East or West?

After some exploring of eastern OR and a bit of ID, Chrissy and I have talked about possibly perferring the western side of the cascades. There are several reasons why. First of all is the trees. There are not a lot of trees on the eastern side. Second is the weather, year round. This also plays into the elevations. Western is much lower and more mild then the east. Also there is more water on the western side as well, a longer growing season and milder winters and so on. Another reason is to be closer to Portland or Seattle. Either one is cool, but it would be nice to be within an hour or two of either city. Eastern OR is beatiful but seems like it is going to create more difficulties for us. As far as the reason we were going over there is because the western side is possibly going to dissapear. Seems like we might be running from a ghost or a theory. This may happen but It might be worth the chance. The Exploration of the East has been enjoyable but not as fruitful as we hoped. To this point in time, the only place that has met the criteria we have set for the east is Imnaha. That place is a jewel, but it is also 6 hours from portland and 5 from Boise.
Please everyone share your thoughts.