I’ve been in Whatcom county off and on since 2010 but grew up in yakima wa. In no order my memories…

If you haven’t been to the gorge you need to make a trip.

Long Beach WA and all the tourist summer activities.

Hoh Rainforest.

Soap Lake. It’s weird, an experience for sure.

Wine country - yakima valley, tri cities, walla walla. Great tours, hundreds of places.

Mount St. Helens visitor center.

Orcas Island, or any/all of the San Juan Islands.

All the tacky tourist activities at Long Beach. This is the cornerstone of my childhood summers.

Your HR is going to be the best contact. There’s too many unknowns. But maybe YES, in some form.

For example, my normal sick time states I can use it for me, spouse, or immediate family member. But after XX days they need more information and/or push me to apply for Paid Family or FMLA. One time? Sure. Weekly? Maybe adjust your work hours. On demand? Likely not.

Is there a reason you won’t ask HR? Or reference your handbook.

Regular sick leave, Paid Family and Medical Leave, or FMLA? Sometimes the relationship of the family member to you makes a difference too. More info is needed.

If you have an HR person at work I’d start with them.

Do you have a specific part of the state you’re going to be in? That’s going to impact your choices. And the state itself is super varied on seasonal employment. Like there’s limited berries in yakima county (too hot) but all over skagit/Whatcom.

“The Northwest” is really like two different places in this state

In eastern wa where all the hops and cherries are… it’s 90F and sometimes hotter. If anything you want the warehouse sorter job. Western wa doesn’t get as hot but in eastern wa there’s a reason they bus people in on work visas to do the picking.

You don’t want this type of job.

Outdoor lifeguarding is seasonal, but you need the actual class/cert

Tons of produce harvesting. But the majority is going to be completed by migrant workers. You’d want to look more at the warehouse processing jobs - I’m from eastern wa and many high school kids actually worked the warehouse for cherries in summer.

Camp host and/or trails maintenance.

Had no idea, we were going to head there in June :(

Grove of the patriarchs is beautiful. Not a hike really but there’s a bridge over to the trees then boardwalk trail. But the pics would be legendary with your kitty.

Go ask on the WA UNemployment reddit page. The guy can explain what you need to show.

That’s why most get a 30yr mortgage and/or find a “good enough” house vs dream house. Or you get down the line and it appreciates in value and you pay off when you sell. Only about 1/3 of people have no mortgage.

As for 10 to 1 - not always. But I hear you. It’s why I relocated for 5 years. Needed capital!

Are you pre approved and/or have a real estate agent? Because Zillow has a bunch of homes under 600 and you’ve just got to comb through for what you want.

Be flexible on area or wants/needs. First house we settled for one bathroom bc we knew we wouldn’t stay forever. It was fine. This second house we “settled” to be farther outside our desired area and I LOVE where we purchased. But it was on the “No” list bc of location until we physically drove around. Beautiful.

First time home buyer assistance, or FHA loans where you don’t need 20% down. Then having no other debt so you can afford the monthly payment lol

COL matters. Bought my first home on the east side of the state with $5000 due to grants, then sold for a profit to buy on the west side.

Get a temp job at express employment and pay the fine. Solves your job problem, money problem, and ticket problem.