Fish said:
We just moved to Oregon from Santa Cruz, CA. My advice is....do your research. If you haven't lived in the Pacific Northwest before, I lived in Washington before California and our move to Oregon, so I knew what I was getting into. It is a lot colder, rainy and grey here....all the things that keep the crowds away. The folks next door to where we currently hang our hats are from Cali, as well. They have been living in the foothills of the Cascades for four years and they're moving back to Cali....Palm Springs. Go figure...one extreme to another. He moved here to fish as well but said it wasn't so great cause some guy in a captains hat and a few of his friends catch all the fish! Bottom line: Do your homework and visit the area you want to live for a little while. Even if you have lots of resources, moving is a PITA!
On the other hand I've got a buddy who manages a strip club and who fishes wherever he can stop and get a line in his water in his rickity little datsun sedan, and he pulls in a couple steelhead a day or he calls it a bad day.
And yeah it can easily take 3 hours to get into PDX from Eugene, the terwilleger turns are miserable and it's a crapshoot if you don't know the area and what times it's good to try to get through.
I live in Eugene, love being an hour from the coast. If I had my pick of anywhere regardless of stuff like my current house and having a job available when I got there, I'd choose Corvallis, I like the atmosphere, and it's a little farther north so it's not quite as prohibitive a drive north as it is from Eugene if you want to go north.
You'll only get SAD if you're a wilting lily and stay indoors when it's raining - get some good rain gear and get out there fishing and hiking, the reason our state is so beautiful is because of the rain, and the best pick-me-up is a hike among fresh ferns and old growth timber. Remember that the fall/winter/spring (aka rain season) is waterfall season, too!
