I live at the Cascade foothills, too - but further north than you ;-) Oregon is also beautiful! As my aunt used to say “we live in G_d’s County”.
Our mountains needed a lot of snow, too - didn’t get much last year, which was bad for the ski industry but also for our water. I know what you mean - totally different snow here than when I lived in Denver and the freezing ice is treacherous if one tries to drive.
Have only passed through central OR. We go to the International Kite Festival in Long Beach, WA every year and take one day to go down to Seaside. Some years ago on a separate trip, we ventured down to Tillamook (went to the factory, did a tour and got some great cheese and ice cream - could have bought it here as Costco carries it, but oh well) and the WWII Flight Museum - tons of cool planes and history.
Nice, I have been all over Washington as well. I was born on the border... Longview. My Dad spent a lot of his youth in Spokane.
My Mom’s parents worked at Boeing.
But I was about 6 months old when we moved to Oregon and we have been here since.
My DH and I spent our honeymoon at Seaside about 38 years ago.