Western Washington vs. Eastern Washington

I was born and raised in Western Washington. I grew accustomed to smelling salt air. Walking to school on a typical misty overcast morning in my hometown of Bremerton wasn't awful. It was typical and okay.

Bremerton is a Navy town, an hour ferry ride from Downtown Seattle.

After graduating high school, I attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where overcast dreary days could go on for days, weeks, and even months. I definitely  know different, distinct 50 shades of gray skies.

My first move to the dry, arid Eastside of the Cascade Mountains was when I accepted a radio job in Spokane. I was 28 years old.

Moving to Spokane caused me to quickly acclimate and adjust to more extreme weather:
- Colder Winters , including commutes to work in the snow.
- The much hotter Summer heat...and yes it's true - the Summer heat is a dry heat AND get this - - - homes, condos and apartments in Eastern Washington usually came with (pause) air conditioning! (either central air AC or a portable window AC unit).

I never used air conditioning until this move to Eastern Washington. Wow...cranking up the cool air is something that I DO NOT (and I still don't) take for granted.

After moving around the East Coast, I finally moved to Wenatchee in the Fall of 2007. Yes, my first apartment unit had the amazing luxury of central air. Not long after moving to the Wenatchee Valley...I heard a word that confused me.

"COAST"

Using COAST in a sentence - "I'm driving to the Coast this weekend"
Honestly, whenever I would hear the term COAST - I would think of the salty beach communities of Ocean Shores, Westport, Cannon Beach or even Aberdeen and Grays Harbor. I would never think of referring to Seattle or anywhere in the Puget Sound area as places "on the COAST".

NOW, after living here for 15 years, I use the term "coast" in a normal, comfy casual sort of way - just like any long term native of Wenatchee.

So what are the regions of Washington State?

TOP OF MY MIND, I CAN THINK OF: Puget Sound, The San Juans, The Olympic Peninsula, South-Western Washington (Longview/Kelso), North Central Washington (NCW), Yakima, The Tri-Cities, The Inland Empire (Spokane), The Palouse.

Did I miss any places?

Below is how a typical Western Washington Native sees the State of Washington. (Yep, everything past Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens or White Pass is considered "Eastern Washington")

This is how a typical resident of North Central Washington see's our great State.