We have dry heat here too, I'm in Central Oregon, the valey-ites call it Eastern Oregon, but that's incorrect, because that would mean that 3/4 of Oregon is Eastern and that's just bad directional orientation. LOL There is an Eastern Oregon, it's east of us and there's almost nuttin out there, it's quite the wasteland. But there's the cool painted hills, fossil beds, desert lake bed, Fort Rock, etc..
Yes, I'm very familiar with all of Oregon. I worked for many years for a mobile home company and I was sent to every corner of the state. I have a brother that lived in Ontario Oregon for a long time and you're right. It's a wasteland from Bend/Redmond all the way to the Snake River.
Don't get me wrong, AZ is nice to visit, I have been there, GORGEOUS sunsets, but so are ours.
The valley's sunsets suck! LOL
I just couldn't live there in AZ. I can't handle the heat is why, it gets to hot here in CO for me as it is.
I'm from the Willamette valley (Pronounced: Will (Guys name) Am (Pronoun) Ette (Like the last part of the female name 'Lyn-ette', it's not 'etty' like p-etty.)
Rains a lot there, but I'm pretty sure it's not as much as Florence, the rains on the coast are insane and it's not even so much the rain there, it's all the dismal sky and icy cold rain.
UGH!! I hate the Oregon Coast, lol
California coast all the way!!
NOWHERE rains as much as Florence. I actually lived in a tiny town called Mapleton (pop. 500) and we averaged 119 inches of rain. That's no typo. 119 inches AVERAGE per year. It sucked HUGE.
I don't have a problem with the heat here in Arizona. I'm an avid fisherman so when it's hot I'm either at the lake or in the pool so that minimizes the heat.
I have a good friend that lives in Bend and yes it's beautiful and you guys do have some amazing sunsets but I couldn't handle the winters there. Too cold for me. I'll put up with the heat rather than the cold but that's just me.
I've seen many a sunset there in the Bend area but I must admit, the sunsets here in Arizona are absolutely breathtaking and it's like that almost every day of the year. It almost feels like a painting, like it's not real.
That friend of mine was strongly against me moving to the Phoenix area. He said it was a heck hole full of drugs, crime, illegal aliens, rampant with scorpions, black widows, rattle snakes and bad people. Well, he visited last March and he loved it so much that he is in the process of buying a house here.
Go figure.
I do like that the nights cool off A LOT here, doesn't do that in the valley, it has it's pluses. But ultimately, climate wise, it's the heat I hate, the intense sun!!! It can be 100deg in the Willamette Valley and it feels like upper 70's, lower 80's here, it's more humid, less arid, sure, but it's the elevation, that's the big deal. The sun here just bakes your skin, I feel like I'm on fire and I sweat like a stinking pig!!
Yeah, even in summer, the Bend area cools off nicely. We don't get that much around here for a month or two. The coolest it's been at night here in the last month is the mid 80's but it makes for great swim weather. lol. Just to clarigy, you can't sweat like a pig. Pigs have no sweat glands. That's why they need water and mud.
So that might give you some idea of my internal climate control switch.
I do like the way you look at it there though, that your summer is like winter, it's your extreme. That's a pretty sweet winter temp, wish it were that way all year round. How come you don't swim in the winter? You don't get snow or icy cold winds do you?
Yeah, summers are our winters. It's very slow here in the summer. Certain businesses close for the summer until the snowbirds come back. Kinda weird and I still haven't got used to that.
The winters here are amazing. Typically the highs are in the upper 60's to low 70's with lows in the low 50's. Almost perfect. I love wearing shorts all year long.
The reason we don't swim much in the winter is because most of the pools don't have heaters here so the water temps in the pool are too cold. I built some solar heaters last March to extend my swim season and they work incredibly well. I had my pool open and in the 80's in late March so I'm hoping that they will keep my pool water warm enough to swim for 10 months of the year or so. We'll see how it goes.
No, we don't get any snow at all. It rarely gets into the 30's here. If I want to get into the snow, that's a short drive away in Flagstaff or Payson.
Here, I have learned to climatize to the cold, you can just bundle up and keep yourself warm, my body has also adjust to being out in it too. I'll go out & shovel a foot or so of snow, start out in a hoodie or snow cap, jacket, gloves, pants, swarm socks & boots + sunglasses. By the time I'm done, I'm breaking a sweat & down to a tshirt, boots + socks, pants and sunglasses. The jacket, hat/hoodie and gloves just got too stinking HOT!! LOL
I have stood barefoot in a foot+ of snow at 2-3am in shorts, and a t-shirt taking photos of icicles and the like. Maybe like 30-40min, feet got really red, but never lost any feeling or anything. But there was no wind, the wind will kill ya! HAHA
I just never could adapt to the heat very much. I'm like the wicked witch..
IIIIiiiiiii MMMMmmmmmeeeeellllllttttttttiiiiiiinnnngggggggg!!!
:lol:
I'm just the opposite. I never could acclimate to the cold. I'm good with the heat but the cold just froze me to the bone.
You guys able to use swamp coolers "evaporative coolers" down there? They use 'em in the Outback where it hits 150+ and they work fantastically!
I use one here, works pretty good, up to 20deg. difference during the day & the hotter it gets, the cooler it becomes inside due to the dropping humidity. Yes, it's arid, but there's some. Then the humidity rises in the evening, so all it does is make the inside temp match the outside, but that's OK, because without it, the heat gets trapped in the house, no matter how many powerful fans you have. LOL
