Bend, Oregon is pretty awesome. It's a mecca for outdoor activities. Tons of biking, rock climbing, rafting, and skiing in your backyard, of course. And it's not that big. The downtown area is really cute. And, it has a bit of a hippy meets money vibe. haha. I don't know how else to say it. Definitely doesn't feel like a city. Plus, it's easy to get to Portland if you're needing a dose of that. There are other places in Oregon that are obviously nice. But I suggest Bend because it's east of the cascades, so it's a bit dryer and warmer in the summer. But has snow in the winter. Which if you're thinking Utah, I'm guessing that's something you're into.
As far as Washington goes, I would want to stay close to Seattle if you're wanting it to be less conservative. Once you start straying too far from the major cities, you're going to find the same conservative nature as you do in other places. You don't have to drive very far east to be completely out of any sort of city vibe
I've lived in the PNW , non-coastal inland for over 20 years.
Bend is cool and outdoorsy and all that, but good luck finding a job. There’s exactly one ski area. If you move there, you have better bring your income with you. Bend lost 11,000 (yes, that’s thousand) jobs in 2011, with a population of 76,000.(from
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/06/oregon_cities_from_portland_to.html) Bend puts out the cool hippy vibe for sure, Deschutes Brewing and all that, but it’s 88% white, and still is a natural resource extraction based community underneath it all. There’s a lot of huntin’ and fishin’ in addition to “cool hippy vibe”. (ranching, logging, Forest Service/BLM)
As for the Inland NW ( East of the Cascades) .. really now. Have you lived here? Do you know anyone in, say, Spokane? Coeur d'Alene? Conservative is relative. I'm not going to attempt to define "conservative". It means too many different things to too many different people. I've lived in Chicago, the SF Bay Area, the Rocky Mtns (as in Central Wyoming, not Denver), and for the last 20 years, Inland PNW. Conservative isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think it's more important if we can all get along despite our differences. Sure it's less mixed skin color here, and the predominant vote may or may not be red, depending on which county you live in. I think anyone of any leaning can be comfortable here, and trust me, I’m definitely on the left leaning side of things.
The Inland PNW is relatively off the radar when people think of where to live for the outdoors, but I have 5 ski areas within 90 miles, world class rivers within several hours, 70 miles of single track within the city, and much more. We have a thriving gay community, all religions, lots of returnees from Seattle and elsewhere looking for a better quality of life than you get in a Big City, and of course our share of wackos. But who doesn't? The only things that are truly lacking are world class level culture as in opera, ballet and so on. Oh yeah, and a Whole Foods. Sure the vibe is Large Town instead of big city, but I’ll take that for everything else I’m missing.
Bottom line is there are always going to be tradeoffs when you are looking to relocate based on a specific desire. And, it's good to get your information on communities from a variety of people that have experienced them and not just magazines or one person's experience.
It can take years to integrate into a new community when you just pick up and move. I seriously doubt this is a California to Utah thing. It happens to most people when they relocate. In fact, I
know it's not a SLC or Utah thing. Anyone who has made a significant move as an adult will most likely experience it to some degree.
Sorry for the novel. Where to move and why is a pretty broad topic.
GG