler now... get to see all the cool new Freightliner & Western Star trucks. I saw this crazy thing in the lobby this morning:



5) Bush is to blame for all our country's current woes. Also, God is a myth.

[Narrock]

Hiya Vonk,

1. Well I got there at 3:45am, hooked up the trailer, and was heading back down I-5 at 4am... didn't have time for a beer, although that sounds pretty cool.

2. Yup, it's a green state all right.

3. Grats on your property, and that VIEW! I'd love to be sitting out on a deck with my morning coffee looking at a view like that. Remember, my perspective was from I-5 lol. Have fun on that climb. Climb, as with hooks and ropes and harnesses and all that? Be careful. We're in escrow right now. Bought a little country home on 3/4 acre in a gated community. Deer are so tame there that they eat out of your hand. Pretty cool. We're letting the sellers rent back for a month as the house they are buying will be closing escrow around the middle of June. I can't wait.

4. Yeah I still have a Class A license. Love truckin'. :P That's a crazy-lookin bat-motruck Freightshaker for sure. Grats on your new job at Daimler. Great company! Are you engineering?

5. lol not takin the bait. hehe

[leah]

oh man vonk, look at those views. i would love to live in oregon. someday, someday.

[vonkaar]

Nah, most of the cascades are pretty easy, non-technical 'climbs'. You literally walk up. I mean, it's steep and high altitude - but once you're at the top, you get to enjoy thiS:
http://images.summitpost.org/original/532512.JPG
http://images.summitpost.org/original/61429.JPG

Some of the other mountains are technical, from 'kind of dangerous' to, 'legit, tough climbs'. Mt Jefferson, for example, is much smaller than Hood or Rainier, but it's way harder than either.

I'm still in technology... doing architecture up here, which basically means they are leveraging my experience in I.T. to govern the big-picture systems and draw pretty pictures in Visio. Boring, but I get a 9th floor office that looks across to Mt Hood. What rig do you drive these days?

Leah - just do it! I lived in the asshole state of Texas for my whole life and got to the point where I had to leave. We didn't even know WHERE we were going, just 'out of Texas.' Oregon was #1 on the list, but there were lots of other options - New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, Rhode Island, North Carolina... shrug... both coasts I guess. I flew up here for a weekend to check it out, really dug what I saw, and 3 weeks later, moved my entire family up here - even before our house in Texas sold. My wife hadn't even visited the place and she went along with it. We're loving it.

[Narrock]

They gave me a 2012 Kenworth, and so far it's running great. Sounds like you found a little piece of bliss up there in Oregon. Grats!

[leah]

Leah - just do it! I lived in the asshole state of Texas for my whole life and got to the point where I had to leave. We didn't even know WHERE we were going, just 'out of Texas.' Oregon was #1 on the list, but there were lots of other options - New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, Rhode Island, North Carolina... shrug... both coasts I guess. I flew up here for a weekend to check it out, really dug what I saw, and 3 weeks later, moved my entire family up here - even before our house in Texas sold. My wife hadn't even visited the place and she went along with it. We're loving it.

that really sounds amazing. i am also pretty swoony over NYC. someday we'll get to a coast...!

[brinstar]

if i ever gtfo of NE it'll be to either OR/WA, CO, or VT

[Trielelvan]

I lived in the asshole state of Texas for my whole life and got to the point where I had to leave. We didn't even know WHERE we were going, just 'out of Texas.'

LOL! I only had myself, but I did the same thing. My first shot out of Texas was OR, and I left everything behind to get there. Didn't regret it a single moment. Someday I want to end up back there or WA.

[Lyion]

Great pics. I love Oregon, but it's a bit chilly for me. OR/WA was beautiful but similar to OH, and I want somewhere toasty next. Vermont is likewise a tad wintery for me.
I love CO, but one of my best friends always sends me pics of snow there in May/June.

I'd love to go back to my hometown of San Diego, but cost of living and taxes are a hit high. It's a bit more realistic now that house prices have plummeted. I love the schools in Ohio, so I'm here until I get rid of broodlings. I'll probably stay in Ohio until my house is paid off and my kids grown, then I'm off to Cocoa Beach or Tampa.

[vonkaar]

Well... I totally love it here. My wife isn't completely sold on the gray skies and we've decided to take it one year at a time before fully committing. We may go back down to San Diego (where she was born - a 5th generation San Diegan even) or some other 'perfect weather' location. I'm completely in love with the 4 seasons though. In Texas, I got a shit winter, 1-2 weeks of pretty good weather on both ends, and then a giant fucking bullshit 8-9month blisteringly hot summer. Fall and Spring have shrunk to about 10 days on each end, which sucks because they can be really lovely down there. Up here, it's 4 perfect 3-month long seasons. It's amazing.

I feel like I could handle more cold than this, and the wife agrees. The COLD didn't bother her, it was the constant drizzlling gray skies. Houston actually has more annual rain than Portland (IIRC), except it occurs over 1/4th as many days. It just POURS down in Texas. Here, it's a light, ever-present drizzle that never ever goes away. And that didn't bother me at all. But she went CRAZY. We're getting into the perfect season though, and life is grand. It's like 65-70° with 0 humidity and 0% rain for the next week.

[Lyion]

Both times I've worked in WA State and traveled to Oregon it just was a tad too dreary for me.

This winter in Ohio was brutal. It's usually cold for 3 months with snow on the ground a few weeks. We had a good 4 months of really damn cold. I love the spring and fall here. I really don't miss July, August, and September in Texas. I really hated those months. Winter in Texas wasn't too bad when there weren't ice storms. It can't compare to San Diego, but then again outside of Oahu, no place I've been to really can, though. I do like four seasons, but I'm perfectly happy being able to drive to Big Bear when I want to see snow, or Ocotillo Wells when I went to hit the desert.

I can't complain right now, though. Weather this week is perfect.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/S ... 44870:4:US

weather.jpg (43.95 KiB) Viewed 5579 times

[leah]

oh man see i love dreary drizzly weather! shoot. i need to move to oregon. ;\

[Gaazy]

It's not ALL bad above Eugene. The Columbia Gorge, especially by Hood River is my favorite area of the state. Unbelievable. Medford is definitely the shit though. I'm climbing Mt McCloughlin in June with a few buddies from work.

Hood River is fucking GORGEOUS. I went to Mt Hood too for a week and went to a ski racing camp. One of the most beautiful areas in this country