[Superman]

Doug, Julie. We're not going to lie to you like we lie to the rest of the world. I personally am finally against dying because I think Heaven cannot be as nice as this place. With one caveat, I guess: Some folks get depressed here. It is grey much of the time. The sky is very often overcast, and the ground-level atmosphere is misty/foggy. Think of a marine environment. It is a big part of the charm for me, but some folks ultimately move away because they have depression issues.

Okay, that being said, I will also say the sun shines here plenty. Right now, there is no fog and it's very bright outside, but the sky is what I would call "bright overcast." And here comes the rest of the story:

We have something like FIVE count 'em FIVE national parks within a couple of hours of here. Countless national forests. The Olympic mountain range was formed by a different geological method than the Cascades. Both ranges are breathtaking. The Pacific Crest Trail runs from Canada to Mexico, as near to the crest of the range as practical. Bazillions of miles of other hiking and backpacking trails. Seriously, virtually any walk or drive anywhere appears to be carefully managed by the most talented gardeners and arborists in the world. Our trees and ferns and moss and other plants are the healthiest you will ever see, I guarantee. I drive about 20 miles of I-405 to work each morning, and it just stuns me daily that the stretch North of Bellevue looks like it was cut in a gorgeous park, miles from any civilization. Just huge healthy trees on both sides. You'd never know that a million people live on each side of that road.

We got volcanoes and hot springs. We got rain forests and gorgeous, gnarly ocean beaches. Hood Canal oysters are the finest on the planet. More clams and scallops and urchins and shrimp and crab and salmon than you can shake a pole at. Steelhead trout, as well as cutthroat, rainbow, etc. A ferry ride into or out of Seattle, particularly at night is a special experience. Highly romantic, I say.

I could go on and on. This weekend, I'm going to the beach and the beauty may kill me. It's that intense.

Oh, and we have the finest Porsche community in the United States, bar none.