I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. So I will go from first to last. This means we start with the state of Washington.
I was born in 1979 at a hospital in Tacoma, which is south of Seattle by approximately 30-ish minutes. I grew up, mostly, in Puyallup (pronounced 'Pew-All-Up'), but also the small town of Algona (which is surrounded by other towns so the small size didn't really matter, it was like one giant city in the Seattle metropolitan area). I also lived in the small, desolate central Washington mountain town of Entiat, which was quite an experience unto itself, which I won't get into. I have also lived in the northend in my 20s, in the city of Everett, as well as various other northend towns like Bothell and Lynnwood. I was a southsound gal at heart, though.
I ended my western Washington journey with living in the actual city of Seattle. That was also a whole different type of experience than living in the suburbs. After living in Seattle for 2 years, me and my mate moved together to Spokane, in eastern Washington.
The thing I love the most about Washington is it's ecological and climate diversity. You've got the Puget Sound, encased with the Olympic Peninsula and the rest of Western Washington including Seattle, Everett, Tacoma. There are many beautiful islands in the state, one of which is one of my favorite places to go: San Juan Island - specifically the town of Friday Harbor. The beauty of the islands coupled with the fun experience of traveling to them via Washington State Ferry is always a great experience.
I also loved going to the Gorge Amphitheater to see Dave Matthews Band. The Gorge is located in the middle of the state, in central/eastern Washington. It is one of the most sought-after places to see music live. It is on top of a cliff overlooking the mighty Columbia River which cuts its way through the center of the state. It is beautiful, and the acoustics are great. Whenever I go to a concert there, I see license plates from New York, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas -- just everywhere. Everyone wants to see a show there.
In the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, which separates western Washington from eastern Washington, there is a small but amazing town called Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian village. It boasts actual Bavarian architecture and shops (shoppes). There's a gazebo in the park in town that plays traditional German polka music, and the Icicle River is behind the town. My favorite shop in Leavenworth is A Matter of Taste, where you can sample mustards, jams, and hot sauces with pretzels and other goodies. They also sell honey too I believe, as well as other gifts. I only went to that establishment pre-Covid: Even though you're not supposed to double dip, I am sure people do, so it probably isn't very sanitary to do that now, who knows. We planned on taking a trip to Leavenworth in December of 2013 to go dog sledding, but ended up not going - I can't remember why.
Western Washington, including the Olympic Peninsula (which boats the Hoh Rainforest and Olympic Mountain Range) is temperate, with large green Evergreen trees surrounding literally everything. A friend came to visit from California once and remarked that being in Western Washington made her feel like she was camping. It is only a 3 hour drive from the Seattle area to the Canadian border, where I spent my weekends, every weekend, for a year. You can even take the international ferry from Anacortes, WA which is located on Fidalgo Island, to Victoria, British Columbia. I went camping every birthday for about 5 years in a row on Mt. Rainier (Tahoma) which was beautiful and a lot of fun. I never did get to traverse the Wonderland Trail which goes all the way around the mountain, though. Always wanted to.
Central Washington is the 'gateway' that gently slides into the brush steppe desert of eastern Washington. Instead of the traditional Evergreen, the central part of the state boasts a lot of pine trees. As you go further east from there, you encounter the desert which doesn't have that many trees (of course). Once you pass over the Columbia Gorge, you are pretty much in farmland, with looming apple orchards, peaches, pears, and other fruit and vegetables although, not as expansive as the apples. You pass by little tiny towns on the freeway on the way to something bigger. Spokane is at the edge of the eastern part of the state, bordering on Idaho. That brings me to culture.
Western Washington, particularly Seattle, is actually pretty pretentious. I will probably get a lot of hate for that, but it is very true. Once while walking down the street in the Capital Hill neighborhood where I lived, I threw a plastic bottle in the trash, and some pedestrian passerby yelled at me, and told me to hold it until I could recycle it. Seattle prides itself on being very "green", climate friendly, and ecologically responsible. To the point where if you're in the city, instead of seeing PE trucks (Penis Extender trucks like a giant Doge Ram or Ford F150 etc.), you will see a lot of bicycles, scooters, and those little electric tiny egg-like smart cars. As soon as I moved away, they got a light rail to join with the Sounder train. I was so upset about it. Why couldn't they have had a light rail system while I actually lived there and needed it? Would've been nice. Speaking of Sounder - they finally got an MLS (Major League Soccer, for anyone else in the world) team in 2009. It was exciting. I was an instant fan of the Seattle Sounders, and went to a few matches in 2009 and 2010. They've won a championship, maybe two, since I left. I am also still a big Seahawks football (American) fan - you can take the girl away from the Seahawks, but you can't take the Seahawks away from the girl. We used to have a men's NBA (National Basketball Association) team, too, called the Seattle Supersonics, or Sonics for short. They wanted a new venue, or to completely renovate the Key Arena where they played, and the city said "Nope" so they left and went to.. uh, Oklahoma. Is that a place? Oh well, at least they have the Seattle Storm, the women's WNBA team that is usually, in most seasons, on fire, and big champions.
Spokane was a different vibe. No real sports teams to speak of except for Gonzaga University's men's basketball team which always made it to the semi-finals of the NCAA championships but never won. It was very outdoorsy in the hunting and fishing sense. Big PE trucks, rednecks, and trailer trash (in some areas). Also very conservative, and don't care if you throw plastic in the trash. It is still in Washington, though, so as much as it fancies itself part of Idaho, it actually is a lot more liberal than it realizes, which is why it wasn't difficult to live there as a LGBT person. I liked living there a lot. A half hour drive took you to Green Bluff, which is a conglomerate of farms that banded together to create their own little business ecosystem. You pick up a map of all the farms, and drive from one to the other, each with their own U-Pick farms and holiday festivals. It was enchanting. You're also only a 3 hour drive to Montana, or Walla Walla, WA which is a cool wine country town that has 120 wineries. We took a few trips out there and went wine tasting. I still think Walla Walla wine is better tasting than Napa Valley, California wine but shhh, don't tell that to anyone from California, they would get so mad.
The state is divided in this way politically. The majority of the geographical Washington is red, right-wing and Republican. But the majority of people live in western Washington, where they are blue, left-wing and Democrat. So it is thus, a blue state, meaning it is more liberal and progressive overall. Which I liked. They were the first state, along with Colorado at the same time, to legalize recreational cannabis use. This was of course, only two years before I moved to Utah, which.. wow. Very conservative in most areas. That's a whole different blog entry... coming up next!
Overall, I would say that if I had enough money to still be living in Washington (it has gotten way too expensive now with most houses on the market going for 700k or more) I probably would. Either that or Colorado. But I do miss my family, which is all located in Washington. It is a great state - if you can afford it.
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