Chris, It is your climate that lets you get away with the boiled linseed oil. Around here your deck will turn black with whatever grows in the oil.
The water based stuff is what I used on my PT deck and it comes in 3 different ways one is clear base with color second is semi transparent and the third opaque. I would use the product that is clear myself. They all offer UV protection. Mine looks like I will have to recoat it every 2 and that is with snow shoveling etc. The uprights and rails I could see getting 5 years around here. The brand I used was olimpic and was about $130 for 5 gallons. Put it on with a pad type thing they sell that is like mohair and it will take a broom handle to save on the back.
I hope you saved some of the scrap red wood take that with you when you go for stain and they should be able to test the color for you.
I painted everything with it and it turned out ok. My deck was all built out of recycled deck wood.
yes, that may be the best option. I'm not sure how much it would cost, but I know there are custom awnings you can get. I had a friend use Retractable Awnings (I believe that was the name of company).