Moving to Seattle

“Well, I was offered a dream job at Microsoft and I will be relocating to the Seattle area in about 2-3 months. It was a really tough decision to make. The job was an obvious opportunity but the relocation was scary, especially for my wife and kids. I'll be moving out there solo and then my wife and kids will follow when school lets out. I am sure excited to be discovering a whole new world, and the proximity to the mountains is intoxicating. Leaving the Midwest, all my friends and the places I have become attached to is going to be tough. I sure hope to get a chance to meet some of the TTers in the area.”

“Oh LUCKY YOU! Joe dreams about living out there again. It's beautiful. I will miss you all but I am envious. You not only have WA but BC too! I'm sure once everyone gets settled they'll love it.
Congratulations on the new job too Jim! I'm very happy for you.”

“Seattle is great. I lived out there same time Joe did (we lived on the same base). Everything is in a quick driving distance. Mountains, ocean, rivers, lakes, rain-forests, dessert, city, county, etc...

Hopefully you like Microsoft. I have a friend that works there and it isn't all that it's hyped up to be - but the cafeteria is neat.”

“It's not letting me edit the message. I know it's "desert", not "dessert"...”

“well, close driving distance to dessert is good too...”

“Ditto what Sass said. Best of luck with your new job.”

“Good luck!!!”

“WOW!!!....congratulations!!!!!!!...how exciting!!!”

“That place sucks balls. Don't do it.”

“Congratulations. You certainly have your priorities set.”

“Take your bumbershoot.

I lived there for a couple of years. I moved there in July and the weather was unbelievably great. 75 degrees, no humidity, little rain. I thought I had moved to heaven. And then it started to rain...and it didn't stop for what seemed like 9 months. Actually, it doesn't really rain hard..it just sprinkles constantly. This is the only city I ever worked where my employer let everyone go home early because the sun came out!

But once you accept that you will not see the sun but a few times per month for months on end, you just go outside and do stuff anyway. Just dress for the weather and enjoy.

And watch out for the huge yellow banana slugs.

Congrats on the job Yogisan!”

“Congratulations!

Get ready for the sticker shock!”

“:-)”

“Good luck my friend...you will be missed...”

“You suck!

:)”

“Congrats on the job and good luck.”

“I predict no regrets. It's God's country.

We'll have to climb Mt. Rainier for sure now.”

“Wow, your moving away from us here in the midwest?! You will be missed, but can't blame you for taking the job. Good luck to you and your family. You will have to have a trip after you get out there where we all can fly out for a great backpacking trip.”

“Anyplace is better than the Nortwest burbs!!!

Good job buddy and I hope to be outta here soon as well!!!

I will be heading south though!! LOL

See ya later.

Randall”

“Go west young man! Congrats. We midwesterners will miss you but it's too good to pass up.”

“Good luck to you and your family, Yogi!!”

“You are all missing the best benifit of ALL..now we'll have a TT"er close enough to Demand Media to go kick in doors and TASER those goons!........”

“Thanks everyone for your well wishes. The hardest part is being separated from my family, but it is only for a few (perhaps 4 at the most) months until school is out. I'll make trips back for long weekends and I already have accrued vacation time I can use as well. The time will go by quickly. The kids are stoked, especially about the opportunities for adventure, skiing, etc. It's hard for them because we have lived in this house for 12 years and it's the only home the have ever known. Still, I think the move will be good for all of us and it will make us closer as a family.”

“congratulations!!!!!!”

“Great news! Hope it works out just like you want it to! I am immediately going to check and see if your name is still on the AK trip! It had better be!!!”

“Congrats!”

“Congratulations!

For any avid hiker and backpacker, relocation to the left coast is a definite "upgrade". As long as the kids are on board, I'm sure you're in for smooth sailing and happy trails. Good luck!”

“Nice town as long as you don`t run into Kleetn.”

“Congratulation with the new job, we'll miss you around here .Does that mean no more Grand Canyon trips, anyway best of luck”

“Congrats Jim, Glad I finally got to meet and hike with you in the Porkies this past August.

If you bump into a Debra Black at Microsoft, tell her Mike Fogarty said Hi.”

“i don't see why living in seattle would put an end to my days in the grand canyon... but it might be nice if someone too over planning the trip for next march.

crash said he is going to do that porkies thing every august just before school lets out. i may try to make it back to the midwest for that. i don't know about next year because it's so close to the move, but not long after that.

there is zero chance of my giving up on climbing in red river gorge. i worked too hard to learn that place and the climbing is way too good.”

“Well that's a good thing, cause it would really suck if we couldn't climb together again.

Congrats on the new job. You and your family will be missed! :(”

“good luck jim. I know you will do great. Microsoft is lucky to have you on board. Yo bear!”

“Right on. Seattle rocks! It's on the short list of potential next moves for my fam. Portland, Seattle or Denver lead the list...

Enjoy!”

“there is zero chance of my giving up on climbing in red river gorge. i worked too hard to learn that place and the climbing is way too good.�
Yogisan
1:44:57 PM
12/13/09

Good! I have always wanted to get out with you and climb. You fly back to Chicago, I pick you up and we hit the gorge!”

“Good balance in life, Yogi. Ya gotta good retired attitude while hanging with the working world. You really can have it both ways:)”

“This is great news for you and your fam Yogi! I will be passing through that way again on my return stateside next year (late spring/early summer) and would love to get together for a beer etc...

You guys will love the place. Take the time to cross the mountains and head east towards yakima, its an entirely different world.”

“Thanks guys. Birch, the beer is on me.

I am out in Redmond this week. Weather is about the same as I left in Chicago. Cold and wet. I was told I just missed a nice spell. Story if my life. Still it sure is pretty here but I have a lot of work to do and doubt I will have a lot of time to take it in. I had dinner in downtown Bellevue last night and there was some sort of Christmas parade. I love how despite the wet drizzle people still come out in masses and have a great time. Beautiful area all lit up for the holidays!”

“I was stationed in SE Alaska (Sitka) in '76, '77 and the rain pattern was similar to Seattle. We rarely cancelled anything because of rain, which was usually a constant, slow drizzle. Picnics and soft ball games were never rainouts. I did develop a slightly moldy green fuzz over my skin after awhile, but this got lots of free beer on St. Paddy's Day.”

“We should call you Mick.”

“i am officially on information overload reading all these books i snagged on amazon. thus far i have read:

- rock climbing washington
- climbing guide to the cascade volcanoes
- weekend rock washington
- glacier travel and crevasse rescue
- climbing washington's mountains
- mount rainier a climbing guide
- glacier mountaineering: an illustrated guide to glacier travel and crevasse rescue
- earnest hemingway's "in our time"... no not a washington book but what the heck

at this point i have to start organizing what i want to do and planning my time. otherwise i'll bounce around and get a fraction of what i want go get done accomplished.”

“How about "Tax rates of the Greater Seattle area?" ;P”

“"How about "Tax rates of the Greater Seattle area?"

Tax rates and cost of living shouldn't be too much of a shock with him coming from the 'burbs just outside of Chicago. I can't recall if he is in Cook Co. or not but the sales tax in Cook is 10%.

We don't have the highest cost of living out here but it is pretty dang high compared to most.”

“Jim, get out your phone and put this in for the first time you go visit Rainier:

The Copper Creek Inn, 35707 SR 706 E, Ashford,
restaurant: 360-569-2326

It's so damn good we ate there 2X in one day! It was a service station and lunch counter in the 20's, and is now the best food EVER. They make fresh and when it runs out they take it off the menu. Lunch you shouldn't have to wait but dinner can get crowded. They also have lodging that looks pretty nice.

Stay away from the place made up of train cars. It smelt of food poisoning.”

“Oooops!

After hiking The Wonderland Trail in 2002 we stopped at the train car place and had pie and coffee before driving to the coast.
After eleven days on the trail the only thing I could smell was B.O.

That was after having a couple of beers and a chocolate bar at the shop at Longmire when we finished the trail.”

“ smelt of food poisoning.�
Sassafras
8:40:11 AM
12/23/09

Smelt? Where were you born girl, Alabama or sumthin?”

“You can smell if a restaurant has roaches often.”

“And gear up for 300 days of rain a year...”

“You can work on your rain tan.”

“Yeah the rain is terrible. Trust me. You wouldn't like it there one bit. I mean I haven't even moved there yet and I already can't stand it.”