The Sum of My Knowledge

As we prepare for our big move, in my abundant free time (extreme sarcasm here), I have been thinking about the things I know about our new home state, Oregon.  The last time I was in Oregon was in middle school when my family drove the Pacific Coast Highway from Washington to San Francisco.  My first visit to Portland will be this weekend.  So, here is the sum of my knowledge.

1. The license plate is super sweet with an evergreen tree.  Super excited for this!
2. Marijuana is apparently legal.  Considering it took a dictionary for me to figure out how to spell it, this is not something I will be partaking in.
3. I can name most of the suburbs of Portland and their location but have no idea how to pronounce them.  (Tigard... You'd think Tih-girrd but apparently it's more like Ty-gird!)
4. There are trees, mountains and beaches/ocean within driving distance
5. Goonies was filmed in Astoria, Oregon.  I'm sure this will be one of our first weekend trips, despite the tarp over the iconic house.
6. The weather is temperate and surprisingly of similar precipitation amounts as here (just more rain as opposed to snow).  Apparently, no one carries an umbrella.  Not sure if this is because they are "too cool for school" or just totally unprepared.  Iowa country living has taught me the importance of appropriate weather gear and dry feet so you will see me in my boots with a rain jacket and umbrella.  Don't care if that makes me like a tourist!
7. You can't pump your own gas.  Right now this is so wacky to me, but when I first moved to Decorah I was totally freaked out by the Faraway cart boys and now I don't know how I'll live without someone unloading groceries for me!
8. Biking is a big part of the culture.
9. It's in a different time zone- Pacific Time which is 2 hours behind Central Time.  Family/friends:  I apologize in advance for the mistakes I will make with this.

Four years ago, Andy interviewed in Cresco as I toured Decorah for the day.  After his interview, I said, "Yeah, I can't live here."  Now, four years later and I am so sad to leave.  Despite not having a heck of a lot of knowledge about our new home, I know if we could settle so fully into county life, we can settle anywhere!  Our Acreage Adventure: The West Coast Chapter?