The PNW west of the Cascades is glorious in summer. Blue skies, clean air, no humidity, warm temperatures but not too warm. But the long, drizzly, gray winters are hell for those of us who like sunlight.

If you want to move to the area, visit in November or March or something to get an idea of what it's really like.

January and February. That's where I always start to break down in misery. It's been cloudy for ages. The days are starting to get longer but they're still short. And I start wondering if moving back home to New Orleans would be all that bad. Surely that wouldn't coincide with a hurricane trashing the place twice in my lifetime, would it?

It was sunny today, and yesterday. It's been really weird, because I guess I had forgotten what sun was like...

Can't you drive east for a couple of hours and get lots of sun? This was my understanding of Washington.

I am an urbanite who has never learnt to drive in her forty years of life. So no, I can’t.

The weather is much better east of the Cascades. But a 2 hour drive (in good weather!) means it's not something you're likely to do all that often.

Im in Beaverton and you nailed it. Although last summer was pretty hot its still not bad. PNW is just amazing. Guess it takes a certain someone who can deal with the rain and bad drivers that go along with it for the rest of the year.