Tom, that was funny about not shoveling rain!
We moved to Idaho last year because we were tired of the snow in Utah! Didn't get much were I live (about 3 feet over winter), and what we did get melted pretty quick. Our elevation is only 1,750, so that has something to do with it. We had some brutal cold, but so did most of the rest of the county. Ours didn't last as long though.
Personally, I don't feel like I'm in the PNW, but it is as close to a home area that I can find on here, so I'm happy to belong to the area, which includes some awesome people! I'm still not sure that it is the appropriate regional location, but since there are so few members in this neck of the woods, it is fine with me if my area is included in the PNW region. I've been stuck worse places before! We were talking earlier about this area being called the Inland Northwest, but again, with so few members here, it makes no sense to create a new area just for a few of us who may never post anything about our region.
Haven't heard even one thing mentioned since moving here about creating a new state our of the areas that you mentioned. If the officials want to create a new state, I'm fine with it, as long as I don't have to move again!