LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE ~Traveling Thursdays/2022

Today, I had the $$ to make the drive to Naselle to visit my friends, there.

We have missed each other. We love each other. Love doesn’t change overnight – it can be killed, or it can be nurtured; that’s up to the people involved. We, as community-building friends, choose to nurture the love that flows freely among us 😉

The hour-long drive is welcome … and I hope recent money-eating-expenses that have been eating up my carefully budgeted gas $$$ will taper off enough to allow me to make that drive every week, again. I enjoy the scenic drive: I enjoy the coffee hour convo 😊

Life in the Slow Lane was very welcome change of pace today – and I expected to be gone all day long; so I dressed in clothes and makeup that would take me from AM to PM with ease 😉

Queries incoming ...

Affirmative reply; YES!

Ready to rock & roll.

Naselle from Longview; 1 hr. 10 mins (1-way) via Ocean Beach Highway.

Anticipation of two catch-up chit-chats (AM & PM), and delicious tempting coffee aromas were not highjacked as I experienced a ‘Manic Monday’ start to my Traveling Thursday.

Right off, the day started out like a Monday.

Drivers need to be respectful of deer crossing the roadways.

Road work at Stella; patching potholes around the upper bend.

Despite the unexpected wild life snafu’s (2-legged humanoids, as well as 4-legged actual animals), and sporadic road work spread out along the route from Longview to Skamokawa, I managed to arrive at my destination on time without exceeding the speed limit.

Laughter and coffee flowed with carefree abandon. Serious convo was kept light with hope and encouragement liberally sprinkled throughout the train of thought. Ramona (not my sister – another Ramona, my friend) and I helped Becky (not my niece – another Becky, my friend) unwind and untangle her skein of yarn, so she could easily finish her latest WIP. And I came home with a gifted snippet of an Airplane Plant 😊

I love life in the Slow Lane: it really is the simple things in life that make life enjoyable.

A Spider Baby; gift coming home with me.

Pointing the Highlander’s nose homeward, I made a snap decision to deviate from the straight-n-narrow highway … and drive a few side roads.

I was out of Dodge, and foot-loose and fancy-free, today. It was a nice day, perfect for a country drive down several country roads 😊

Eden Valley Road, Rosburg.

The skies have been filled with helicopters lately - either campaigning politicians ... or war maneuvers being practiced.

2nd Cousins in a familial triangle formation; Russell & Wally (forefront) & Bob.

3 deer prancing down Altoona-Pillar Rock Road; I came to a jerky stop: unpredictable deer get the right of way ;-)

Altoona-Pillar Rock Road, Rosburg.

Barr Road, Graysriver.

Covered Bridge Road, Graysriver.

The Covered Bridge; Graysriver.

Once again on Ocean Beach Highway (the straight-n-narrow road from here to there), the old cement bridgework guardrails of the Graysriver bridge pulled my eye: so, I turned off the road and parked on the gravel near Fossil Creek Road to admire it. I like these old cement guardrails. I do not like the modern aluminum guardrails, at all.

Old bridgework ... I like it; Graysriver.

1938

Ugly, ugly, UGLY 'upgrade improvements'.

I remember walking across the old cement walkways, when I walked this highway, every weekend; in the early 1970’s. It was about 11½ miles one way from Ingalls Road (where I lived at that point in time) in Skamokawa, to where the old Appelo’s Store in Graysriver, used to be.

Appelo's Store in Graysriver - gone now, but it looked like this when I hiked to Graysriver.

Graysriver from Skamokawa; 13 mins. driving time (11.8 mi. distance) via WA-4 W

I enjoyed hiking those 23 miles every weekend. I’d take a short break at the top of KM Mountain, to catch my breath; and then I’d finish the first half of that hike at Appelo’s Store where I’d buy a can of coke, and a pack of Marlboro Reds, before hoofing it back over the KM, and home.

I’m pretty sure the log truck drivers did not enjoy seeing me walking that ditch-side white line 😉 As an adult now, I sympathize with their concerns – but as a teenager, then, I didn’t think of the dangers while selfishly enjoying my foot-loose, carefree, all-day-hike.

Thinking of that experience, I decided to drive Ingalls Road to the Duck Inn, for lunch (the backroad route).

I enjoy country road drives 😊

Country roads are generally slow lane travel: today was a Slow Lane Day.

As I was driving along, radio talking heads were discussing (and bitching about) escalating gas prices. It irks me too … but it’s going to happen, and bitching about it won’t halt it. Escalating gas prices is what the obamanite DC devotees want: it is what they intend to implement – the push, according to the obamanite doctrine, is EV’s for the filthy rich, bikes for the millennial urbanites, train travel/city bus travel for lower class city dwellers … and beat-feet-travel for country bumpkins. That is what the biden-harris cartel is aiming for, that is what they are preparing for.

Seattle is already primed to implement it: jay inslee is, after all, barak hussain obama’s west coast evangelist, feverishly doing his best to browbeat Washingtonians into slavishly embracing the obamanite cult doctrine.

Ingalls Road, Skamokawa.

Landslide cleanup on Ingalls Road, near Fernhill Cemetery.

Middle Valley Road, Skamokawa.

Sleepy Hallow, Skamokawa.

Inflation experts are predicting $10-gal. gas prices this year ... that won't stop people from driving.

barak hussain obama’s solution to the “fossil fuel issue”: https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/opinions/editorials/article_936795e0-83f0-11e1-ac93-001a4bcf887a.html

WA State Gas prices expected to reach double-digit costs: https://nypost.com/2022/05/19/washington-state-preps-for-10-gas-stations-run-out-of-fuel/

And, on the tail-end of that radio discussion as I left Ocean Beach Highway for more country road driving, came a report of more leftist lunacy: canada has eliminated Laws that made fentanyl illegal: I am sure the biden-harris team administration from Hell will follow suit. Oh goodie (not!) … now we can expect those drug addled morons to be aiming cars down the highway, too, with pothead drivers/heroin fueled motorists/wobbly bicyclists that do not know how to pedal on the highways/and absent-minded mental cases walking down the center lines ☹

Canada decriminalizes hard drugs: https://www.cp24.com/news/canada-announces-decriminalization-plan-for-drug-users-in-b-c-to-fight-overdoses-1.5926923

What the Hell are politician’s thinking!?! Are politicians thinking at all, or are their brain cells totally misfiring 100% of the time?

Besides the slow lane scenery, and country road vibe; I stick to backroads for a logical reason, people … there is protection as well as comfort in the Slow Lane 😉

Beaver Creek Road - off Elochoman road, to Longview.

Columbia River shipping lane – birds-eye view of Stella-Willow Grove & Longview in the near distance ... ship headed downriver to Port of Longview anchor bay.

Back on Ocean Beach Highway, case and point was played out in a scary scenario that could have ended very badly for the car, the log truck, and me.

Thank God Bob was always nagging me about the “2-cars-length following distance”.

((((THANK YOU, BABE!))))

Thank the Lord, angels are dispatched every time I hit the open road.

That nagging – and an Angel on my shoulder – saved my life today.

Dumbass driver nearly caused a traumatic wreck ...

WTH! We need stiffer drug and driving Laws!

‘Life in the Fast Lane’ song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po6QU0z1rSs)

Time to get rid of the demonrat lunacy laws.

Counting my blessings and thanking my lucky stars, I pulled into my carport and dropped off my Airplane Plant snippet; collected the mail, and took a couple minutes to run into town and deposit Bob’s TOC love gift … before backtracking to Spruce Creek where friends were waiting for my arrival for an evening coffee hour 😊

Spruce Creek Road, Longview.

Randy Travis – ‘It’s A Great Day to Be Alive’ song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kwCc5uqJv4)

I was glad for this evening gathering of mixed company. It is good to see life from different angles. It is good to laugh. It is good to be touched emotionally, spiritually, and physically; on comfortable levels.

Even though there were two very obvious manic monday moments in this Thursday, I actually thoroughly enjoyed Life in the Slow Lane, today – all day 😊

Both coffee hours (AM & PM) will be weekly repeats; God willing, and budget providing 😉

 

*Traveling Thursday Links~2021: (https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/08/traveling-thursday-lael-moon-nursery.html)

REBEL THURSDAY

This morning when I stopped at Baker’s Corner, the employees were chatty: I’d been stopping in regularly since getting out and about solo lobo. We’ve become friends.

I was glad to see the deli is once again in operation. The deli has been closed for a few days, and one employee told me that it was closed because they had no helpers to help – the previous helpers were either fired, quit, or moved to other areas of the store because they couldn’t get the hang of deli operation.

Standing at the checkout counter, another employee commented on the fog … and I said I hoped it would burn off before I reached the KM; she was familiar with the KM – and with the Bone River area, too; which I would be driving on my circular route back home. She said that every time she sees the fog creeping in off the river (or the ocean), she immediately thinks of the zombies coming out of the fog bank in the 1980 ‘The Fog” movie – and I said, “me too!”. We both laughed.

Then we told each other about our personal experiences with the fog patch that shrouds the highway at Bone River; and the ocean winds that blow in off the ocean and literally lift cars, trucks, and vans off the highway and moves them across the lanes. It’s creepy, and downright scary to experience. I told her that I had lost the road at Bone River last week, and if I had to drive through another fog patch this afternoon – and got through safely without a head-on collision, or fighting the icy fingers of ocean fog ghosts, I wouldn’t be driving that way again until Spring. That stretch of highway is risky in the best of weather: I have no intention of dying there this Fall/Winter. She knows exactly what I was talking about, and she told me about her own scary moments there.

We wished each other a good day; and I hit the road for my Naselle Coffee Hour.

Leaving Longview, I saw a hovering fog bank in the near distance.

And the first leg of my journey was delayed by more never-ending road work.

A foggy start to the day ...

Continuous road work on Ocean Beach Highway; no end in sight.

There was no ground-level fog crossing the KM; there was a higher altitude fog layer, but ground level visibility was good. And Jim Dandy wasn’t trolling the highway either. But with the road work delays along the route, I made Naselle seriously behind schedule, so the Coffee Hour was short this morning. But, one of the gals is coming to Longview tomorrow – and she may stop in; she has my address and phone number, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings me. I hope she does – it will be fun 😊

I haven’t had anyone visit my home since this whole covid nonsense started 18 months ago. It will be nice to have convo, laughter, and presence in my home again.

Exiting Naselle, and turning off onto Highway 101, I could see the fog bank was lifting somewhat – and blue sky was starting to show. That was encouraging; maybe Bone River would be clear. I was hoping so as I moved forward.

Fog bank hovering over Naselle River.

Bone River clear! And no high ocean winds, either. Yippie!

Blue skies were in evidence as I left the river and ocean regions and drove inland: I was thankful. Since the drive would be clear, I decided to pop in at the Walmart Supercenter in Chehalis – it has been a long while since I was last there; there were some things I was wanting that the Walmart in Longview does not carry.

Walmart Supercenter from Pe Ell - via WA-6 E; 30 minutes

I was also entertaining the idea of eating Supper at Kit Carson’s Steakhouse – and driving home the Jackson Highway route. I like that drive, and it’s been months since I’ve enjoyed it.

Passing through Pe Ell; biden’s voice came over the radio airwaves … and I pulled over to shut him up with a Bad Company CD.

Hearing biden’s voice literally makes me sick to my stomach: he whines in a lethargic nasal tone, and gets lost in trying to convey what he is trying to say – and everything he manages to spit out without mangling in the attempt to spit it out, is a scripted teleprompt of obamanite proportions.

biden is now claiming that covid is the fault of antivaxxers: since he stole Office, he has been claiming that covid is the result of Trump. biden is certifiable buggy. And have you noticed how his lying mouth takes on a teeth-baring grimace when he goes on the attack about those who do not engage in his mandated goose-stepping lockstep?

biden’s blame game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdjHdU7yWU

biden, and his lying cohorts is the real pandemic. 

I am not denying the reality of covid – but I am denying what the demonrats are putting out concerning covid. They have all lied from the get-go; and every day they tell another fantastical whopper.

I just turn biden off - his voice and lies hurt my ears.

biden's dog doesn't hunt. he's pushed the scientific lies too vigorously for too long.

I am done with the political bullshit; both sides of the aisle.

((((I AM NOT GETTING THE VACCINE!)))) 1775 gave me the RIGHT to CHOOSE TO SAY “NO!” to overreaching governing tyrants.

Hospitals are {overwhelmed} because doctors, nurses, EMT’s, and caregivers refusing the vaccine have had their positions terminated.

And valid medical conditions have been {bundled} to secure the covid hysteria, needed to foster the scientific bullshit story.

Nearing Chehalis, I was happy to catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier as I drove along.

Mt. Rainer's peak, peeking out of the clouds.

Yesterday, I saw Mt. St. Helens, with a glimpse of Mt. Adams in the background – today I got to see Mt. Rainier: glimpsing 3 of my favorite PNW mountains in a 24-hour period. I am a happy girl!

Walking through Chehalis’ Walmart Supercenter, I found what I was looking for, and found a checkout line that didn’t look a mile long with loaded carts. While standing in line waiting my turn; the lady in front of me and the cashier ringing her stuff up, were engaging in a lively convo about the new covid mandates, our Constitutional Rights/freedoms: in no time at all it seemed, I was included in the convo.

I had an interesting shopping trip this afternoon ...

We had a lively and interesting discussion concerning biden’s inability to be a valid voice in our nation’s leadership/fauci’s unethical lies and unbelievability concerning covid issues/American Citizens rights to question and disagree with the heavy-handed political based mandates.

We were friendly allies; talking rebel talk, in the open – and daring anyone listening to make a scene about it. We have the right to speak freely and openly about the ruinous devastation the obamanites are gleefully foisting on America and The People.

We have the right to refuse to cover our faces, and silence our voices.

We have the right to reject the labels obamanites are branding us with.

We have the right to live our lives the way we see fit.

I makes me glad to know that there is a revolution going on: the signs are up on business doors … but they are not being enforced. People are fed up with the endless asinine mandates. America is still the “Land of the Free”, regardless of how much the dimwits embracing communism and socialism wish it otherwise.

America is not europe. And covid is a wily weaponized opponent.

America is not europe: America is different than europe. In 1775, we, The People, separated ourselves from european rule and tyrannical mandates. If the obamanite dimwits embracing communism and socialism want to “be European”; they can fricking move to any European country of their choice.

But they cannot force their choice on the rest of us.

The mandates don’t make any sense on any level because covid is a mutant virus designed and created to be a destroyer: the ridiculous mandates are just wisps of the will of whoever is grabbing the limelight; they are political ego trips.

I don't believe covid will ever be conquered. I also believe the demonrats know that, too.

With all the political secrecy and outright “scientific” lies told surrounding the origin of covid, and how it was implemented into the global populace – as well as the political fearmongering being parroted on every media source available 24/7/365; it’s obvious that this virus is not a virus as most people understand viruses. This virus is a malicious, living entity that views humanity as an enemy that it must seek and destroy.

That is the definition of a weapon. 

Covid is a viral torpedo.

We are being played.

We have been deceived.

We are unwilling guinea pigs in political war games.

We have been unwillingly thrust into an inescapable Twilight Zone scenario.

We are told not to question the demigods of the religion of science; and to unwaveringly only trust the yes or no answers parroted to us from the DC deadheads, who have no truth in them.

That may work for the obamanites and their brainwashed minions, but rational thinking independent Americans, are not going to be told to march to the beat of a distorted tune – or be held hostage indefinitely to endless, and aimless, mandates.

biden is illegally installed in the White House (just like obama was).

And fauci’s Pinocchio nose is larger than his entire body.

fauci worships at the alter of science … and obamanite demonrats have catapulted him to the realm of demigod. Weasel-faced-fauci has actually stated in an interview, that he is science: “when you attack anthony fauci, you’re not attacking me – you’re attacking science.”

fauci = science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-9Aa-O0daw

SO WHAT????

We, as human beings, and FREE Americans; ARE ALLOWED TO QUESTION inconclusive guesswork.

Science is guesswork at best … and an outright lie at worst. We are allowed to question those assumed "educated"{facts}. fauci has proven himself a liar – by his own faulty testimonies concerning covid.

Americans – We, The People, have a looooong History of cleaving to freedom from tyranny.

So, I’m glad to see a revolution in effect.

And, you know, quiet revolutions work just as well as armed ones: steadfast and rock solid truth is way more effective than the fearmongering and bloody violence the obamanites engage in.

I don’t know who the people were that I talked with this afternoon – and that really doesn’t matter. I’d rather not know who they are; that way, if I’m ever handcuffed and interrogated, I can truthfully say I don’t know who they are or where they live.

I've been a rebel from the get-go. I'm going to do what's best for ME with MY life.

And, in this current climate of obamanite insanity, that’s how I’m going to live my life. I don’t want to know personal information. I’m going underground, above ground.

Leaving Walmart, I decided to drive home via the Napavine and Vader route; instead of the Jackson Highway route which I previously considered.

Frosty's in Napavine.

Frosty’s is pretty much {original} in structure, with very little changes made (and I like that 😉): the exterior is showing its age … and the interior has been sparingly modified – the atmosphere is family-friendly, but off limits to kids at 9 PM; the service is quick/the servers friendly, the bar is the original bar, the floor is solid wood, the restrooms are clean, and the food is worth driving the distance to enjoy: every night a different meal is featured 😉

FROSTY’S: https://www.chronline.com/stories/big-growth-bigger-heart,227902

Frosty's hours of business.

Frosty's Specialty Suppers; Mon thru Sun.

As soon as I walked into the building, I saw that the seat tops had been placed back atop the stool bases: they’ve been off since the first round of covid mandates.

Barstool tops removed. 7-23-20

But, today, it looks like the owners and customers are giving insleeze a big “Hell NO” salute.

Business is back in business at Frosty's. 9-9-21

I felt right at home 😊

I ordered Frosty’s tasty Garlic Fries, and a Rueben Sandwich; I ate half of the sandwich, and some of the fries there while reading my book … and the rest is in the ‘fridge, now; to be eaten tomorrow, sometime 😉

Frosty's special Garlic Fries, with a Rueben Sandwich, on the side.

I may be a rebel … but I’ve been good about sticking to calorie intake and body upkeep 😉

Topping the tank downtown before parking in the carport at home, I noticed that gas prices have gone up another 5-cents: that may not seem like much … but it adds up quick as the gallons are pumped into the tank.

Gas prices have gone up again. 9-9-21

SW Gas Prices. 8-17-21