Moving to OR, tips?

You should state where in Oregon. Eastern and Central Oregon is much different than Western Orgegon.

In Western OR (rain) make sure you have tires that are good in wet weather and swap them out when the tread gets to 4/32nds or sooner.

In Eastern OR (snow) get a separate set of wheels and snow tires, engine block heater and grille blocking.

 

Best of luck, I think of OR as coastal, personally. If it is western OR Here is the weather forecast:

Starting the first day of High school football, it will rain.
It will rain until Dec 27 (missing a white christmas) then snow one day*, then rain and wash it away.
It will rain more until the fifth of July (ruining fireworks) then be sunny until the first day of High School football.
* Once a decade. the wind is from the east and the snow lasts a week.

South of Grants Pass, or east of the Cascades, and you have wildly different weather.

 

Oh man you could have bought the Prius in OR with no sales tax.

Gee if you are not in the mountains I would think all seasons like GY ComforTred or newer versions give pretty good snow traction.

 

Oregon does not use salt, they use sand and gravel, so front end protection would be a good idea.

 

Summer starts on the 5th of July and ends on Labor Day. I was a "resident alien" there for 10 years.

 

Good luck with the move. I spent just one semester in college in OR and that was enough for me lol.

Being from Hawaii, I found the constant rain, sometimes in two week stretches, and gloomy, dreary weather quite depressing.

 

A friend from California was interviewing for a job in Beaverton. After the day's interviews he asked me "When I ask about the weather, why does everyone say the summers are nice?"

 

I live in Oregon, and it's in my prejudice opinion a beautiful state. So congratulations.

But great part of it's greatness is it's diversity, so I would say whatever concerns you have about the environment you will be driving in REALLY are dependent on where in Oregon you will be living.

What I love about Oregon is you have Mountains, Forest, Desert, Farmland and a beautiful coast, and it's all within this State and all within a few hours drive from anywhere else. The Columbia River Gorge has sights and beauty that rivals any place in the world.

Seeing as how we are heading into Summer, you don't have to worry too much about the potential tools of extreme driving "yet". So the good news is you can move wherever and just ask the neighbors. A lot of what you might "need" will depend on where you think you'll be going this winter.

Ashland, I'm regrettably not too familiar with, outside of they have a well respected Shakespeare festival every year, that I have always wanted to see but as of yet have not been able to attend.

I guess my general advice would be don't sweat it too much. Oregon can be, whatever you want it to be. In other words if you desire spending a lot of time in remote wilderness....it's possible....beautiful farmland? It's possible, Oregon can be as wild or as civilized as you want.

I think Portland is a beautifully sized city, riverside and beautiful and big enough to offer all the entertainment options of a large city, but still small enough that you don't yet have the all encompassing city feel of a super large city.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time in Oregon, However long or short it might be. I live in a suburb of Portland, in the valley, and I would say our winters for about a decade have been incredibly mild. I haven't needed snow tires or chains. Of course that could change in any given winter, and there are always area's in Oregon that become difficult or challenging every winter.

But Oregon is not as "uncivilized" as I think many outsiders think. Oregon embraces almost any environment you can imagine or want.

Please however....do NOT root for The Lakers.....if you are going to live in Oregon...it's The Blazers and Timbers.

 

I just log into the blue framed cyber sky of Prius Chat during the winter....

Yeah, it rains here. But that is what makes it so green and beautiful in the summer. And IMO (shhh...) it doesn't rain as much as most people think.....

 

P.S.- if memory serves, NJ and OR are the only two states where you cannot pump your own gasoline. NJ I can verify as I was just there Sunday.

(OR sounds good to me - and this thread has finally uncovered Electric Me's undisclosed location, which I had incorrectly assumed to be CA)

 

You'll be fine with good all-season tires in Ashland. The climate there is mild Mediterranean. No need for an engine block heater.

 

U can't pump your own gas.

 

Just don't stop for gas if you're in a hurry.

 

Nooooooo

 

Who wants to pump their own gas ? Not having to pump gas is something we cherish in Oregon and why we hate visiting California and Washington.

 

I do, it gets me in and out of gas stations faster and it gets done right and the way I want it done.