Transplanting a gardener to the PNW

Forgot to add picture:

When I came up here from Chicago I had a job as an RN in the NICU at Children's Hospital lined up. I first came in with a work authorization and had that renewed annually for the first 6-7 yrs. I applied for permanent residency after that and was given that status within 6 months after applying. I was covered by Canadian health care after 90 days of first arriving and have been ever since. The current health care situation in th US is definitely a deterrent to my going back to the States........

But I pretty much agree with everyone.....Gulf Islands and western Vancouver Island are my favorite areas and I would move to either in a heartbeat if I could have a similar job!

Looks like you have lots of freeboard on that sailboat. Looks beautiful! Wow! I just bought a Phil Bolger 'Teal' and plan on sailing it around the inside passage up here in AK. Everyone thinks that is nuts too. But I sail in dry-suit when alone. And carry a big gun. LOL

Sweet little boat! And sweet looking girl, too. If I recall, Langley has a protected little harbor with a sandy beach close to the marina. Don't see why you couldn't get your boat rigged easily and safely in that area. Langley is a very nice little town.

The freeboard's not more than you'd expect, but she does sail dry. Depending on the sailor, of course! Used to be that my husband only wanted to go with me when there was lots of wind, being of the opinion that the rail should always be almost in the water, and spray should be coming aboard over the bow. He always complained of the centerboard trunk crowding his shins, which put me in charge of the jib, and him of the main and tiller, the sly fox. Which of course resulted in Self functioning as dodger. This is fine when it's hot, but when you get wet enough and are sitting in the breeze for long enough, your teeth chatter even when you're giggling.

Here's where these boats are still being made. There's a profile picture there. They're not doing a very detailed job of illustrating how cool this very traditional English boat looks. It looks clinker even though it's fiberglass. I might get away with murder during traditional boat festivals around Whidbey, heh heh. Just thinking about her makes me want to stock up on sandpaper and make sure my marine finishes are up to par. http://www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk/index.php5?page=Urchin

I was actually thinking of the Langley area, to tell the truth. I have to play a concert tonight about 70 miles from here while a winter storm, starting with ice, is blowing in. Not a blizzard, just an ordinary storm. But travel will be hazardous. If all you have to worry about, when you have to get somewhere, is traffic and rain - I think I could handle that.

Not as much traffic in the Langley area. It is an Island so the weeks are thinner with traffic. I does though have a land connection to the North which makes ferry failures a mimimal issue.
I like the boat! My 'teal' is modified to have more freeboard and a canoe stern for the race to shore for the sudden changes that occur here in AK. Whidbey races are up in Oak Harbor and take advantage of the thermal that blows off Juan Du Fuca straits. Wind doesn't blow much in the summer in Puget Sound and my best sailing was in the winter. The Pacific High sets over the NW from July to sometimes September and makes for the sun and warm. But no wind. Squally weather blows southerly and sunny weather blows northerly. The cold fronts in Dec and Jan can bring cold but nice steady winds of 20 to up to 50 knts.
Melissa (Pixy) is an avid sailer and gets to see it all too.

Lovely little Urchin! Very sweet, indeed!
We plan a sail on Sunday. I need to get away. It's been such nice weather lately and I haven't had any time outside at all. I've been 'under the weather' with ear infections, so I may have to stay below if it's too cold, but I have my windproof hats so if the sun is shining, I'll be out in it. Pray for wind!

Thought I'd post this photo for you. This is what sailing is like in the Gulf Islands in the summer. Wooeee! Look for Mike's story about that adventure to be published in the September 2010 issue of Good Old Boat magazine. We're so excited! It's the first thing he's submitted for publication and they bought it right away!

Yee haw, Pixy, can I crew for you!?? Geez. We had a bigger boat at one time, with a spinnaker, but the guy we took along to help us learn to handle it never wanted to push much for speed. Not a racing kind of person. Whereas I figure with a sailboat, the whole point is the puzzle of how to get the max out of it, under whatever conditions prevail. Power boats bore me.

Sofer, I envy you your upcoming sojourn. Makes me want to get out my big-boat books and study up. Have you read Patrick O'Brian, by the way? I bet you have...

We went down to the little Urchin because I have to be able to do single-hand with little fuss, and it's easy to lower the boat lift into the lake here and take off on a whim. No advance planning necessary. And - I like being close to the water. With the bigger boats we've had, no way you could trail your arm over the side and feel the silky flow. I should say that my husband passed away almost three years ago, which is why having only a little boat is even more necessary now.

Cool - sailing gardeners - gardening sailors -

We'd be please to have 'ya!

Awesome, Pixy, I'll get in touch if/when I get out there.

Well, I just sent my college sophomore daughter out to Kirkland to visit with her cousins over spring break. She has instructions to surreptitiously sample the soil and check out its structure, if she thinks of it. They're going yurting on the Oregon coast for a day or two, also. Plus downtown Seattle horsing around. I know she'll love it... wish I was there too! This is my first step on the campaign of making the idea seem more possible.

We'll be waiting. Hope your daughter enjoys her trip.

joanlc- Good luck on your move.....I've lived here for the last 33 years and love it!! And I don't think I am too snooty (don't have a fancy house to support the attitude) Hope you like fresh seafood it is all over the place. My thought that may want to stay closer to Puget Sound and away from the foothills for a slightly warmer conditions. This is a great place to grow (or try to grow) just about anything from just about anywhere

Why, thank you Azorina! Actually, I have no fear of slightly cooler conditions, the foothills wouldn't bother me a bit from that point of view. But - I've lived in the mountains before, and I know that mountains too close to the east means the sun "comes up" later. And I like morning sun very, very much. So that's probably why I'd stay away from there, if I could.

Hey Willow, I've been following your greenhouse adventure and envying you both your house and your yard. I was thinking of trying to make it out there for the Whidbey Island DG Roundup in May, but it's of course the busiest season at the nursery where I work. And my symphony's concert season isn't quite over either by that time. Anybody know of any other roundups in the PNW in July or August?

none yet, but there should be!
Joan - I live in the foothills & it is quite different when we have a cold winter. I end up losing plants that should survive. It's the freeze-thaw situation that causes problems.
My property is exposed so I do have sun in the winter from morning until sunset. Tall trees to the north; most of the storms approach from the Southeast. It just depends on how one's land is sited.
I hope your daughter has a wonderful time here - it's gorgeous today!

joanic, Check out the "June rendezvous in Montana" if that's not to early. It is one of the PNW threads.

I need to get going on that one. I have been joyously working on clean up and pruning. Today I start a stairway down to my lower woodland garden. I should take about a hundred hours is all. Now that the ground is thawed I can also transplant all of "must move" plants.
Anyway we need to start thinking of our get together in the early summer. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1068755/

For what its worth. I live 15 minutes north of Gig Harbor in Port Orchard. It is a wonderful area, gardening is simple and can be done year round zone 8b. Gig Harbor has expensive homes, middle of the road and low end. It is a nice quant community. I cross the bridge every day to work in Tacoma. Since the bridge has opened I have never slowed down below speed limit to make it across. It used to be an extra 20 to 45 minutes to cross because of backed up traffic. The toll is $4.00 only southbound, with a prepaid sticker it is only $2.75. From someone who has made the commute for a long time the 2.75 is worth every penny. Spend a week visiting and you won't want to leave.

Hi timo, nice to meet you. My DH was born and raised in PO. I grew up in Poulsbo. I have never been across the new bridge. Will have to do that some day. I agree that PO is a great place to live.

Hi Timo and welcome. Our member, Jim, (Hostajim on DG) also lives in Port Orchard, I think. We went to visit him and see his gardens a couple of years ago - from what we could see, it's very quiet and serene.

Welcome Timo. I too have a long tradition in PO. I kept my sailboat there for over 15 years, my sister has a cabin on Long Lake, and I too agree that it is a wonderful place. I though do also love the big bridge. Many a parking lot of memories approaching the narrows.
Ignore the chickens I bumped what I was showing my DW.

But they're pretty cute . . .

We are adding our second wave of chicks. Ours are now 5 years old and not producing much so we are going to Barred Rocks or RI Reds. We have been kind of dissapointed with our Aracanas. They work hard in the garden but not on the nest. I like my farm fresh eggs every morning.

My son made a model of a suspension bridge for the science fair when he was in elementary school, and we took him to the Tacoma Narrows bridge to take pictures and examine how it was built. He based his model on the old, small bridge which is what was there at the time. We also watched a movie that showed a clip of the last moments of "Galloping Gertie" where the older bridge sets up a harmonic vibration and breaks up into the Sound.

That sounds awesome, Steve.

Holly, I've seen the Galloping Gertie videos, too. They are dramatic!

I had both Rhodies and Barred Rocks a number of years ago. They were both good layers, but the Barred Rocks were far more intelligent birds. If they got stuck outside the fence, which happened occasionally when someone left the gate open, the Barred Rocks could figure out how to get back in. The Rhodies, on the other hand, ran frantically back and forth on the outside of the fence until I sneaked around behind them and shepherded them in the right direction.

I agree Holly. I told Karen that she should get Barred Rocks. Much more lovable for a chicken who will be with us until ?????? hopefully old age. All three we have lost were to dogs off the road. But not we have a gate they cannot get through.

So the daily round trip commute toll would be $2.75 for the big bridge? That's nothing, compared to ferry costs, really.

My daughter has had a completely delightful time in the Seattle area. I'm going down to Minneapolis to pick her up today; I sort of wish she wasn't coming home! I wish she could stay there, and I could think of her being delighted every single day with her surroundings.

joanlc- $2.75 is the toll for those that have transponders for eastbound traffic only.........and it was just determined to keep the toll the same for now at least...but it is hard to tell how long that will last. When the bridge was first built it was thought that the toll would eventually be $6.

Hmm. Not so good. It kind of looks like I should try to find a spot on the mainland, to avoid extreme transportation costs; not only for my possibly commuting daughter, but in case I want to play in an orchestra there. Sigh. How to find a rural feel not too far out? What's the soil like in the Auburn 8-mile radius? Is it even slightly rural in feel anywhere halfway between Seattle and Tacoma? Does the noise from Sea-Tac drive people nuts?

You should spend some time on Google maps checking out the area to see the densities, etc. Auburn used to have a lot of agriculture, it's fairly flat and low, but it's not near the Sound at all. Have you considered the Olympia area at all, or Snohomish county?

If you don't want to be near Seatac, avoid Des Moines & Burien. The airport is on a plateau, kind of above much of the surrounding area, so as long as you're not next to it, it's not bad. They do as much noise mitigation as they can. There are, I think, four proscribed inward/outward flight routes that attempt to manage the noise regionally, so that means there's some plane noise some of the time everywhere-Bellevue, N. Seattle, etc.

I used to live in Seattle and lived right under the northern approach towers. We were one of the first to be moved out of the area. Then we built a house between the Boeing flight line and the Sea-Tac flight line. It was extremely noisy and dirty. No talking or TV when a plane went over. Over to the east from Renton down through Auburn, Milton, Sumner is all mostly rural. And less than an hours driving to Seattle. Traffic is worse north of Seattle and it is more expensive to live.

I think Sumner is a very nice neighborhood. Small townish and small farms every where. My SIL parents live there and it is a nice garden area. Auburn now is an industrial nightmare. It used to be muck farms with rich soil now all covered with asphalt.

Not sure how close you need to be to the big city, but if you get up into Skagit County (north), the taxes are lower and building inspectors more reasonable. Worse roads. More farms. Anacortes or Bow are nice and on or near the water. Also nice areas in any of the foothills, which are further away from the main corridor (I-5) so much quieter.

Just the sort of info I need! I'm combing through the Windermere real estate listings, and look up interesting stuff on Google Earth. Spending lots of time at it when really, I ought to be cleaning out closets....

I don't really need City life, myself. Almost nothing about it attracts me except as a place to occasionally visit. BUT - when you play violin and you want to play a lot - one or two important shows a month, at least, plus the occasional show-up-and-play gig, is what I've been doing - the transportation costs, not to mention time on the road, can add up. So I'd like to be within, say, 45 miles of where I mostly end up playing. There's a really good orchestra in Auburn that I'd like to audition for, but one property I looked at had the realtor praising its immunity to certain traffic issues, which put a red flag up for that area! Sofer has now put a finger on the reason - thanks! There are other orchestras in the Tacoma area that might be good jumping-off places too, so these pointers on the south side are welcome.

Thanks also for the advice about noise. Noise kind of gets on my nerves...

Shopping, shopping - how would I have ever been able to do this before the internet!? Not to mention benefit from all you folks' wisdom.

I was going to mention Tacoma. They have a 'going artistic area'.

Joanlc,

Our area is close to the Sumner/Orting area, and is still quite rural, although unfortunately building up in a hurry. We are in South Prairie. My commute to Tacoma proper is about 20 miles, and usually traffic is very tolerable. There are several outlying small town areas southeast of us(Grahm, Eatonville) that are beautiful, but you definitely want to make sure that you don't have to commute through the South Hill of Puyallup (Hwy 161 aka Meridian or Hwy 7) to get home.

Bremerton Symphony, Bainbridge Symphony are close to Gig Harbor, if that is where you are still looking

Joan, I can't remember whether there was a reason that you were wedded to the Seattle area, other than sailing, but perhaps you should consider Portland. MUCH more manageable & less expensive, IMHO. Sailing on the Columbia River is awesome, and Portland proper is less than 2 hours to the beach (where I live).