I've lived in Washington State my entire life and can't imagine living anyplace else.
We have it all. Rain forests to desert with sand dunes, snow capped mountains, and everything in between. Awesome wheelin', hunting, fishing, skiing, just about any type of outdoor recreation you could want and all of it within a couple hours drive.
Seattle area is a bit expensive and traffic sucks, but as you get away from the Seattle area, the cost of living drops significantly as does the traffic.
Heck, even the state patrol has treated me pretty decently. (local town police and county sheriff not so much tho, but stories for a different time, and hopefully not everyone's experience).