Tell me about living on the Olympic peninsula

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

I recently came across some info stating that Sequim, Washington is a desirable retirement community. I visited Sequim when I was a sequirt, and I remember liking it very much. Its website data states that it’s in the “rain shadow” of the big mountain there (Mt. Olympus?), and so gets far less rain than the rest of the 'nince.

But how cold does it get there? On one episode of Frasier, snow was seen on his balcony - does it snow so close to the Pacific Ocean?

Any Dopers live up there? What’s the scoop with living in this area?

#2

Work is mighty scarce on the peninsula. My parents had property on the west side of Hood Canal which they tried to get me to take over. The problem was, it would be a two hour commute each way to work in Seattle. Of course, if you are retired, that isn’t a problem. However, you gotta be in good shape because it is also two hours to a decent hospital.

Snow is not a problem. The east side of the Olympics gets about as much as Seattle and it lasts about as long (I’m talking about the main roads) Mud slides in the winter can be a problem. Winter in Seattle is grey and damp. Winter on the peninsula is grey and wet, and in Squim, it is just grey.

From June-August you will be inundated with visiting vacationers, the rest of the year, nobody. You gotta like the small town atmosphere.

Hope this helps.

#3

I don’t live on the Olympic peninsula, but I did visit a few years ago. That was in Summer, so I can’t speak about snow. However, a search of Google maps reveals that Sequim is on the north side of the peninsula, east of Port Angeles. It’s right on the Strait of Juan de Fuca–not in any particular “rain shadow.” In fact, I suspect it gets quite a bit of rain. When I was driving around the peninsula on my way to Olympic National Park, I started seeing rain about the time I got up to that area. That’s not to say it’s a bad place, but if you don’t like rain, it may not be for you. And if that website you were looking at is selling real estate up there, I’d take most of what it says with a grain of salt.

But hey, depending on this and that, I could see living there. I remember having just such thoughts during most of the time I was driving along 101 there.

Do plenty of research before making a move. Hope this helps.

#4

My best friend lives out there. There are spiders the size of canned hams. Everywhere. No thanks.

Other than that, it’s lovely.

#5

I’ve lived in Western Washington most of my life and have a great deal of time either hiking or driving through the Olympic Penninsula.

Snow is scarce out there, and when it does fall, it disappears quickly. Work is scarce, so you’d have to commute a good ways.

If you’re retired, it’s a beautiful place to live. However, good hospitals are a good distance away.

Oh, and I’ve never seen spiders the size of canned hams out there.

#6

Try this link , I love this site to play fantasy real estate.

Looks nice.

#7

Huh. Maybe because they were all living in my friend’s house.

#8

Hmm, could be. Now the slugs, good-googly-moogly, the slugs are something else.

#9

Hubby’s parents live in Sequim. Old Goat, I disagree about Sequim being gray in the winter. It gets a lot more sun than Seattle does. Spring flowers come out about two weeks earlier than here. The rain shadow is from the Olympic mountain range, not just one mountain.

There were a couple times this past winter they got over a foot of snow in a day. it stayed around three or four days. That only happens in El Nino years, though.

The winter temps are about the same as Seattle. It rarely gets into the teens.

You definately need to take your own money to live there. There are basicly only service jobs.
It’s growing very fast,however, and it has been said that once the bridge* is finished, it will be another Seattle bedroom community.

The folks just sold their house there. It’s a 2(3) BR 2 ba 15 yo, odd little house on the east side of the valley and they got over $300K for it.

*That has been delayed because they found indian artifacts on the land where they were building the pontoons.

#10

Missed the edit time

Here’s a picture of the mountains from their deck