Living in Sequim
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4/25/2008
I was raised first in Somerville and then Arlington, MA. Moved to Pelham, NH after marrying. Lived in San Diego almost 13 years before moving here to Sequim, WA (pronounced like squid but with an 'm' at the end).
Sequim is a gorgeous location and very unique in that it does not really rain quite enough here. It sits in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mts. However, the largest drawback is that although it never gets too cold in the winter months, it never gets warm enough during the summer months! We have lived here 5-1/2 years now and are missing heat. If it gets to 80 deg. everyone who has lived here a long time starts complaining but those of us who have had real summers want these days to linger.
Having friends over in the summertime? Better make sure you eat before 5 pm or the breezes will have your guests asking for blankets (and we live in-town, not by the water). There are times that the sun shines nicely enough but the wind will come up and spoil it.
It is awesomely beautiful here though.
The air quality is extremely good too.
But with the gas prices now almost to $4.00/gal. and few places to shop, an hour's drive to Silverdale to the Mall is expensive and Silverdale does not have all that much if you are used to city shopping like I was. We have lost Big Lots, so that only WalMart and a small version of JC Penny's is available plus a nice little downtown area that should be patronized more often.
Victoria, BC is not far but takes at least 2-1/2 hrs. by the time you park 18 miles away, take the ferry for the 90-min. ride and then walk to the downtown area. The shopping is awesome there! But our dollar is too weak now to make it worth the trip.
Seattle is 2 hours no matter what you do (even if you had a small plane because you'd have to get into the city after flying into an airport).
Food, gasoline and all goods in Sequim are higher than even the next towns of Port Angeles and Port Townsend. This is the price we pay for living in the so-called banana belt or more correctly, "The Blue Hole" (this is pretty accurate). Look up info about Sequim via Goggle searches.
But it is beautiful here . . . We have an awesome Saturday summer market with 80 vendors from fresh organic produce to crafted items and live professional music performances (Sequim Open Aire Market), and Jazz in the Alley (July 18 and 19, same days as the Lavender Festival). Jazz in the Alley has live jazz in the evenings in a walking downtown foot
Chris | Sequim, WA