I'm not sure if you got to kick around Washington State much, but there was actually a pretty substantial emigration from WNC to the Darrington area back in the first half of the 20th C with folks following the timber industry back West as the North Carolina hills were cut-over. (A lot of people made the trek West, too, in the early 1950's--a period of time my people in Arkansas/Oklahoma, at least, always claimed was tougher economically and "climatically" than the Dust Bowl era.)
At any rate, I definitely concur with your love of NC even though I'm across the hill in Knoxville--I did work in Whittier for a couple of years, however...Newfound Gap Road makes for an interesting commute.
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