Search

Living in Oregon

Living in Oregon

Don't take home for granted!

It’s a native affliction in Oregon, which is to say those of us born and raised here are the most vulnerable to it upon reaching young adulthood — the idea that life is better elsewhere. And so, even with its vaunted army of tall pines standing sentry over us, the moss pelt carpeting the ground, morning mists mistakenly assigned to Brigadoon, or the jewel-green valleys or the markedly changing seasons, Oregon fails to move us.

Dayton House Vineyard
Dayton Vineyard

It doesn’t occur to us that fresh rains and sweet air aren’t common everywhere or that other people can’t spend a day watching waves at the beach and be home by dinner time, nursing nasty sunburns. Or that others don’t jaunt to the mountains for a “snow day.”

But then we leave home and learn all about homesickness, wishing for a crimson fall, a cleansing rain and a spring and summer abounding an impossible array of color.

The day of return is rewarded with those early mists lying in a supernaturally green valley.

Sandy River
Sandy River

I remember returning home after a few years away, crossing the border and watching the barren hills become flush with every shade of green as the car traveled northward. There was nothing for it but to roll down the window and like any dog on a road trip, stick my head out the window to smell the air.

The Willamette Valley, where I am, is a staggeringly fertile ground west of the Cascade Mountain Range. On my side of the mountains, the climate is mild — seldom too hot and seldom too cold. When it snows even a small amount, schools close and we all stay home and drink cocoa.

We are famed for our rain here, and winters are often beset with clouds that coddle us from bitter cold but seem overly generous with water.

The waters make for clear and sparkling lakes and rivers that swarm with fish and crazy tourists in whitewater drift boats, shooting the rapids.

Because of the mild climate, just about anything can be grown here – even tropical plants with flashy red and purple colors thrive here. Vineyards are so common no one can figure out why good wine is still expensive!

Oregonians are gardeners, and tap their feet impatiently all winter, waiting for tomato planting time. They call radio gardening shows asking, “How about now? Is now good?” and declaring that because of global warming they ought to be able to plant in April instead of waiting until May. An Oregonian’s first Early Girl tomato of the season is cause for celebration and occasional boasting around the neighborhood. At state fair time, gardeners bring their best or weirdest looking produce to exhibit, like butternut squashes that look like Hollywood celebrities.

Portland Oregon cityscape sunset
Portland – The Rose City

At the same time, the valley is home to most of our significant urban centers. Portland is our biggest city and boasts skyscrapers, beautiful city lights, opera, symphony and art. The Willamette River flows through it and Mount Hood towers over it. The city is very cosmopolitan these days, all glass and granite, with one giant copper statue of “Portlandia,” a goddess-like figure who crouches inexplicably– trident in hand – the entrance of city hall. Most longtime Oregonians (she was stationed there in 1982) think she has nothing to do with Oregon and prefer “pioneer guy” (no one thought to give him a name) who stands, axe in hand, atop our capitol building in Salem, where he has looked westward heroically since the 1930s. Also, Portlandia may be hammered copper, but Pioneer Guy is covered in 23-carat gold leaf, which is as classy as you can get.

Dixon Lane - Dundee
Dixon Lane – Dundee

About an hour from the valley traveling west, the Oregon coast brings whale watchers and storm lovers every winter and sand-castle designers and salt-water taffy fanatics every summer. The water stays cold year-round, but in late summer, it takes a few minutes longer for your legs to turn completely numb in the waves.

East of the mountains is another world. Douglas Fir gives way to Lodgepole Pine and grassy knolls turn to sage brush and juniper. Deserts spread here and there, narrowing every so often into deep canyons.

Winter and summer are harsh here and water is in short supply in many places since all the rain is dumped on the other side of the range. Still, the rugged beauty of Steens Mountain, natural hot springs and the best climbing country anywhere brings people from all over the nation who love adventure.

Cattle-ranching is still a business here, and cowboys still roam the canyons, albeit in much smaller numbers than before. Recreation is rodeo. Barrel-racing for girls and bronco-busting for boys.They are probably the last of the truly hardy Oregonians, those who help us remember our ancestors who came here in covered wagons. Most of us freak out if the wind knocks our satellite dish off the roof.

Puppy with head out the window
Smell that Oregon Air!

What unites us is that great love of home. Meet Oregonians in exile anywhere and they invariably realize what they have left behind and what they had perhaps taken for granted all those years they were here.

The rest of us just wait. Pretty soon, they’ll be back, hanging their heads out of car windows, smelling the air.

Oregon Wine Country

Rex Hill Vinyard
Lifestyle
Lisa Baker

Newberg, Oregon

If location is everything, then Newberg has everything.

Nestled in the fertile Willamette Valley, Newberg (population 22,000) is about an hour from Mount Hood and about an hour from the ocean. Day trippers can pop over to the coast for a bowl of chowder or up the mountain for an afternoon on the slopes. It’s also only 25 miles from Portland’s urban attractions — from symphony to Saturday market.

Read More »
3rd Street Downtown McMinnville
Lifestyle
Lisa Baker

McMinnville Oregon

McMinnville is a small Oregon town surrounded by cultivated fields and nurseries, dotted with extensive parks and sports fields, wound through with rivers and streams and filled with swaths of well-kept neighborhoods. While McMinnville is the closest thing to Mayberry you can get, it’s not a hick town. No, here you can find the finer things in abundance. Live theater, a highly ranked private college, vineyards, wine tasting, an established arts community and…

Read More »
Dundee Oregon
Lisa Baker

Dundee Oregon

Dundee is best known for its vineyards and famous for its pinot noir. The Red Hills produce a complex and spirited pinot now known internationally.

While a popular destination for wine enthusiasts, who tour from winery to winery in stretch limousines, Dundee (population 3096) has retained its rural feel and quiet life.

Read More »

Refer-a-Friend Rewards Program

Lisa Baker

It’s time for something nice to arrive in your mailbox. Starbucks coffee, Subway sandwiches or dinner at Red Robin. Yes! It could happen to YOU!

Just refer your friends to me and I’ll not only take great care of them as they shop for a house or market their houses with me, but I will send You a gift card for something delicious, too!

Is that a great deal or what?!

Trending

News

Things You Should Know

Oregon Real Estate Advisor