Hey Frank… I like the idea about the trailcams… kinda like the guy in Chapel Hill…
Now I am a Washington (wetside) Native… and my wife and I are trying to plan for our retirement… we are considering many things but Hunting and Fishing are very close to the top… so here are a couple of ideas and I would agree with the suggestion about “Over Washington” DVD….
So, a couple of questions… Does your wife want to LIVE in the big city or just be able to visit it and do thing there and then go home? Are you going to be retired or have to work? Are you willing to drive to the city and maybe spend the night or weekend to partake of city activates?
I like the idea of Eastern (dryside) Washington for Small/Big towns and quick access to hunting and fishing Yakima or Wenatchee… this provides 1 ½ hour drive to Seattle (not in winter)… we are also leaning heavily towards the Tri-Cities…. But it is a further drive to Seattle or Boise.
Now if you are going to be on the Western (wetside) Washington… you may want to consider Centralia or Chehalis this puts you in between to Big/Large towns Seattle/Tacoma and Portland, it also puts in easy access of much hunting and fishing (lots of timber company hunting access and fishing Columbia/Kalama/Lewis/Cowlitz and many other rivers and many lakes)…. And you are outside the very high taxed counties of King/Pierce/Snohomish.
So, it really will be dependent on answering several questions about the type of life style you want and how many neighbors you need….
Good luck and keep us posted....
Shawn