starting july 10th

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How can it be great for outdoor activities if it's always raining?

Well, imagine you are in Pennsylvania or Illinois. Is there any outdoor activity so fun that you would not care whether or not it rains? (I've spent time in both. There is not.) For example, the Oregon Coast is spectacular during the worst of weather: 75+ mph winds driving heavy rain (best viewed from inside a rental house or hotel). When the weather lets up, it is even more gorgeous than a typical summer day:   high contrast cumulonimbus clouds framing sunbeams which dance across the water and beach. The mountains are the same way. How do you get 60+ feet of snow pack (at 7000 feet elevation)? By snowing a lot. That's why we can ski and snowboard on lift-served snow any month of the year. Even August and September. When the mountain trails (elevations 3000–6000 feet) are clear of snow around June or July, it is like Spring all over again:   Rhododendrons and alpine meadows are in full bloom. Some flowers begin in June (like Stovepipe sprouting through the last of the snow), but others don't appear until August or September, like Huckleberries. The continual progression of seasons in different biomes provides an extended spring-like experience, seeing new blossoms. Right now, in the west Portland area forested hills, Trillium are in their early stages. Over the next month they will go from pure white to pure deep purple with many variations of pinks and patterns on the way. More than half the interesting trails are in designated wilderness (that is, no motors, no pavement, no structures). It is fairly straightforward to hike or camp somewhere where you will not see anyone else for days at a time. Then there is the summer slackening of the rain. it can still rain any day of the year, but the chances of 3 to 7 days without rain increases during late summer. It takes only about 12 hours of sunny weather for us to forget all about the rain. Mountain biking and cross country bicycling are in their prime from when the rain warms up (usually in April) until it gets cold again (October or November). Also, it is usually feasible (10+ months of the year) to transport bicycles to the east side of the Cascades and ride on low traffic, dry roads. Then there is whitewater river kayaking and rafting. Check out the 80+ rated white water rivers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whitewater_rivers#Oregon About an hour from Eugene is 40+ miles of sand dunes, some of which is open to dune buggies; there are even some concessionaires to rent them.