I became familiar navigating most west coast large cities during my life

I was born in Seattle and so it started there until I was 4 years old. Then San Diego starting at this age after I rode the train down there with my mother and grandmother. My father had driven ahead in his brother's 1941 Century Buick that he kept in memory of him after World War II. When I was 4 it was 1952. Then in 1954 we moved to Tujunga and in 1956 we moved to Glendale, California where I went to 3rd grade through my junior year in High School. Then I graduated in Santa Fe, New Mexico High School in May of 1966. So, I became familiar with Santa Fe, New Mexico too. In late 1969 I returned to San Diego to Poway to live with my parents while I returned to college after working and going to school already in Los Angeles at Glendale College then. Eventually I went to UCSC in 1989 in Santa Cruz when I was married with a family and we lived in Family student housing then at UCSC.

So, one by one I learned to navigate as a 16 year old or older, first Los Angeles County, then Orange County then San Diego County.

Over time I also learned to navigate the greater San Francisco area, Seattle Area, Vancouver in Canada and Victoria in BC in Canada and last I learned to Navigate Portland Starting around 2010 when my oldest biological daughter moved there from Southern Oregon with her boyfriend.

I think initially, Portland was the hardest to navigate in that the traffic laws are different there and sometimes the very old highways are sort of hodge podge in some ways to deal with. Also, the blinking yellow left arrow is hard to get used to meaning "you can turn left if it's safe" which is very confusing if you are from California by the way. Also, there are stop signs that don't necessarily mean you should stop because most traffic is turning onto another road and doesn't have to stop so that can be dangerous for out of state drivers too.

So, I found Portland more confusing than most other cities to drive in but it is also a very unique place. For example, a famous bumper sticker there is "Keep Portland Weird!" which basically means "Let it be the late 1960s in Portland forever!" which is where the whole "Portlandia" thing comes from.

So now, starting with Victoria BC Canada and moving towards Vancouver, Canada, I also understand Seattle freeways pretty good because I was born there and now lastly understand Portland since around 2010 and before that understood Los Angeles county, Orange County, San Diego County and the Greater San Francisco Bay area and Santa Barbara. So, most of the west coast of the U.S. now I can navigate mostly without maps now (at least all the freeways) in towns and cities all over the west coast of the U.S. and Southwest Coastal Canada.