quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

Hi hermit, I understand. Portland’s a big city, but can be resentful of outsiders.
We’re a valley just north of the Ca. border, where the Rogue River comes off the side of Crater Lake and the Cascades, then flows up to Grants Pass and cuts through the Coast Range to the ocean at Gold Beach.. Mild 4 season weather, (mild enough for Palm trees), spectacular scenery and outdoor recreation, a budding wine
industry, 75 miles inland as the crow flies, but about 2 hours to the Ocean by Car. Grants Pass and Ashland are both featured in Forbes 60 cheapest places, just out. Ashland has Shakespeare
and a small University. The valley has lots of little towns spread out around Medford, the trade and services center. And they like transplants down here. The secret is, No rain! we only get 20-25 in. a year with abundant sunshine, Snow capped peaks and a ski area above town , but best of all, an easy going laid back attitude.
http://www.ashlandchamber.com
Food is celebrated and enjoyed around here, to get back to
th original topic. Any Roadfooder could find a meal or two to
enjoy. The coolest thing is that as a collection of small towns that add up to the population of a midsize city, we get most of the benefits without the major headaches. Lots of retirees here that do the BT thing and head towards AZ. in the winter. We have fun
without the urban stress factor.
Bill

Thanks, bill. You make it sound very good and I think I’ll add it to my list of places to look into. I’ll have to get up that way sometime in the next few years.