Oh James Welcome!
Sadly you will move here during the dim and moist season, but Feb and March are already Spring here. Summers typically are very dry for months. Really. Not joking. Sunny and 75 degrees. I like Whidbey Island, it is less rainy than elsewhere around here. You can grow Palm Trees there! But also lots of other stuff. Winter is also prime bird migration time, if you are interested. You will have easy access to the Olympic Mountains which are terrific, and there is Whale Watching. And Vancouver and Seattle are close. When you miss TX you can drive across the cascades for the weekend for hot weather. When you miss Florida you can go to the Olympic Rainforest out by Forks. Sadly, it seems like pretty much everywhere has a drug problem anymore... The Island has low population, with a very noticeable military presence. Oak Harbor is not particularly attractive, but in general the Island is pretty, in my opinion. Housing prices are lower on Whidbey rather than In Anacortes, which has become popular with retirees, also prices rise near the ferry to Mukilteo, as some people commute. The entire area is quite popular with military retirees, who were stationed here, and liked it so much they came back.
Anyway, I have lived in both Texas and Florida myself. I think what you might really like here is- no poisonous snakes, no poisonous spiders, no gigantic flying cockroaches, no fire ants, no alligators eating your dog, and mosquitos are so rare I never used bug repellant this year. At all. Dallas and Jacksonville and Seattle are all Zone 8, but the climates are totally different! People here generally do not even own umbrellas! The rain is mostly a misty drizzle, so in Feb it may be 51 degrees and rainy at 7 am- I see the kids out at the bus stop in the dark in tee shirt and shorts and sandals, no raincoat or umbrella, just a bit damp and they don't even mind. Buy some fleece, Smartwool socks, and a rain jacket from REI.
Your plumeria and adeniums will suffer greatly. I have one pathetic adenium. It survives. It wails "I need heat and sun" but it does not get that here.
My midnight ramblings. Anyway, welcome to the PNW!
