I've never lived there for sure, but at least driving through a whole ton of the state, it doesn't seem to just be the Willamette valley. Driving through the Umpqua national forest I saw plenty of militia compounds (okay, it was likely only 2, but a ton of people with giant Trump and don't tread on me flags, and a few properties that looked like there were actual above ground concrete bunkers) followed a quarter mile down the road with someone's property with giant LGBTQ+ flags flying, or weed flags, etc. It was extremely schizophrenic.Oregon has the same phenomenon as New York , Illinois , and Maryland . Outside of the Willamette Valley , it's filled with level headed , mostly conservative people .
And yes , parts of Oregon are unmatched for having the most variety of terrians/ scenery located in close proximity .
Other than the State Government , I'd be happy to live in Northeast Oregon .
I'd agree most of the parts east of the Cascades seemed to be fairly conservative, but all of the bigger towns like Bend were very liberal, and plenty of farms I drove by were also flying it high that they were liberals. But that is the case almost anywhere. Rural areas tend towards about 2 conservatives to 1 liberal. Urban areas tend towards about 2 liberals for 1 conservative. And most suburbs and medium sized towns are closer to 1 to 1.