The Beautiful, Beautiful Pacific Northwest

U.S.A. Washington

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I went back to college for one reason. I wanted out of this nature-deprived area that I live in. I already had a college degree and a job, but I wanted a degree in something that no matter where you went you could find a job that pays decent, so I got my BSN. When I visit the pacific northwest, I get depressed midway through the vacation because I know I have to go back to live in my hot, humid, treeless, waterless, flat, ugly city. I love the rain, mountains, cold weather, sweaters, fireplaces, the beautiful gardens in the pacific northwest and the respect that exist in the NW for nature, organic-growing of fruits and veggies and fellow-men (if you knew about the area I live in you would know that we lack all that I love) I already have my license, so your probably wondering why I'm still live here. The answer is simple--money. My husband's job pays well and the cost of living is low. If it was soley my decision I would be out of here today, but marriage is a 50/50 deal. I have thought many a times about just taking my daughter and going for it (I have even applied to a couple of hospitals), but I'm sacred that money-wise I wanted be able to make it. I don't need the fancy house or car. I just want to live in a safe area in the pacific northwest. Any words of encouragement? :crying2:

Ah, the Pacific Northwest! I love New Mexico, and I think I want to stay, but sometimes I get all nostalgic for the Spokane, WA. area.....I grew up there and miss trees and springtime! Oh, well....it's beautiful here, too, in a different way.

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I am presently living in Wenatchee, WA which is about 2 hours NE of Seattle after living in and near Seattle for 3+ years. It is much drier and sunnier here, but close proximity to mountains and outdoor adventure. Housing costs are much more reasonable and I'm working at Central Washington Hospital-a nice progressive place. It's not green enough for me and I'll probably move in the next few months, but you may find it wonderful! If you like mountains, apple orchards, smaller town life, and rivers and hiking trails a short drive away, you may want to check it out.

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I'm the OP for this thread, and I still miss and can't wait until my daughter graduates (2yrs 3 mons) to get the heck out of this miserable city. I still envy all of you living in the pacific NW. Someone said they would trade places with me. I wish that could really happen. I would trade your rainy, cold days in a second for my very hot (110-115), humid (100%) in summer, treeless, greenless, mountainless, extremely windy, ugly place. Every person I know (with the exception of one) that comes here from up north, hates it. I'm extremely south (4hrs south of San Antinio). My sister-in-law who feels exactly the way I do, read an article in the paper about people who get depressed about too many days of hot, sunny weather. That's me. Make room for me because I will be coming.

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

foxfour, are in the RGV? I love the Rio Grande Valley and I'm in the Pacific NW. You probably can't imagine someone liking the RGV better than the Pacific NW but i do! I love the weather, the culture everything.

The only thing is it lacks a big city and I like being in a big city.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
foxfour, are in the RGV? I love the Rio Grande Valley and I'm in the Pacific NW. You probably can't imagine someone liking the RGV better than the Pacific NW but i do! I love the weather, the culture everything.

The only thing is it lacks a big city and I like being in a big city.

In 18 days my wife & I will be leaving Central Texas headed for PNW [Tumwater, WA].

:w00t:

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I will say this and I freely admit my bias: I believe that the Northwest is the most beautiful place in this country and I would never live anywhere else. If you’ve never visited I highly encourage you to. You’ll never want to go home!

And about the rain: I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest all my life and can’t say that it rains where I live anymore than it does anywhere else in the western US. The NW has been given an undeserved reputation for rain in my opinion. The problem is that the big population centers (Seattle and Portland) do get what could be considered a lot of rain. Once you get east of the Cascades the rain really falls off. Central and Eastern Washington and Oregon are made up of areas that are quite arid. The town that I live in gets some rain and snow in the winter but is very dry from late April until late September. The problem is that people only tend to think about Seattle and Portland when they think of living in the Northwest.

It reminds me of a few jokes:

How can you tell when it’s winter in Seattle? The rain is cold.

How can you tell when it’s summer in Seattle? The rain is warm.

What does someone from the Northwest say to the Stay Puft Marshmallow man? Nice tan.

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Corvette Guy:

You're going to love it here. I live in Olympia and my kids are in the Tumwater school district. Do you have a place to live yet? Do you have kids? I'm in nursing school right now.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Having lived an extensive amt of time in the Southwest (OK, TX and AZ) I can say WA has them ALL beat for many reasons. The rain is oppressive for some---but for me, small price for all the beauty that abounds. I hope never to leave.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

The people in WA are very friendly, too.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

HEY YOU MADE IT CORVETTE?????

let me know----maybe we can get together sooner or later.

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

Back to the OP...you want to leave your husband just so you can move to the NW??? I hope there are other reasons because that sounds silly to me. I would never leave my wife and family just to move to a part of the country I was drawn to. I'm hoping there is more to the story. Couldn't your husband get a job up here in the NW? What does he do?

I was born in raised in the NW and would never leave it. There are times in the spring that I go mountain biking in the morning and snowboard in the evening...how awesome is that? he he About the cost of living, my best friend lives in downtown Seattle and paid over 250k for a 2 bedroom condo (basically a apt) without a view and I paid 200k for my 2400 sq foot 4 bedroom house the nurses in Seattle make about 2$/hr more than I do where I live. My point being it really depends on where you live and there are many many smaller communities that do not have a high cost of living.

I wish you luck!

Larry

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Back to the OP...you want to leave your husband just so you can move to the NW??? I hope there are other reasons because that sounds silly to me. I would never leave my wife and family just to move to a part of the country I was drawn to. I'm hoping there is more to the story. Couldn't your husband get a job up here in the NW? What does he do?

I was born in raised in the NW and would never leave it. There are times in the spring that I go mountain biking in the morning and snowboard in the evening...how awesome is that? he he About the cost of living, my best friend lives in downtown Seattle and paid over 250k for a 2 bedroom condo (basically a apt) without a view and I paid 200k for my 2400 sq foot 4 bedroom house the nurses in Seattle make about 2$/hr more than I do where I live. My point being it really depends on where you live and there are many many smaller communities that do not have a high cost of living.

I wish you luck!

Larry

This is in my OP:

My husband's job pays well and the cost of living is low. If it was soley my decision I would be out of here today, but marriage is a 50/50 deal.

Where did you get the idea that I was leaving my husband? When I was commenting about taking my daughter and going, I never said that my husband would not be joining me at some point.

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