Depends on what you mean by "someplace". Within 5 minutes I have Costco, Home Depot, Safeway (and 2 or 3 other local/organic/nonchain groceries), Walgreens, Rite Aid, YMCA, local medical center, hiking opportunities, Dairy Queen, Burger King, McDonald's, Papa Murphy, Applebees, Taco Bell (plus nonchain restaurants and cafes)... and Walmart if you're inclined. 15 minutes to Toyota dealer if I want them to do things on my car, Wendy's... trying to identify local places by familiar names.
I *do* miss: Target, Macy's, Trader Joe's, Penney's (yes there is one up here!), Panera, major movie theaters, ... but all and many more are in Silverdale usually <60 minutes from here, so we just make it a day (or morning or afternoon) and go enjoy ourselves and do the shopping we need.
The biggest issue: Closest 24 hour emergency vet is also in Silverdale.
Most of my doctors are in Port Townsend (by choice--that's where I started up here and I like the facility and the docs etc) which is 35-45 minutes, but I'm so used to driving it that it doesn't bother me at all, AND... no traffic! The only traffic lights are at the onramp to 101 by my house and maybe one in Port Townsend--and within town they use roundabouts.
But NO TRAFFIC getting to all these places is such an amazing benefit--
I mean, it could take me an hour to get home from work in San Jose because freeways were jammed (15-20 minutes on a weekend). So driving freely through quiet mostly wooded areas for 40-60 minutes is nothing.
Not everyone else up here thinks that way. They just shop at walmart and online.
Yes, then I do have to consider gas prices. [shrug] I'm far from wealthy, but it's not like I make those drives every week.
I do avoid going to events in Seattle--it looks close, but it's either a 2-plus-hour drive or a 2-hour trip with less driving but waiting for and riding a ferry, less gas, plus ferry ticket. Ferries are pretty reliable.
You can drive around locally and find eggs and fruits and veggies and flowers and more at people's homes or at local small farms etc. And often it's just a small booth with the product and a sign stating the price and a place for you to drop your payment. Pretty cool. Of course, as population grows and more thieves arrive, that might go away.
Any more-specific questions? 😉
- My previous post about ferries: https://dogblog.finchester.org/2023/04/peninsula-living.html
Photos from various visits to Silverdale (I have selected a whole bunch more, but from blogger into photos on my iPad, there's no way I can find the ones that I want. So I'll have to come back later on my Mac and figure it out.) ...(OK, I give up, the captioning and things don't even work right on my iPad. Here's what I've got so far kinda.)
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| This is a couch I've been considering for months. Then I bought that tie-dye thing. Oh well. |
Sister and husband buying rugs at Macy's in Silverdale.
I think you live in a beautiful part of the country, a part I've never been to but always hoped I'd visit some day. Your view is extraordinary. And it's a whole new place to explore! I always loved moving for that reason, but we've been here 30 years and the odds of us moving are pretty slim now.
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