Playing Tourist. Meeting Locals.
Mari
Each new town we visit, Ty and I like to get a feel for the place through the eyes of the locals, as well as tour the points of particular interest.
As a real estate investor, Ty loves hunting for deals. (And amasses a huge amount of property propaganda on the RV, much to my annoyance!)
[Photo: Self-portrait on Thanksgiving morning at Lake Pleasant RV Park, Bothell - 20 miles north of Seattle.]
During our travels, while we’re footloose and fancy free, we’re also gathering criteria on our ideal location for our next "bricks ‘n’ sticks" home.
Ty has a penchant for the Pacific Northwest and its changing climate. Me? I’m a SUN person. A true Leo. Give me SoCal climate in the winter months. 
Still, we’ve only visited five of the 48 contiguous states so far. We’ve plenty time to explore all terrains, cultures, and climates.
This past weekend, we were in Port Angeles at the very north western part of Washington state. It’s a beautiful part of the country for sure. And the weather is rather temperate.
Several neighboring towns are in what’s called the "banana belt" - that is, they have less rainfall, milder temperatures, and more sunshine.
Sequim (say "squim") is referred to as "the blue hole" and apparently has the mildest climate in the entire United States! It rarely freezes in the winter, doesn’t get above 80F (27C) in the summer, and the sun shines about 309 days a year! Hmmm - intriguing.
Other than the climate, we wondered what inspires people to move to and from this area. Marcia and her hubby, who both work at Home Depot in Sequim, have lived here with their three boys for the past two years. (Before that, they were in Seattle for two years and the Bay Area, California). They absolutely love it here - "Great place to raise the kids," she says. It’s a small town, but not too small and not too big either. (Though Sequim is growing rapidly! Ty and I were amazed at the amount of traffic as we drove into this area.)
Lori, a staff member at Office Depot, moved here with her family just three months ago from Houston, Texas. She shared with me they weren’t happy with the crime rate and other such challenges of Houston. I asked how she and her family were managing the climate shift. She loves it. But the kids are feeling the cold! Lori consoles them by saying they could be living in Alaska. lol. It’s all relative, eh?
And, we met with our friend Emily. She and her partner moved to Port Angeles eleven years ago from Seattle. They have ten acres partway up a mountain with a beautiful view of the ocean. Emily loves the "groovy community" here, especially the CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). She shared with us, unlike Sequim, Port Angeles maintains its small sleepy town feel. Many youngsters up and leave for the wild blue yonder.
[Photo: Emily, Mari, Ty - overlooking Port Angeles harbor.]
This week, we left the coach at Elwha Dam RV Park and took our toad on the ferry to Victoria and headed up to Port Alberni to visit with my dad. (We hit a mega snow storm on the way; yikes, there’s nothing like an overturned car in the ditch to sober up drivers! Fortunately, we made it without a scratch).
While in Victoria, we thoroughly enjoyed a lengthy visit to Craigdarroch Castle - built in 1890 by coal baron, Robert Dunsmuir. Robert was the richest man in B.C. at the time.
Sadly he never got to live in the stunning four-floor residence, as he died a year before construction was completed. His wife, Joan, inherited his $20 million empire and enjoyed the castle with a few of her ten children for the next 18 years.
[Photo (above): Stunning Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, B.C. Mari standing on steps in front; (below): anyone for dinner? Formal dining room - such beautiful wood throughout.]
Fascinating! Quite a rags-to-riches story, eh?. BTW, Robert and his wife came from Scotland and built up their incredible wealth on Vancouver Island.
P.S. I’m a tad behind schedule with my blog posts; I’m nursing a hellish head cold. Ugh, first in a couple years. I ran out of my magic Wellness Shots, and couldn’t find any north of California. (If you know of any holistic cures for the common cold, do let me know!!) Future blog posts will include staying healthy and fit on the road. (Ty and I are finding the latter a challenge! Gotta do more hiking!)
Posted on: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 10:15 am 
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Glad you enjoyed your visit to our neck of the woods. You took some beautiful pictures. If you are thinking of moving here, I have a house for sale….
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:06 am@Cindi - wow, what a stunning home!!! If we were ready to buy something now, we’d have a closer look at your pad for sure!! Sequim is a neat place.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:28 am