Geoff, I *am* from there originally, a fact I'd just as soon forget. I suffered for 43 years and enough is enough. It was long past time for me to get down off the cross and do something about it. LA is my home now, and like paradise to me. I didn't realize how miserable I was until after the fact. Weatherwise, nothing much ever changes here, and that's the way I like it. For me at least, this is just *so* much easier, and I love being able to get out all year round.
Beautiful place back there in a lot of ways, but definitely not for me for day to day living. I find the people that live there most successfully are those who embrace the climatological variety and just go with it. For me, it was like living in the equivalent of a plastic bubble 10 1/2 months out of the year, since I was only comfortable in a controlled environment most of the time. Now, I can plan visits during the 6-8 weeks of the year the climate is agreeable to me!
I completely missed that you had lived in Arizona, I knew about Oregon. Wow...