I planned this morning’s daytrip last night: and I set the alarm 😊
I have mentioned in past
posts, that I need to do things repetitiously for it to sink in and stick … I
knew there was a route from home to the Gorge: without touching down on the freeway
at any point: today I figured out 3/4th’s of the way 😉
I knew I had to figure this
out from my Battle Ground pilot drive there Saturday, that triggered memories
of tie-in roads along the route; and I’ve been having dreams lately that
helped the memories along.
Anyway …
I wanted to keep the route
fresh in my mind: and explore those tie-in-roads today 😊
The alarm went off around
7:30 AM, and I was on the road by 9:30 AM. If this was summertime … I could
have completed the entire route. But, it’s Fall, and quickly moving towards
Winter; so, I could only do what I can do for now.
Road by road 😉
Today dawned bright and
beautiful: temperature stayed in the high 50’s all day long – and blue skies
stretched on into the horizon. It was perfect for today’s mission; everything
was dry and clear. Rain is forecast for the next seven days.
I caught sight of Mt. St.
Helens peeking over the landscape as I passed through LaCenter; and she was
showing big and bright in Ridgefield … a little further down the road, I saw
Mt. Adams – I’m always excited to see that mountain show up because I
rarely am in its locale 😊
I don’t know if it’s allowed
to nip into driveways of housing construction … or to pull over to the shoulder
of a mini-freeway: but I do know that if these things cut through scenic
backgrounds – with no turnouts that allow picture taking … I will stop and snap
a picture. I am tired of beautiful scenic moments never having a spot handy
to capture the moment: so, I made my own moments 😉
I made a few discoveries:
and enjoyed renewed adventures, too 😊
On my way to exiting Battle
Ground (after I had spent 1½ hours kicking around, there), I saw a blue
road sign along the way that said: Scenic Route North – with an arrow
pointing in the general direction … so, I turned in that direction,
thinking, “Why not? I’m here/it’s here – and I’ve got time. It’s not even
12:30’noon, yet: let’s see what’s out there.”
That little side excursion
was kind of a waste of time. MPO
In La Center, the road and
car were showered with whirls of coin sized golden leaves, as the Alder trees
shook them free. I like to watch the leave's swan dance, matching the tempo of
the Fall breeze.
Along the route, I came
to a tummy-tickler road that would have been fun to enjoy at full speed …
but I am being good; so, I dropped and rose at the boring 35 mph posted
☹
When I got to the 3-way
junction in Woodland, I decided to turn towards Amboy, and clock how long it
would take to get to the Lewis River Road (I’d drive home from there).
I knew I’d have
to cross that 1-lane Yale Bridge;
but I also knew I wanted to see the ancient Cinder Cone: TumTum, too – I
always stop and gawk at it when I pass that way; and Bob was good about parking
where I could get the best pictures of it. He was a good man, and a good
husband to me.
TumTum is For Sale! (https://www.columbian.com/news/2011/nov/01/buyer-sought-for-tumtum-mountain-asking-price-for/)
When
I passed the Amboy Middle School, I remembered that there is an Espresso Shack
on the road along the other side of the school: I will pencil that into my plans
next time I make this trip 😊 Bob and I always stopped there – the coffee
was good, and the crew was always friendly.
Once I turned onto
Chelatchie Road, I deleted the GPS voice aides: I knew how to get through from
there without any help.
Memories kicked in.
I remembered what my dreams showed me.
Bob always took the long way
home when we were Daytripping because he knew I liked backroads. When I day-tripped
to Cougar, Yale, and Amboy in May; I didn’t push past the Ranger Station in Amboy,
because my main focus was finding the back route to Trout Lake …but today,
I pushed all the way through – I am determined to connect the backroad dots 😉
As I crossed the suspension bridge,
I noticed that the potholes had been paved since May: it was easier crossing –
my backbones were not jarred like they were this summer. And I wasn’t so nervous
crossing the gorge on that vintage skinny thing.
I do like the bridge; I like History.
And I always look for the Osprey nests 😉
The Osprey nests
are still in place, on the Yale end of the bridge.
When I got back to Woodland
again, I saw a Great Blue Heron standing in a field along the backroad: I was
happy and sad at the same time – happy because the bird was present (I will
always think of these birds as ‘Bob’s bird’; he was always excited to see one)
… and sad because this area is becoming suburbanized, and soon that bird will
not be able to enjoy his marshy spot along the road ;-(
I also saw another sight.
Another memory was triggered 😊
I veered off …
and headed to higher elevations.
If this road led to where I hoped it would, it would be another connecting dot.
Green Mountain Road was very
rough in two spots where the road had previously slid and washed out; the
roadway was still uneven, and in one place was loose gravel laid over an
obvious drop-crack that hadn’t been leveled. Thank goodness, the Highlander
is an ‘all-terrain vehicle’ 😉
I found out that Cloverdale
drops into Todd Road, and Todd Road links to the freeway (left side),
and Kalama (right side): I took the right, which led to Elm
Street. Elm Street drops right into Kalama.
I knew there was
a way all the way through, on backroads.
Thank you, Babe for all
those wonderful backroad drives!
Thank you Yeshua, for
prodding my memory with dreams and landmark recognitions 😊
I could have gone straight
home, then, on the Old Pacific Highway a usual out of Kalama; but … I chose instead to
turn uphill and extend the drive: going out of the way again, and backtracking again 😉
The road
construction on Spencer Creek Road is still going on: this has been going on for months – and
it has been in the planning for years.
At this point, I figured I'd be parking in my carport minutes before sundown.
And that was
okay: as long as I was parked before full dark.
I spent 20 minutes cooling
my heels on Spencer Creek Road – up in the hills, on the backside of Kalama;
towards the Kalama River Road, which ties into Old Pacific Highway. The County
is replacing a culvert there, hoping to strengthen that stretch of road where
there was an earlier landslide due to heavy rainfall that weakened the road’s
foundation.
Spencer Creek Road Project: Existing
roadway and guardrail were damaged during the 2015 flood event. The damage
created the need for narrower lanes as the roadway continued to settle.(https://tdn.com/news/longview-crew-saves-kalama-a-main-water-lines-during-floods/article_edafac2f-4011-5d94-97e1-2a9de4f7e542.html)
Road by road I’m
building the Daytrip routes Bob used
to entertain me with; they were enjoyable drives, and they should all
connect without freeway touchdowns, by the time I get them all figured out.
I’m happy with the results –
and I know I’ll get “it” figured out in 2022: when the days are longer, and I
have more time to dink around on the backroads 😊
I’m happy with the way my day went 😊
Memories were enjoyable, and informative.
Dreams were confirmed: and lived out.
I kept speed-control on. All day.
I'm learning county boundaries ... they aren't blurred anymore. Bob knew all the roads, and drove them smoothly. He never got lost. Ever. And he never used a map; even when we drove clear across America - he just knew how to read the sky and the lay of the land. He was always on target. But I never knew where anything was located, until I started relearning these routes. Everything is different when you are no longer just a passenger.
I stuck to my weight loss goal (I didn't eat until I got home - and I stuck to the Plan).
I found/bought a
casserole dish with a dragonfly insignia; and a Great Blue Heron made an appearance:
I consider both an affirmation of ‘presence’.
** Sunday~Fundays ~ 2021:
#21/=1 for 2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/04/sundayfunday-21soul-food-clandestine.html
#22/= 2 for 2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/05/sundayfunday-22olympic-peninsula-loop.html
#20/2020 – The last of the 2020
Sunday~Funday’s – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020/09/sundayfunday-20-deep-river-eden-valley.html (plus 10th thru 19th
SUNDAY~FUNDAY links)
#9/2019 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020_04_27_archive.html (plus 1st thru 8th 2019 SUNDAY~FUNDAY links)**
==Meaningful Mondays ~ 2021:
#1/2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/05/meaningful-monday-mccormick-park.html
==Try It Tuesdays ~ 2021:
#1/2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/09/wings-mt-rainier-solo-lobo-daytrip.html
==Wandering Wednesdays ~ 2021:
#1/2021
– https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-day-to-remember.html
==Traveling Thursdays ~ 2021:
#4/2021
– https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/08/traveling-thursday-lael-moon-nursery.html
#3/2021
– https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/06/lincoln-city-thursday-solo-lobo-daytrip.html
#2/2021
– https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/04/traveling-thursday-sulkum-huff-and-puff.html
#1/2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/04/traveling-thursday-3-county-hopscotch.html
==Freewheeling Fridays ~ 2021:
#1/2021
– https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-boarishboorish-day-centralia-daytrip.html
#2/2021 - https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/11/freewheeling-fridays-2-river-runs-thru.html
==Saturday Shenanigans ~ 2021:
#1/2021 – https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/10/saturday-shenanigans-jam-session.html
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