ITri4VT

Yeah we wanted to live there, but many of the rentals were either out of our price range, or tucked in a cookie cutter apartment building. We made it here on Tuesday night after pushing through from Salt Lake City! Got stuck on I90 because of the rockslide literally 10 minutes before we would have gotten to that spot... so we didn't get to descend Snoqualmie Pass in the daytime, but Derek will see it someday for sure. We are acquiring furniture, unpacking, and organizing and haven't made time to go play outside yet, but I'm sure that will happen soon.

We found a little house to rent in Shoreline! Not exactly closest to the mountains but it's a great neighborhood and has a big backyard. We are currently in Denver... on our way to Salt Lake tomorrow, and then still deciding if to push the whole way to Seattle or find a place in Oregon or Idaho to stay in between.

Just watch out for these guys... That was a scary movie... (despite that it starred Jude Law!) Swedish hospital recruiter got back to me today, explained the process and the fact that I'm not an internal candidate, nor a local candidate, means that I'm prob low on the list. I guess I gotta get out there! Oh, and I was: born in Michigan lived in SE Pennsylvania moved to Northern VA (where I am now) to SW Virginia @ Virginia Tech for undergrad #1 spent a summer in Frisco CO to San Antonio TX (in the summer) to train triathlon to Rammstein Germany to race triathlons to Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center to train triathlon to Christchurch New Zealand to train triathlon/get burned out! back to SW Virginia then to Brevard NC to work in Wilderness Therapy and CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB! then back to Northern VA for nursing school. Time to move west!

I did look at SWMC's program, and the next internship starts in the summer. If I'm still looking by then I will certainly apply! Vancouver is close to Portland, no? I've set a "hard date" to move to the Seattle area for March 14 (when we begin the drive!). My boyfriend's lease is up on the 16th, and he's not going to move back in with his parents, so we're heading out, job or no job! If something good comes up before then, we'll leave sooner. I have enough money to last for a few months at least, until the loans start demanding payback...

Thanks for that. I am a lot more gung-ho about the west side of the mountains now than I was at the beginning of this post! I've got a few Residency positions that I've applied to (and haven't been rejected yet, haha) so hopefully something will turn out positively soon. I had a call back yesterday from St. Clare's in Lakewood, about an Emergency position, and she wanted me to come in for an interview... when she found out I wasn't yet in Washington, she said she'd see about getting me a phone interview first, and get back to me. If i don't hear from her by 3:30pm your time today, then I'm gonna try calling back....

Got my license number and I've been applying to every position (that doesn't specify a level of experience) at: Swedish Providence Seattle Children's Virginia Mason Northwest and today I've started with Franciscan For Providence, the jobs have been: in/around Seattle Olympia Spokane Portland Salem Medford Hood River Missoula And I've applied to Salt Lake Regional in SLC, as well as at Intermountain. I found only ONE specifically "new grad" position... today. I'd really like to follow up with that. It's at the Colby Campus in Everett with Providence. I can't find any contacts for nurse recruiters or HR people or managers at that hospital.... anyone have anyone I could get in touch with? I'm still feeling really stuck And my climbing gym membership ends on Feb. 10th... so I've really gotta get out before then

I passed my test, so now I'm officially an RN... still waiting on the paperwork/license though...

Yeah, I'm warming up to the west side Finally, a new grad position at the Swedish Issaquah ED was listed, so I've applied for that, as well as a few more at Swedish and a TON with Providence Health all over WA and OR. NCLEX exam in less than a week!

Yeah last time I was in Seattle, my buddy talked about that bike park, however, I don't think I'm brave enough to handle some of that stuff So I finally graduated, I've applied for my WA State RN license and I've scheduled my NCLEX exam for 1/11/11. I knew I was NOT going to stay in DC so I just applied straight to WA and if I end up in another state, it's not too hard to switch. I changed all my cover letters to say all the updated info, and I did get one positive reply to an email for a small hospital in Durango... but it's a PRN position (no benefits). I've also applied to just about every job on the Providence Health site in their WA/OR locations. I know this will get easier after my exam when I can (hopefully) say I have a license!

Thanks sobo for the comprehensive list! I have lived in DC for awhile (my commute to school was ~20 mi, took about 60-90 minutes. Faster if I rode my bike the whole way!) Bad traffic does suck a lot, but I'm open to biking around if that's available, safe, and faster than driving. I am mostly concerned about access/drive times. Although yes, I will likely have a nursey schedule of 3 12's, which is nice for getting out on mini-trips on my days off, but my boyfriend will probably have a more 9-5 type schedule and I don't want to ditch him for days at a time So that leaves me with being in the town we're living until the weekend, and it'd be nice to be close enough to climbing and biking that I could go out during the day and be home for dinner on my days off. I have heard that Seattle's annual rain is less than DC's... however you guys get yours squeezed into just a few months, right? I would like to work in Emergency or ICU but at this point I'll take what I can get - and that goes for schedules too. The only thing I'm being picky about job wise is that I'm only looking at hospitals, not small clinics/offices, so I can get some good experience when I'm first starting. Hood River I've heard is good for kayaking/rafting, but how far is the climbing? And if it's close by, isn't it raining a lot? I will have to look into that, thanks!

All of everyone's advice makes sense. I think I'm coming to realize that I may have to settle for a less desirable place to start out, but I'm still hung up on how "they aren't hiring me because I don't have my license yet!" I'm waiting for WA to let the NCLEX testing people know that I am good to take my test... in the meantime study study and keep applying. I looked at Swedish the other day... starting to branch out to Seattle area, even though I am still scared of the rain.

Thank you so much for the replies! Since I've been applying as an "almost new grad" who doesn't have a license yet, I haven't lost hope that I may have better luck when I actually get my license. I know I am limiting myself a lot by not looking in the more urban areas, but I don't want to live in the rain for most months of the year... at some point (and I have yet to pick that date) I will have to branch out to other areas. I haven't looked at TriCities/Kennewick... what is the access (to climbing, mountain biking, skiing) from there? Bend/Central OR does seem to be dry of job opportunities for new grads, even though they have several postings for RN's on their website. Thanks again for the help - I can't wait to get out of DC!

My boyfriend's blog: thechalkbag.com . We are from DC area and hope to get out of here soon and move out west!

Hi, I posted on these forums a few months ago saying I was looking at moving to the area (Central OR or Central WA). Since then, I've finished my BSN program and now I'm just waiting for the paperwork to go through so I can take the NCLEX and officially become a registered nurse. I have started to look for jobs, but haven't had much luck So this is my call to you guys and gals in the area who may work in the healthcare field or know someone who does who could give me some info or give my info/resume to someone. I heard the best way to find a job is to network, so if you can help me out I'd really appreciate it! -Michelle PS: I've looked at these hospitals: Wenatchee Valley Medical Center Central Washington Hospital St. Charles Health System (Bend area) Cascade Medical Center (Leavenworth) Kittias Valley Community Hospital Also Mercy Regional in Durango, and a couple in SLC. Thanks!

A bad thing about SLC is that I heard several of the canyons for climbing are watershed so dogs aren't allowed. I don't have a dog yet, but we're planning on getting one after the move.

Yeah I think I'm definitely sold the east side. Thanks for all your suggestions everyone! I've narrowed my list down a lot, but here's what it's looking like: Wenatchee/Ellensburg/Leavenworth Redmond/Bend Bozeman Durango SLC/Ogden/Logan/Pocatello Colorado Springs Fort Collins Medford OR and Redding CA were on there, but I haven't heard much about them... seems too close to the coast? I've still got a few months but I'm glad I have several places I'd be happy living, b/c it may come down to where I actually find a job

Then you must be familiar with Whitesides, Looking Glass, and Stone Mountain (the one in NC, not GA). I'm a VA Tech grad, and that's where I got my slab fix regularly. From your avatar, are you also a Hokie? There's a pretty big VT/UVA community on this board. Yes! I graduated from VT in 2006. Didn't start climbing until a few years ago though. I lived in Brevard for a year, so just a few miles from Looking Glass, and the Great Arch at Stone was my first trad lead When did you graduate?

I'll look up the different climbing areas, and maybe narrow it down based on my (and my boyfriend's) climbing preferences. I've been mostly stuck in the gym for the past year, and couldn't afford to build a trad rack, so all I have is sport gear. I do like climbing trad though, and when I pay off my loans I'll start building up the gear. Not a huge fan of bouldering, although my boyfriend is. And I have to admit, I learned to climb in Western NC, so I really like slab Thanks again for all your help, everyone!

Awesome, thanks for the replies! You guys are really helpful. I'm definitely not a city person - I live in the suburbs of DC and in a year I've gone downtown for fun three or four times. And when I lived in tiny Brevard NC, I ventured into Asheville maybe twice, but only when people were visiting from out of town. Also, when I lived in Brevard, there were plenty of good old southern rednecks that didn't bother me. 45 minutes to mountain biking from Seattle is a little too far. I imagine it rains a lot in Everett, no? Is there close mountain biking there? I hadn't thought about Leavenworth. So I can add that to the list, and keep Ellensburg and Wenatchee on it too. Where are the Oregon people to tell me about Redmond or Bend, or even put in a good word for Portland? Thanks again!

Hi, I'm planning a move to the west coast, and as long as I can find work as an RN in a hospital, I can live anywhere! I see that a lot of climbers live in Seattle and Portland, but I'm wondering if it's better to live in the central part of the states (Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Redmond, Bend) for better year-round climbing weather and still good access to skiing in the winter. Are the central cities not as close to climbing? Or is climbing around Portland/Seattle just better than on the east side of the Cascades? Thanks!