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| http://www.mayflowertours.com/north-america/united-states/montana-glacier-national-park/ |
All right, it would seem that I have duly ignored this blog long enough!! It's time I made something of it!! Starting today, this blog will see posts every other day, mark my words.
And so...the subject of the day today? "The States"
We're going to begin with something of a Mini-series here. We'll just rename the blatant generality above to "The States, Part I -The North-West". For those of you not familiar with the states we're referring to, I did plan on a whole mess of subheadings, never fear. How about a little patience, hmm?
Washington. I loved Washington state, but it's just too weird for me, all in all. The state is divided into two distinct areas, the part that rains almost continuously, and the part that doesn't, it just seems like it might. Then there's that thing where it stays gloomy 11 out of 12 months...that didn't exactly thrill me either. I am, no doubt a sun lover (I never considered myself a sun-worshipper really. I never really felt the need, nor did I ever have the body for it, even as a teenager) and I'm afraid that I'd have to shoot everyone around me after a few months of this, and myself immediately following.
However, what Washington lacks in weather, it more than makes up for in natural beauty. With a rather intense mountain view in most parts of the state, and, of course, the ocean never too far off, it's like a family vacation right where you stand. Even though it's only sunny for around a month out of any one given year, that one month is spectacular. It literally transforms the landscape from doom and gloom one moment to bright and cheery sunshine the next (and each day in this month is absolutely PERFECT for temperature...never too hot or chilly ever!) And the locals? They almost literally make a mad dash for their suntan lotion and lawn chairs. It kinda reminds me of a state full of squirrels, hoarding their nuts away for the winter months; these people are outside almost 24/7 in those 30 days; trying to soak up all the vitamin D they can before the clouds move back in.
The Cascade Mountains, which section the state off into the East 1/3 of the state and the West 2/3 of it, are, of course, absolutely breathtaking on sunny spring or summer days. The East side of the mountains are the part of Washington no one really cares to live in, because it's constantly drizzly or foggy most of the year, and only sunny for that month in the summer, give or take a couple of weeks. I can tell you personally, that, when you're used to the sun shining the better part of the spring and almost all of the summer, that it's extremely depressing weather. Seattle, which borders the mountains (as do two other of Washington's major cities; Tacoma and Olympia, it's capitol city) share the better portion of the East side weather. Seattle owns the proud title of having the highest rate of suicide in the country, due to its gloominess. The East side of the mountains, however, has warm summers and only cool winters, and even though it's constantly cloudy, foggy and icky, it only sees around 6" of precipitation per year, and, because of the ocean currents, it's rare to see snow, unless you're very close to either the Cascade range of mountains, or in the middle of the Olympic Mountains, which are located in the NW side of the state.
The Western 2/3 of the state is almost dead opposite in it's make-up and weather. The Western side of the Cascades, whose only city of any consequence is Spokane, gets a lot of snow in the winter, around 200" per year. But, the temperature, on both sides of the mountains, really, rarely gets below 46 degrees F in the winter, and rarely exceeds 79 degrees F in the heat of summer.
Here's one more thing that I was never too hip on...Mt. St. Helens. See, I came to Washington to visit my father there just after the time that the mountain had finished flipping it's lid back in '80 (which was well after the initial eruption;) however, it was still in the clean-up stage for a long while after that). I remember that dead volcanic ash smell, and the dinginess of the landscape, where the volcano's ash not only stunted the growth of vegetation in the state, but wiped a good portion of existing trees in its initial eruption. I went back later, and I really just couldn't believe the difference. My point, however, is that I don't really feel anyplace that's that close to a volcano, active or not, is a good choice of residence...so either give me the flatter part, or just color me not there.
My most favorite thing about Washington, is that the most gorgeous and most interesting highway in the country starts here, and runs all the way down into Oregon and California, hugging the Pacific coast the entire way. That highway is Hwy. 101. It runs from Tumwater, Washington, all the way down to Los Angeles, California, where it was truncated in 1964. Before 1964, it used to go all the way down to San Diego, California.
Oregon. Oregon, not unlike it's neighbor to the North, is a beautiful state in its own right. It's only real major metropolis, Portland, shares pretty much the same weather as the Eastern side of Washington, because it too is positioned along the Cascade mountain range's western base. It's 2nd and 3rd biggest cities, Salem and Eugene are just South of Portland. The amazing thing about Oregon is it's vast difference in geographical landscapes. There are two mountain ranges in Oregon, just like there are in Washington, and they are the continuation of the Cascades, and the Klamoth Mountains, located in the Southwestern corner of the state. To the West of the Cascades, there is a humongous plateau, which is like a desert in the summer, and bitterly cold in the winter. South of the plateau is the Harney Basin, and in the middle of the two mountain ranges, there lies a wide and beautiful valley, in the Northwest Corner of the state. Oregon sports the most forest land in the U.S., with trees covering easily 50% of the state. Rain amounts are greatly varied, with some areas getting less than 20" of rain a year, to over 180" of rain in others.
Idaho. Idaho, just to the west of Oregon, actually borders 6 U.S. states as well as one Canadian province. Per capita, Idaho is the 7th least populated state in the U.S., when compared with its area. Geographically, Idaho boasts as much variety in it as does Oregon. There are 114 named mountain ranges in Idaho, albeit, most are considered to be of the Rocky Mountains. Where the majority of the state is covered in high mountains, Idaho also sports the deepest gorge in the U.S., called Hell's Canyon. That canyon dips to a maximum depth of 7900 ft. As to the climate of Idaho, it averages a low at its coldest no lower than 10 degrees F., and no higher than 90 degrees F. at its highest temps in the summer. Annual precipitation amounts range from as low as 10" in some areas, and at highs as large as 60" per year. The population of the entire state of Idaho is at 1.5 million, but is one of the fastest growing states for overall population in the last few years, and is expected to grow even faster in the next 15 years.
Montana. This state, believe it or not, is the 4th largest state in the union...but places 44th in population, and 48th least populated when compared to its size. The Continental Divide divides Montana into two distinct regions, East and West. Geographically, Montana is very mountainous, not unlike most of its state neighbors, but is made up of 60% plains. There are 6 very large valleys in Montana, in the middle of its mountains, that are quite gorgeous, as well as over 3200 lakes. Montana has one of the largest areas of Government protected wildlife preserves, with a wide array of protected species. The more larger and most visited areas during the tourist season are Yellowstone Park, Glacier National Park, and Little Big Horn. The climate in Montana varies about as much as the rest of the Northwestern states, the average low is only 28 degrees F., and the average high in the summer only reaching 84 degrees F. Annual average precipitation is only 15". The population of Montana is barely over one million, and is mostly collected in three of its biggest cities; Helena, the capital, Butte, and Billings.
If I had to put my finger on four of the more interesting states in the U.S., as far as natural beauty, climate variety (never too hot or cold), and, the real attraction, the least population spoiling things for everyone per square mile, I'd have to definitely choose these four. The heck with Florida, I'd want to retire to any one of these. That state's just too damned muggy and hot....and crowded!! Never have been able to understand the attraction there, or the logic...with the obvious exception being ultra-tropical beaches and scantily clad women aside, I don't really see much else in Florida as anything I'd want anywhere around me at a retirement age. The mountains alone are reason enough to go with these states. Out of every natural attraction we have available in this country at which to spend our leisure time, the mountains still own the distinction of being the only thing that, year after year, I either watched until they disappeared from my sight, or I bawled like a baby when I was informed that we had to go.
