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We just left Subbase Bangor in Washington State and it was very hard leaving all of our friends and family. The area is small if you are used to the big cities like Jacksonville or San Diego or even Hawaii. Seattle is a ferry ride of 30 mins or a drive over 1 hour away. There is lots of to do there like the zoos, aquarium, Seattle Mariners, Seahawks and Sonics. Tacoma is like 45 mins away and to be honest McChord and Ft. Lewis have far better commissaries and exchanges. The problem with both Bangor and Bremerton commissaries and exchanges is that they are too small for the amount of people stationed there. They really need to be bigger. But out in town you have Costco, Fred Meyers, Albertson's and Safeway to buy from. Although you definitely notice the price difference with quite a few items. There is the one big mall that has Sears, Mervyns, JC Penny's and Gottshalks, along with lots of other stores. Then there is Target, Kmart and WalMart. Silverdale where Bangor is, doesn't get as much rain as Seattle does, while it seems like it sometimes. We get far less than those on the other side of Puget Sound. The summers are awesome, it does get up into the 90s on some days but with the breeze blowing off the water you don't notice it as much. And we hardly get humidity. An occasional winter we will get snow, like we did this past January. We didn't live in base housing but friends did. You have a choice of Bangor or Jackson Park and most pick Bangor because it is a secured entrance. JP is right next to the Navy Hospital which is a great hospital. There is lots of places to go that you have to drive to, but there isn't too many states where you can drive 3 hours west and be looking out at the pacific ocean or drive 3 hours east and be on the other side of the state where awesome apples come from or drive 3 hours north and you are in Canada.
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