Having grown up in the Willamette Valley, this has been a fun read for me. I absolutely miss the NW - married a mining engineer and then was surprised we had to live where the mines were (Duh!!! how naive can one be!! that said, I have lived in 8 states, "from sea to shining sea" so to speak, and gotten quite an education) I love that you can grow things there, that the people are warm and helpful, my school system was such great quality (however, that was SOME TIME AGO). What I have learned in my life is that you must find what you like about a place, (or time of life, for that matter), and focus on the good and enjoy what you can, and add your two bits to the positivity of the place, whatever it is and wherever it is. Good luck to you!