It's a small world.

[Jon - CLou]

Just curious if any of our C-Dory group has lived or spent time in Port Angeles, Wa. or Palmdale Ca. I've lived in P.A. for 16 years and Palmdale for 27 years.

Now, I know Dusty was born in Port Angeles, Wa. and lived on the same road as us. How bazaar is that! Albert Street, right Dusty? And I believe that 2nd Byte Mark, either lived or rented houses in the Dungeness area (Sequim). Mark was that Woodcock Road and Lost Mt. Road?

[Islander]

I currently live in Thousand Oaks, CA. I do spend a couple of hours each week working in Palmdale CA.

I'm a manufacturers rep for airborn and ground based telemetry hardware and software. This stuff is used mostly for flight testing of aircarft. If you have lived in Palmdale you of course know about flight test!

[C-Hawk]

I have cousins in Sequim and had lived in Snohomish County for several years. I now live near Ventura-- you would think that Dave S and I just traded places .

[DaveS]

[DaveS]

[Jon - CLou]

Hi Ron, I too worked in aerospace for about 15 years. As you know, aerospace was the going thing in Palmdale in the 70's and 80's. I worked for Lockheed Skunk Works (U2), Rockwell (B1 Bomber) and Lockheed commerical (L-1011). My family still lives in Palmdale and my brother has been at Northrop for 30 years, still is.
As a youngster, I must of fished the Channel Islands a thousand times. I do miss it.

[Jon - CLou]

Roger, ya got to come up for the Sequim Fall Fling, you could see your cousins and visit with the gang up here.


Dave, what was her name? Ahhh, maybe I don't want to know.

[Islander]

Jon CLou,

We probably know some of the same people. I have worked on all of those programs except the L1011. However I currently work with several of the alumni of the L1011 program.

[Mighty Bite]

Right on Jon,

We had 5 acres on Woodcock Road, just about of 1/4mile East of the Dungeness River. Heading east on Woodcock from the river there is a little hill where the road jumps up about 30'. At the very top of little hill looking to the north we had a small place, cedar sided, w/ attached garage setting about 250-300' north of Woodcock. If I still had it I would be spending my winters down there now. The other 5 acres just at the very top of the big long hill on Lost Mtn. road, on the left, across from the open field & house on the right.

Nice country, but your winters don't compare to ours.............darn it!

Glad to like your new Wallas. I'm thinking about getting a Wallas and driving a new CD under it.

[Wheeler Dealer]

Jon - Clou,

I worked for a company that used to have It's yearly employee retreat in Port Townsend. About 200 of us would take over a little bar there set up a band and go nut's.

I did have a great great great great great grandfather by the name of Charles Ferguson Smith who was a four star general. He taught at West Point and was killed in the Civil War. The U.S. Army had once given him a five acre piece of land in Port Angeles which was beautifully covered with old growth fir & cedar. My parents sold the land two years ago , but I will always remember how stunning the Port Angeles area was and is.

Jon

[Da Nag]

Shhhhhh everyone! The whole world can see this thread, and we're planning on retiring in or around Port Angeles. It would be a shame if all the other Californians joined us there...

Now let me set the record straight. The place is always rainy and cold. The fishing sucks. The traffic is horrible, and the cost of living is astronomical. And finally, the locals are mean.

Stay away - stay, far, far away...

[Sea Wolf]

Bill- Sorry, Buddy, can't put the cat back in the bag! Take a number and que up to buy a house with all the other California escapees! But don't wait too long, the prices go up each year. If one had the cash, it would be smart to buy a house now, lease it for a few years, then move up there and avoid the inflation in real estate values. Even here it Redding, we went up 16.7% last year alone.

When we raced in the 1995 Lido Nationals at the Sequim Yacht Club, the place was already over populated with "rich retirees' from California, many from San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area. The locals had a love-hate relationship with them, resenting the prices they were paying for housing and driving the prices up, but at the same time building houses "on spec (ulation)" as fast as they could sell them. Everybody from down here loves the very moderate 17 inch rainfall experienced around there due the leeward shadow of the Olympic Range.

Everywhere we visited when looking for a place to retire had the same mixed feelings toward new retiring "immigrants". Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, even here in the California foothills. Particularly humorous are the Oregonians, who, being largely California escapees as one time or another in the past, put up tongue and cheek signs proclaiming "Welcome to Oregon, Now Go Home". We settled here in Redding because I grew up here and my care needing Mom still lives here as well.

I know you know all of this already, but this is the Pub, and friendly banter is the order of the day. At least you'll have your C-Dory friends as a welcoming contingent in your new retirement home!!! Get a great shot of the are up there, maybe with DNDN in it, and post it on your computer as a background/screensaver for inspiration at work! Joe.

[Da Nag]

Hey Joe,

Yeah, we've thought about buying up there ahead of time. Trouble is, we want land to build on, not a home. Having been through this exercise once already (we're sitting on a few lots in Shelter Cove, CA), it's not usually a wise investment. You can't write off anything on bare land, you're still stuck paying property taxes, and you can't vote on local issues that affect your property.

Unless something really tempting (and really cheap) comes along, I think we'll just wait until we're ready to go. We're seeing the same real estate appreciation as you are down here in the SF Bay Area - about 30% over the last two years. Since we'll be selling before moving in order to buy/build the new place, I'll just ride the big real estate wave down here. There's no way Port Angeles property prices will keep up with it, so I'll still come out ahead, without any of the headaches of buying ahead of time.

RE the "CA immigrant" attitude - I was real concerned about this, but I've not noticed it being a problem at all up there. Between the plates on the truck, the "CF" boat registration, and showing my ID on occassion, I've had the chance to let plenty of PA and Sequim folks know where I'm from. I've never been given the cold shoulder, but attitude probably has a lot to do with it; I make a point of treating everyone up there I meet like a good friend.

Having that attitude down here just makes you look like a freak...

[Wheeler Dealer]

Bill,

Did you go into any of the bars to see if your picture was on the dart board .

Jon

[C-Hawk]

During my time in Washington I heard a lot of comments about "those damn Californians moving up here"- now don't get me wrong or anything, I loved it while I was up there and only left when my Mom took sick with cancer. I moved back to California to be near her for the last couple years, with every intention of moving back up. Well, heck- I guess I just dried out too much and couldn't see my way back.
Now, as I was saying-- I heard it all while I was there-- but I will have to say that the old family Washingtonians were great. It was always the ex-Californians that put up the most bluster-- I guess they thought they "found Washington first" and didn't want anymore coming up.
I was inspecting in a pipe shop in Kent when I overheard the shop manager complaining about all the people moving into the state---- well I had enough and I turned around to agree with him-- I said "Darn straight, we need to clean up the west. Let's send all the damn yankees back home" He said "Hey, I'm from Jersey" to which I replied "I know"