Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Vacation Suggestions

Sure the East Coast trip was fun and kultural and stuff. Still there's places all over this great land I've never been . I was thinking about the Pacific Northwest. I've only been as far north as the Cali border. Is Washington State too far to drive? And how esay is it to slip across the border to visit Vancouver and B.C.? Of course we'll look at colleges so top shelf suggestions in the hard sciences are welcome. So, that's the question. Can we get away from all this Califonia madness in the Oregon, Washington, even British Columbia areas or have they already been Californicated?

107 comments:

Anonymous said...

FIrst

Anonymous said...

Two in the last two days Anon rules for first

Anonymous said...

Murst, liverwurst and moist.

NR

Anonymous said...

Washington State is fine, we have been totally attacked by the Cali people yet, yet.

r said...

I drove Seattle to Ventura once in a long 24 hour coffee fueled stretch on 5. I don't recommend it. I recommend the coastal scenic route, although I understand the entire route can take weeks.

In Brookings OR, there is a Best Western ON THE BEACH. My 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

University of British Columbia is pretty good, don't be afraid to check it out. There is a nice beach on campus, too, called Wreck Beach. Bring sunblock.... lots of sunblock... for the body parts that don't usually get exposed.

NR

Anonymous said...

The nice thing about the US is that almost no place is too far to drive! I drove from Pittsburgh to Orlando and it was only about 18 hours.

Have you been to Yellowstone? Great place! And not too far from the red area on your map.

Anonymous said...

Anons count as nothing for firstness.

Yes, Rob, you can find peace in the Pacific NW. Just avoid the trendy spots. There's a lot of wilderness out there, some of my favorite being Vancouver Island -- west side.

Can't tell you much about the border there; haven't been in a few years on land or sea, but I don't hear bad stories. Just bring your passport even though you "don't need it yet". It helps them wave you in, at least I found it did in the east.

On second thought, depends on which stamps you might have in that passport.

Dimes said...

Ever been to the midwest? St Louis is a fabulous city, but the university scene is kind of lacking. There's Wash U, Webster, a couple of state schools and a few little schools, but prices are low and people are SANE.
And the immigrant scene is largely Bosnian.

Anonymous said...

Dawg,

The best drive on the planet for this East Coaster's money is down Rt 101 on the Oregon coast from Seaside to Lincoln City. Visit Oregon State in Corvallis and the HP Plant.

ratlab said...

Parents like Vancouver, BC for a relaxing vacation spot.

Unknown said...

I'd recommend ditching the rest of your family on a whim and high-tailing it to Australia ;-)

Anonymous said...

Different anon here~ lurking since Sept..the PNW is fabulous, but we are biased ;)
::Right, Tony?::
I think about 12 hr drive from San Fran to Seattle. Easy to cross border to Vanc, just bring your passport and patience (traffic).
Will buy you a beer for sure if you come up here, RD.
Eastsider

Anonymous said...

"At 9:17 AM, Benoit™ said...
I'd recommend ditching the rest of your family on a whim and high-tailing it to Australia ;-)"

And it only costs $400!

Schnapps said...

Dawg,

You can email me wrt to universities in BC and border stuff.

Anonymous said...

Just read this:

http://exurbannation.blogspot.com/2007/06/duane-legate-part-40-meeting.html

How abouts we just get a militia together to hunt this shitbag down?

Unknown said...

Posted this in the last thread, but I have yet to receive my bonus points.

At 8:13 AM, Benoit™ said...

"Now for 3 bonus points™, let's hear the word for the opposite of schadenfraude -- the feeling of sadness at someone else's good fortunes! (Truthfully, I don't think there is such a word in English)"



gluckschmerz = sorrow at someone's good luck.

Google knows all!

Unknown said...

Dawg,

I'm not sure when it goes into effect, but you'll probably have to have valid passports for everybody in your family to even take a day trip into BC.

Miranda Mayer said...

Oregon eats Californians for snacky treats.

Murses said...

Washington is fab. The coastal highway is fun to the Oregon border. I do the 5 thru Or. though...
Drink the coffee. Apparently, no one else knows how to make it. Especially Cali. < /cheeky>

Anonymous said...

Rob, one word:

Alaska.

There's even a good college in Anchorage, a pretty good one in Fairbanks. No Californication, and it's gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

This is the time of the year to come here (PacNW). It's sunny, green, and lush. You can't go wrong with any place almost in Western WA and OR (as well as BC). I'd heavily recommend you focus in on what you want to do as you may run yourself ragged otherwise.

And no, it's not "Californicated" imo.

RE: BC, it's only 3 hours from Seattle, and if you get an early enough start the border crossing is a non-issue.

Vancouver BC is pretty cool.

Anonymous said...

The Pacific Northwest is amazing this time of year. As far as top-shelf colleges in the hard sciences, have you looked into Reed, in Portland?

Miranda Mayer said...

@Rob
To get away from Californians in Oregon, just get out of the PDX Metro area. Californians don't stray too far from a Cheesecake Factory and Williams Sonoma--so they're all driving around Beaverton (badly).

Head up towards my neck of the woods. It's a nice mix of pretentious trendies, granolas and tweekers (aka the "Dentally Challenged")

Stay away from any of the secondary roads around forests, coasts and such. Californians tend to disappear when they go exploring.

Miranda Mayer said...

Reed=Lovely.

Rob Dawg said...

I hear Portland has quite the smug attitude about itself. The Portland bubble blogs say things are still expensive there however. My impression is a west coast version of Boston.

As to Alaska my oldest is a 3rd generation Venturan. I think there's little chance of her picking AK. That said, her cousin who greww up on the beach in Summerland went to university in Minn. and Med school in St. Louis.

How do Canadians treat we equity locusts from California? I know Vancouver is a mature international city but are they at the limits of tolerance?

Miranda Mayer said...

Weirder than Boston, Rob. Much weirder. People are a lot nicer too.

Californians really piss me off when they move up here and then spend all their time whining about the rain.

Waaah. Go back to Ah-nold-land then. Gawd.

Murses said...

Californians really piss me off when they move up here and then spend all their time whining about the rain.

I hate this too!

Anonymous said...

He really thinks he is going to broker a deal to sell Circus-Circus and make millions. When I told him it wasn’t going to happen, that business transactions weren’t handled by buddies referring a buddy through email, but by investment bankers, attorneys, auditors, etc… he started shaking…. I MEAN shaking… his hands would tremble .. not in a way that a person would tremble from alcohol, or drugs… but a trembling like I have ever seen. It was angry.. it was a “hurt” tremble.. it was weird..

Anyone think there's some more shaking going on tonight during the Haterzcast??

Akubi said...

Why does everyone love to hate Californians so much?

Dolph said...

Too far to drive. Portland is not that easy to drive to either.

Dolph said...

Steph,

I'm a SoCal native and I LOVE the rain.

Rob Dawg said...

Steph,
You seem quite animated about this subject. Yeah, I've suspected Portland was a little "different" ever since I saw the "Expose Yourself to Art" poster featured in the Harvard Co-op oh so many years ago.

Hey, it could be worse. Better me that mursetard visiting. Thanks for the hints about getting out away from the Beaverdrones.

The Dude said...

Forget Vancouver, B.C.....drive up the Olympic Pen., take the ferry to Victoria, and stay at the Empress. Vanc. Island is fantastic....period.

Anonymous said...

I loved the Port Townsend area in WA state so much that I'm still trying to convince my husband that we should relocate there from coastal NC.

Murses said...

The Dude's idea is fantastic!
Stay out of Eastern Wa. Nothing good ever comes from E. Washington.

Anonymous said...

My son teaches/researches in nanotech at University of Washington. Will send his email address if you want.

Anonymous said...

@ Rob

Minnesota, now there's a great state. I'm partial seeing that I'm from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Rob Dawg said...

Nothing good ever comes from E. Washington.

E Wash? Oh, you mean Northwest Idaho.

Wagga, eldest is currently taking a three week UCLA (5 credit) course in Stem Cell Microbiology. Send the contact, you know how.

Anonymous said...

it would be too far a drive for ME from So Cal to Wa state. I'm a firm believer in the "get there fast" approach. Last summer, my husband left NC and went to the Badlands, Yellowstone, and on through Idaho and into WA state over to Anacortes WA. Then he travelled south through Oregon and went to a beach town in N Ca (Crescent City?) then down through Reno and on to Utah. He didn't have time to visit Az and headed east by way of NM, Texas etc. He was gone for 3 weeks and he felt like he was really pushing himself to see everything he wanted to see.

He had a good time but I would have been miserable on that trip so I stayed home.

Anonymous said...

By all means come on up, Seattle is lovely. Spend money, enjoy the scenery, have a blast.

[Please don't buy real estate, though, or drive like an a**hole.]

Rob Dawg said...

Why does everyone love to hate Californians so much?

Well for one there's this real estate entrepeneur in Sacramento...

Anonymous said...

Rob,

Check with the Canadian consulate before crossing/trying to cross the border.

3boysmama said...

Its about an 18 hour drive from S. Cal to PNW.

Seattle is AWESOME this time of year. August is the best month, by far. Beautiful scenery everywhere. UW is a great location. Don't know about the hard sciences there but know they are a center for cancer research.

ANother eastsider here.
Vancouver BC is about a 2-3 hour drive depending on the border. traffic is HORRIBLE in Vancouver proper. And I lived in Orange County for 10 years. But its a beautiful city!

The Dude said...

Forgot to add.....the Empress serves "High Tea" in the afternoon. Well worth it and will score major points with Mrs. Dawg. I know, all you pukehead Haterz will laugh, but ya'll don't have no klass anyway.

Anonymous said...

Crater Lake in Southern Oregon should be on your "Can't Miss" list. It is simply amazing.

Anonymous said...

Why not come to Virginia? NoVa Sideliner and I can host you!!!!!!!!!!!








East Coast Haterz RULE!

Anonymous said...

Rob, you can't get into Canada because of your DUI conviction.

Anonymous said...

please don't come to oregon.

thank you.

Rob Dawg said...

Oh, I get it. Remedial summer skool/detention let out early today because of the holiday. ::yawn::

The Dude said...

Check with the Canadian consulate before crossing/trying to cross the border.

Why???? I crossed dozens of times, and yes...since 9/11, w/o a single hitch. The return to the U.S. is more of a PITA than going in. The Canucks wanted to know:

Citizenship
Where I'm going
How long will I be there
Purpose of visit
Any guns
Any gifts/goods bringing in

......drive on and have a great day....every single time.

Coming back, show passport, answer the same questions, some chit chat to do a little profiling, and drive on and have a great day. Blaine's lines are ridiculously long at the U.S. entry point so I bypassed and went to one of the less traveled border xings down the road.

The ferry system between the U.S. and Victoria is even easier, even after the TerrorIdiot they nabbed back in '99.

Anonymous said...

Why do people love to hate California?

Man where to start...

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Governor for Christ's sake!

Home to the largest set of materialistic, shallow people pretending to be deep and spiritual.

Home to a gazillion people who pretened to be actors, writers and musicians who have no acting gigs, published material or records.

Home to pretend business people who are basically homeless guys with laptops.




Now don't get me wrong here, I've said it before, I'll say it again. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in 3 years of living in San Francisco, I never really met more retarded, non-free-thinking, drug addled, slow minded sheeple than I ever met any other place any other time. Let me rephrase. At least in other places you can spot them a mile away and avoid. Out there, they infiltrate your very existence. Since I've lived in New York, people just do what they do and are who they are. It ain't pretty a lot of the time, but what you see is what you get. I like that.

Just one man's experience...please don't hate on me.

Rob Dawg said...

Dude,
High tea? I'm ready.

Anonymous said...

Rob you can visit oregon. spend money but please pleae go home after. We dont want you here. And I am not even talking about you driving around drunk. If you are going to drive and kill anyone kill a cali resident.

Anonymous said...

Murst!!

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe Rob can kill just one Oregonian.

Anonymous said...

I've been to Bakersfield twice and four San Joaquin County Fairs!

Miranda Mayer said...

Olympic Peninsula is nice, but try to avoid Aberdeen/Gray's Harbour; it's kind of a shite-hole.

r said...

Oh yeh, Oregon has a 55 mile speed limit that is dreadfully hard to keep, because apparently only the out of staters are required to keep it. Locals advised me strongly to heed it. I think it's only off I-5, or in other words, any pretty area. The ride to Crater Lake, although totally worth the effort, was painfully long.

Rob Dawg said...

Annoyomus,
What's with this "we" crap? Everyone knows the drill, everyone resents the waste of time and space. Speak for yourself, as yourself or don't speak.

Anonymous said...

"At 10:30 AM, Rob Dawg said...
Annoyomus,
What's with this "we" crap? Everyone knows the drill, everyone resents the waste of time and space. Speak for yourself, as yourself or don't speak."

Who you talking to? Sounds like code again. You must be talking to The Dawg Posse/Pusse. You are a waste of space. why don't you STFU?

Akubi said...

TK,
Actually, I tend to agree with you, but there are _some_ Californians who didn't vote for Arnold.

Rob Dawg said...

You know what happens next. You try to escalate. You look for a button to press. I delete. you feign anger, dissapointment and outrage. You claim a moral victory, toss around a few insults of the hypocrisy variety and lick your ballz for a job well done. Okay? Now pretend we went through all that and move on.

king friday the 13th said...

bob dawg,

nice pic. but you should also consider "McGruff the crime dog".

"Help take a bite out of mortgage fraud".

Anonymous said...

@ Dawg.

If you come to Seattle, let me know and I'll give you the tour. Dude is right about High Tea at the Empress. Also, you have to have a couple of cold ones in the Bengal Lounge. Take the ferry over, walk right up to the Empress. Sadly, the Annon is correct about the DUI issue. I never heard if that was true or not but if it is, you very well may want to call ahead.

Anonymous said...

Now here's a begathon...

Asks nicely
Specific benefits to donators
Done with grace & humour
Delivers the goods

It involves Seattle, so I suppose it's on topic.

Anonymous said...

oh, so casey must be in washington state

Anonymous said...

Re the above: my bad

Rob Dawg said...

Akubi,
Almost no one voted for Arnold. He got 4.2m votes in state with 33m people. Thus is the sad affair of CA politics.

Akubi said...

Well, at least we managed to send Paris Hilton to jail.

Ogg the Caveman said...

Responding to Akubi, but addressing Rob Dawg:

Why does everyone love to hate Californians so much?

There isn't a lot of anti-Californian sentiment up north at the moment. There was when the last big wave came through, but those folks are long since assimilated. That said, many Californians who move north manage to shoot themselves in the foot socially, and if your daughter ends up going to school in Washington, Oregon, or basically any place that's not California she would do well to avoid that.

The most common thing I see Californians who just moved someplace else do is expect the new place to be California, and complain loudly and to anyone who will listen when it isn't. When I hear somebody bitching about how it's too cloudy and the beaches suck because they're made of rocks instead of sand, I don't need to ask where they're from. Behave like that and you can expect to be told that you already know where to find what you're looking for.

I'm sure that people from everywhere do that, but Californians have a tougher time getting away with it. The US media is awash with the suggestion that California is the best place in the country, and some folks aren't happy to hear actual Californians suggest the same.

If your daughter goes to school in western Washington, repeating what you've said about the east side of the state is the fastest possible way for her to alienate people and reduce her pool of potential friends is to insult people from eastern Washington. A significant minority of her classmates will be from that part of state and experiencing their first sustained dose of anti-East prejudice. In their first few days they will have been called ignorant hicks, rednecks, inbred, or worse. Most of them will have no time for anyone who trots out the same stereotypes. And don't even think about lumping eastern Washington in with northern Idaho -- that's the fastest way to alienate anyone from either region.

In short: Your daughter should listen more than she talks, recognize that she went someplace different to have a different experience, not insult people unnecessarily, and for crying out loud not bitch about the rain too much. If she does those things she'll be fine. If on the other hand she acts like the stereotypical ugly American abroad, she's likely to have a lonely stay wherever she ends up.

Oh, one other thing: In Seattle, don't even think of driving during the first snow of the winter.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dog,

Your queries were highlighted for me and placed atop my daily briefings. You may be interested to know that between Washington and Oregon, only three universities have received the Carnegie Foundation's highest classification of 'Very High Research Activity'. These are Washington State, University of Washington, and Oregon State University.

As previously mentioned, the Coastal Highway is memorizing, her curves like a Belladonna's and should one's wits become dulled the consequences every bit as deadly. Yet, it is slow, perhaps too much so to travel the entire way. A route could be designed to travel north via Interstate 5, which itself has many engaging viewpoints just north of the California border, then west through Corvallis to evaluate the learning institution, continuing west to Newport and the Pacific, then into Portland - perhaps via hwy 18 - to visit Reed.

As always,
I L M S

Anonymous said...

I'm an Oregonian Anon that remains so outta fear for my w-2 looser job... So, is this PNW a segway for KC's radar tracker? Is snowflake in the woods west of PDX?

Ogg the Caveman said...

Ah, the perils of being interrupted mid-sentence:

If your daughter goes to school in western Washington, repeating what you've said about the east side of the state is the fastest possible way for her to alienate people and reduce her pool of potential friends is to insult people from eastern Washington.

Let's un-fuck-up that bit:

Don't talk trash about the east side. Lots of potential friends are from there.

Dolph said...

Guys, I know there are retards in this state..I've lived here my whole life. I will say I'd LOVE to live in WA state. I am a lifelong Seattle Mariners fan (don't ask how) and that alone would be worth it to me. I love rain and cloudy weather but also love beach breezes.

I dig rocky beaches. I guess at heart I am less a SoCal than a PNW'er!

Not all of us are sheeple. I live in the OC. Everybody here still thinks Bush is great. I have no problem with that, per se, but find it hard when they ask me why I stopped being part of the party. I tell them why and they politely excuse themselves or call me an idiot liberal. Funny thing, I am not a liberal in a lot of my thinking. Mostly a libertarian if anything.

If you can't tell by now, I HATE labels unless you EARN it.

CHJTS said...

At 9:35 AM, Rob Dawg said...
I hear Portland has quite the smug attitude about itself. The Portland bubble blogs say things are still expensive there however. My impression is a west coast version of Boston


Yes rob, you are correct...the prices are still way out of whack here and remain unnafordable to most people.

Oregon tends to run a year to 2 behind on national trends so long after the housing market is done correcting itself, oregon will be in full blown housing cost reductions.

We do get our share of Californicators moving here, but it is a much smaller amount that go to Seattle...and most of them land in the Black Butte/Bend area.

I for one hate people, so I live close to the outskirts of the city so I have minimal driving to get out away from it all.

I couldnt imagine nor have the desire to ever live anywhere else.

Anonymous said...

I love the Pacific Northwest!!!

Anonymous said...

I for one hate people,

:::::::::::smile:::::::::::

(present non-anon-troll, EN regulars excepted, of course... but sadly, folks like you are a minority)

Murses said...

Mocha, if I ever saw you here, I'd punch you in your blue ball loving mansack.

Or, I'd just laugh.

Anonymous said...

I went to OSU...good school for sciences. I live in Portland now, and yes Reed is an incredible school, but also incredibly pricey.
Yes, Portland is smug, but not nearly as much as Bend, which has got to have the highest per capita cali's of anywhere in Oregon...in a related note, it is getting hammered in housing, and will continue for some time. It is a beautiful place, with tons of recreational opportunities, just NO JOBS. Portland has good jobs, and while prices are high relatively speaking, they are quite a bit less expensive than just about anywhere in Cali. And besides, Cali sucks. Period. And so do most of its people. On second thought, stay away from Oregon. Dont come here.

Anonymous said...

Sadly Anon is right. You're not to be allowed in if you have been convicted of any crime, including some misdemeanors (DUI among them). I have a reckless driving charge from when I was a wee mite, and cannot pass w/o permission.

It's not to say you're not allowed, but getting permission can be very time consuming, in my experience.

CHJTS said...

There seems to be some confusion on the first/murst/liverwurst rules.

Awhile back I posted the rules for first/murst but I see they need to be ammended.

First and murst are designed as an internal games with the contributors to this site.

The existing rules first"

There is credit for only 2 (first/Murst), everything else is only runner up ego soothings.

at post 101, 201, 301 etc...ONLY MURST applies and it must be stated as one hundred and murst, two hundred and murst, etc.

You can use deviations of these such as one hundred and flipping murst, or bow to my one hundred and murstiness bitches.

YOU cannot artificially inflate the post count with spamming and gooblegok if it is close ..say post 94..and you post crap and then one hundred and murst. You are disqualified for that entire thread (even the two hundred murst and so on).

Your one hundred murst (and so on) post does not need to be the actual 101st post as allot of people do not participate in the game..it just needs to be higher than the actual 100th post.


NEW RULE:

ANONOMOUS and ANONOPUSSIES are deemed INVALID and cannot play. Since there are unknown hundreds of anonomous and anonopussies out there, we do not know who to individually give credit to for the murst.

Only 1 person can claim murst and not be in cohorts (either unknown or unintentional or intentional and known) with others to escalate their murst counts.

IE OGG claims 4 mursts in a month..we know ogg has 4 murst.

Anonopussie claims 4 mursts in a month and it is 3 different people at 3 seperate computers.

IF an anonopussy claims a murstness then it is automatically invalid, and the first named used will be the credit for the murstness/firstness.

NO variatins of anonopussies names are allowed either...EX anonochatter anonomator.

anonopussies are deemed a scourge and will not have any part in the firstness/murstness game

Anonymous said...

HEADS UP!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19582088/

"Former Fidelity National Information Services broker sold information"

Anonymous said...

Rob,

You need to find peace living at Orenco Station near Portland. You can take the train downtown, so you don't even need your car. If you live there, you'll be doing your part to save the planet.

Unknown said...

--You'll probably hate the politics of Seattle or Portland proper.
--UW and WSU are both good schools for the right major. (WSU was originally an agriculture school but has an excellent *practical* engineering school, for instance.)
--WWU has an excellent biology department, I hear.
--Evergreen will give you an aneurysm with all the hippies walking around, but really is a good school in the right subjects.
--Seattle is Home to me, but eastern WA isn't a bad place - the weather's hotter in the summer and colder in the winter and drier overall. If you like smaller towns you'll survive.
--A DUI will keep you out of Canada, I think - as noted, check with the consulate.
--20 years ago we resented CA equity locusts - now they've either fled the rain or consider themselves locals.
--RE is still massively overinflated.
--Good beer at Feirabend at the base of Cap Hill in Seattle, at Prost in Greenwood, at Brouwers in Fremont, or at any of the many local breweries.
--Good food all over the place. Start at Pike Place and work your way east. I think you can eat your way all the way to Lake Washington without a *bad* restaurant.

CHJTS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CHJTS said...

At 9:10 AM, Anonymous said...
Two in the last two days Anon rules for first



Nw renter gets the credit for murstness in this thread.

STICK THAT IN YOUR PIEHOLE ANONOPUSSY

Anonymous said...

Curst!!!

Sweet Cashback said...

CHJTS,

your rules do not forbid the use of first or murst enhancing bot scripts. Does that mean that they fall into a gray area of shady firstnes/murstness and therefor are legal?
I would hate to get sued later for the use of illegal first/murst enhancers.....

Rob Dawg said...

Mocha, did you catch that curst in your moist from a murse?

CHJTS said...

Rob they are correct,

There is allot of smugness in the downtown core.

It doesnt apply in the suburbs on the east side though.

The tree huggers tend to migrate from 39th avenue west out to beaverton.

They run in tighly clustered packs, (makes it easier for a tactical air strike).

What I love is the huge push for more bike lanes and crap on the east side. Well people out there tend to drive, its the suburbs dammit.....public transportation is hard to get too, and they just wont pay for it.

The west side with the Tualatin Valley Parks and Recreation has connected trails and green spaces from one end of the city to the other..it is actually quite cool...but its residents use those trails..hundreds of miles of them.

East Side simply does not want them nor needs them. it is a very small percentage of people that ride their bikes the 10+ miles each direction to work.

I for one drive (used to) a big ass gas guzzling truck, and I will again...I was just up this morning looking at some new trucks and am still drooling about which one I want.

So yes rob, there is smugness and a helluva lot of granola eating tree huggers, but they tend to concentrate in packs close to downtown and the suburbs on the east side are still safe.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Salem, OR for about eight years and Portland for about two, and I have a house in Portland.

I do not recommend Oregon for you at ALL. I think the politics will drive you crazy. It is mostly liberal with some pretty strict land use laws and a history of rather liberal policies (like assisted suicide, etc). Plus, they just ended a legislative session that was completely controlled by Democrats. Some of us like the legislation that was produced, but I'm sure you wouldn't.

Portland would be a terrible choice given your preference for exurban, sprawl-based, laissez-faire land use. (BTW, have you considered Texas? I hear land use laws are weak to non-existant.) You would be extremely annoyed at Metro's policy of supporting light rail instead of freeway construction, and the Urban Growth Boundary would make you batty. (Metro is the three county land use agency--also handles solid waste and transportation.)

In light of that, I think Washington would be a better fit. UW would probably be the best school for the hard sciences. As far as a place for you to relocate to, I recommend one of the San Juans. They are filled with rich white people. They are somewhat hard to get to, which makes them very safe and unlikely to be colonized by illegal immigrants. Plus, you'd be fairly close to your daughter if she was at UW.

One advantage to WA is that there is no personal income tax. Sales tax is about the same as CA and property tax isn't as bad as say NY or TX. Rates are pretty easy to find on Zillow or whatever.

Rob Dawg said...

CHJTS,
I understand all your comments. Just don't get me started on MAX. I know more about MAX than Metro does and it ain't pretty. Talk about black holes. Worse it is guarded by zealots who won't listen to reason.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rob,

I live in Vancouver and it is real easy to jump over the border. Americans are always welcome up here so don't be afraid. You are most welcome but be prepared, beer is real expensive and if you smoke, bring cigs, they are real expensive

Anonymous said...

@10:07 AM, Joe Dirt said...
Why not come to Virginia? NoVa Sideliner and I can host you!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure wouldn't mind a drink or three with Rob Dawg, though I'd feel REAL bad having him fly here as an alternative to the Pacific NW. There's some OK scenery here, yeah, but OK does not mean dramatic by any means, nothing like the Cascades or Olympic Peninsula rain forests, or huge waves crashing on the Pacific coast.

I hate to say it, but if I had the choice to have this same W-2 looser job here or in the NW, I'd take the latter in a blink. But then, I also like cold rain, too. :-)

CHJTS said...

Hey rob,

are your emails broken.

I have sent you some and you havent responded.

I have some errands to run before the haterzcast. will be back later to check them

Anonymous said...

There are some all good properties down in Sac fresh out of foreclosure. Sweet deals, I tell ya!

Anonymous said...

People:

Please keep perpetuating the myth that all we get is rain in the PNW. Pretty true for Seattle, but not the rest.

However, if this keeps a lot of people away, I guess it's all good! To quote a shrewd RE investor.

Anonymous said...

We regularly enjoy our summer vacation in the PNW, usually driving from Sacramento to the following destinations:
San Juan Island, Seattle, Long Beach WA (for the Kite Festival), Astoria OR (charming and frequently overlooked town), Portland (don't miss OMSI), Ashland. We have been doing variations on this tour for five of the last six summers.

As for colleges, Reed College in Portland if you dare and if you value independent thinking and a rigorous education. Check out others in
Cool Colleges. A very good supplement to the standard college guides if you are looking for something non-standard.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 12:36
Sssshh!!!!

It's getting crowded enough as it is. Have you driven up Sunnyside lately? It's like a human-habitrail.

Anonymous said...

Reed College has a suicide rate that rivals MIT

Anonymous said...

Stephanie,

I haven't in a long time, but if it's anything like like Hwy 26 and 217, I understand.

One big long parking lot, baby.

Rob Dawg said...

My oldest liked M.I.T. two weeks ago when we did a driveby and last week when they invited to a special meet&greet at the Skirball last week. Suicide is a fact of life in these circles. Look into the song "Andy Fell" by HSR for more details.

Anonymous said...

please stay the fuck out of the NW.

tia.

-NW.

Anonymous said...

Too many mosquitoes in the forest this year. It may be global warming.

astrid said...

I would be happy to do without Greatest Gen and Silent Gen folks doing 55 in RVs, but the whole area is pretty nice, Californians and all.

Mt. Rainier and Northern Cascades are gorgeous. Redwood NP and the Lost Coast deserve a nice long visit. The Oregon coast is a misty and green dream.

As for school recommendations: My first impression is to stay away from PNW. The lack of winter sunlight is a big negative. U-W is good and I know Lewis & Clark grads who are quite well adjusted. But overall, try to sell your daughter on Berkeley or Davis or Stanford - world class schools for a fraction of the cost of going out of state. Far enough for distance but close enough for emergencies.

astrid said...

hmm, not Stanford; that just slipped through...