water view retirement - where oh where -rain shadow? (Seattle: real estate market, to rent)

[LMB]

I just read of an encounter yesterday between a trio of gray whales and some orcas just south of Camano Island. Evidently it's a rare occurrence for the two types of whales to be in the same area. We haven't actually seen any whales in Liberty Bay since moving to Poulsbo a few years ago, but a whale carcass was found here recently. However, we do have harbor seals and otters in the bay, as well as many different types of birds, and as Idunn mentioned, a Home Depot too. Silverdale is close by and has lots of shopping, including a new Lowes. My husband spends a lot of time at our independent local hardware stores too, especially when he wants fix-it advice or to find a vintage piece of hardware for our older home. We have a small house and a large garage with a workshop, and live intown--walking distance to downtown and just a few blocks from the waterfront. Our backyard has a year-round creek meandering through it, so although we're intown, it's a very nature-friendly place. We "retired" to Poulsbo from FL, sort of backwards from what most retirees do. We're still working part-time from home as freelance graphic designers, but are thankfully retired from the daily corporate grind. By the way, we started our search for the perfect retirement spot five years before actually moving too. This forum was invaluable for info about different communities, but it still took many visits in person to find the right fit for us. In the end, all the research and trips were worth it!

Good luck! It's fun exploring different areas, and there are many right choices.

Lynn

[rauscs]

I MAY have overstated rain as an issue, but I'm a So Cal boy (oooh, now it's out in the open... my apologies) and am not really sure what our appetite for water falling from the sky will be. Given that there are some wonderful choices in the rain shadow, why not start there?

GREAT input so far, thanks to all.

Steve (and Corrie)

[rauscs]

Okie Dokie, so far the list is Coupeville, Anacordes, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, and we saw Gig Harbor on our last trip and liked it. Perhaps I should add cute, walkable downtown to our list of wants, as that seems to be where we are gravitating. I'm goint to look at LaConner next.

[silverfox]

We live in Sequim and have made good friends with a nice couple from Los Angeles. They were all thrilled to find this place and rented for 6 mo. Then they found a house to buy.
It's been about 2 years now and they are thinking and talking about the warm sunny days in Calif. all the time. I'm not sure they will survive this climate even though we only have about 17 inches of rain annually.
It is also cooler here then Seattle. We have lots of grey cloudy days and some wind as well.
That's because we are near the Straits of Juan Defuca with Pacific Ocean influence.
I kinda have to laugh when they call this Place Sunny Sequim other then August and September.

[dubdpt]

I am nowhere close to retirement, but I just moved to the CA transplant retiree mecca of Anacortes. I relocated 6 months ago from SoCal for a job opportunity. I have met a large number of retired individuals that moved here from California either to retire or during their working career and stayed for retirement. You will have great access to so many interesting activities. From our local forest lands for hiking (see also Washington Park), Deception Pass Bridge for sightseeing, direct access to the ferries for visiting the San Juans and Victoria, B.C., and within 1.5-2 hours to either Seattle of Vancouver, B.C. And don't forget the whale watching opportunities to see Orcas in the wild outside of Sea World as I only did while growing up in San Diego.

I am an avid snowboarder and amateur nature photographer and love this region for my hobbies. The largest adjustment for me is the move from suburban/city life to rural living, along with the climate change. You may be seeking more rural living, but will need to adjust to the weather. We moved here at the beginning of winter and had to quickly adjust to the colder, gray days with occassional windstorms. I am lucky that we moved here during an El Nino year with the milder winter conditions. We are still in the Olympic Rain Shadow and thus will hear about rain in Seattle and Mount Vernon nearby, while we are dry with the possibility of sunbreaks.

Mount Vernon and Burlington east of us will have the Home Depot, Target, Costco and variety of dining not offered in Anacortes with only a 20 min drive.

I could go into more detail but research more if you are interested.


Feel free to private message me with any further questions.

[LMB]

Originally Posted by LMB

We haven't actually seen any whales in Liberty Bay since moving to Poulsbo a few years ago, but a whale carcass was found here recently.

I may have to take that statement back soon. Gray whales were spotted in Liberty Bay just two blocks away from our home this evening! Our neighbors called us to come see them, but by the time we got down to the waterfront they had moved away on towards the Sound. So close to a sighting! It is rare for whales to come into the bay here, but very exciting.

Poulsbo has a quaint little Norwegian influenced downtown with some nice restaurants--a couple of new ones have also opened up recently, and the famous Sluy's Bakery. One of our main "wants" when town shopping was to have a downtown area with coffeeshops, book stores, galleries and restaurants and to live within walking distance. I'm so glad we stuck to that goal! We couldn't wait to get away from the car-centric lifestyle we led in the suburbs of Orlando. Sometimes weeks go by without us even taking our car out of the garage.

Lynn

[rauscs]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll be asking more questions once we've seen more of these places on our trip next week!

[susands68]

Originally Posted by LMB

One of our main "wants" when town shopping was to have a downtown area with coffeeshops, book stores, galleries and restaurants and to live within walking distance. I'm so glad we stuck to that goal! We couldn't wait to get away from the car-centric lifestyle we led in the suburbs of Orlando. Sometimes weeks go by without us even taking our car out of the garage.

Lynn

This is one of our main "wants" as well. I loved hearing that you sometimes go weeks without ever driving. So hard to imagine that as we are so tied to our car right now and so tired of that lifestyle! So, does that mean you are also within walking distance of a grocery store? I remember going into a big grocery store when we were in Poulsbo several years ago, I was very impressed with it, but can't remember where it was in town.

Susan

[LMB]

Susan, that must have been Central Market. It's an awesome store--I could live there easily. :-) We're less than a mile from Central Market and Albertson's. We walk there when we have just a few things to pick up, or sometimes to "dine" at Central Mkt. They have a couple of inside eating areas and two outside patios for summer.

Lynn

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by Idunn

Places such as Sequim, the San Juan islands, are in the rain shadow of the Olympics, receiving far less rain than a town such as, say, Forks. But you should still be prepared for a good deal of cloud cover throughout the winter.

Let me underscore the fact that Idunn has brought up here. Less rainfall does not mean more sunshine. Rather it simply means less rainfall. Gray weather is prevalent in most of western WA, particulary during the several months of winter. I've sometimes thought that Sequim is equally as gray as Seattle during the winter and that it just rains harder in Seattle- which accounts for its greater annual rainfall numbers.

Caveat emptor...