I woke up Monday morning intent on going
after 2 tomato plants and a container of onion starts. I was going to Adna, to
an outdoor plants sale Bob and I had visited for a decade – or better. I’ve
never been successful at starting tomatoes or onions from seed … and I’ve been
gardening for 4 decades. So, this trip is {a necessity} for me.
And it was a big step for me - I had only ever made this run with Bob: Monday I was relying totally on memory and some hastily jotted down directions ...
I took Bob’s thermos & travel mug with me. I wanted him with me in some small way.
Coming up over Coal Creek, and slipping over
Delemeter, I came upon a County Mower/Limb Trimmer:
The air was filled with the sweet scent of
freshly cut grass and the pungent sharp odor of freshly cut Fir. It smelled SO
GOOD! So “Springy” ;-)
Perfect for a sunny country backroad drive :-D
Perfect for a sunny country backroad drive :-D
I met two log trucks … one coming/one going …
on Delemeter Road; it is refreshing to know I am not the only one bucking inslee's order to stay home and destroy the economy simply because he wants to rack up political points. And one driver making the curve; who was seriously over the
line, coming at me. Kinda got my blood pumping for a split second before he
corrected himself and got back on his side where he belonged.
Coming off Delemeter, onto West Side Highway,
I smelled woodsmoke from early morning house warming fires … and the scent
of bacon on the breeze. Someone had their windows open (that woodstove
must have got too warm; LOL) while they were cooking breakfast. It made me
hungry: I left the house without eating, and only had one cup of coffee – plus
the travel mug I had with me in the car …
I could almost hear Bob saying, “Are we in a hurry, Lead Foot Lizzie?” Maybe I was trying to outrun the bacon smell ;-)
Little Crane Restaurant in Vader
Getting to Winlock via Vader
Winlock. I like backroads that run through historical places. Freeway traffic is boring - and it misses all the good stuff. MPO
I drove straight through; did not cross the railroad tracks, but moved straight ahead only.
Evaline! I'm on the right road. Hallelujah!
Frosty’s is an old train stop/boardinghouse
turned restaurant/bar; and the interior is still pretty rough (except for
the plumbing and grill, everything is original) – there are no frills here;
but I like the ‘feel’ of it. It feels like it was full of hustle and bustle
back in the day ;-) Bob & I used to drive to Frosty’s every once in awhile
just to have a hamburger and fries – I liked their garlic fries: SO YUMMY! I
need to get back here on my own. It will be strange to go in there without Bob,
but I’ll go in the daytime, and maybe some of the weirdness of walking through
the door without Bob won’t be so acute:
Frosty’s in Napavine
Hillcrest FoodMart
We used to drive up here to get Aza's Dino
Gummies (local stores did not sell them); they were his treat reward for potty training milestones. I bought
some chicken tenders and jo-jo’s, and opened the hatchback to calm the stomach
acids the bacon smell earlier had set into motion: I missed the 9 to 10 hour at
the nursery while I ate, and I didn’t care. They basically opened early for Seniors
to shop before it was opened to everyone: I don’t live in fear – no one outruns
the Grim Reaper. I’m on the road basically to enjoy the drive … and to shop
when I get there …
I was shaking my head … People watching was a fun thing Bob and I did together: a spectator sport, if you will ;-)
Breakfast ate, I followed my notations and
reached my destination 3 miles up the road. I was stoked! And beaming because I
knew Bob would be so proud of me :-D
This little solo lobo outing is a big deal
for me:
I have arrived at my destination.
WTHeck? The owner and his family was setting
up beyond the fenced off entrances, so I asked them, “What gives?” He said, “We
won’t be open until Wednesday.” The girl who gave me the information FOR TODAY
must be a new girl who mixed up the setting up day with the Opening Day. So, I
will just have to come back Wednesday morning to spend my $$ ;-)
That’s okay – I don’t mind the drive ;-)
I almost said ‘Mt Hood’: forgive me majestic Rainier! Bob was on my mind, and he always liked Mt. Hood
While I was in the neighborhood … I stopped
at the little Mom ‘n Pop Store on the corner and asked where the main highway
would take me if I keep following it forward: I was told it would drop me
right into Chehalis. GOOD! I have been itching to find the backroad
that would get me there :-D
I knew I could make a loop drive
back home through Chehalis because Bob had done it
many times to please me with a drawn-out drive ;-)
6 miles of backtracking led me right to
Chehalis :-D
So next time I want a leisurely
loop-road-country drive, I will make this same drive BUT turn right …
into Chehalis instead of left towards Adna.
I crossed the bridge and the overpass over
the freeway, and made a touchdown. I was excited to start my solo lobo
adventure!
This was a GOOD change of plans
:-D
Chehalis. I was a little intimidated, because I’d only been here with Bob. But I felt pretty confident … and prayed I wouldn’t make a wrong turn and get lost in that small-town-City.
I drove straight through: up the slight
incline, through town, and to the stop sign … where I recognized my
surroundings, and turned right towards Jackson Highway. And home. I knew I was
headed in the right direction, and if I was needing affirmation, I would just
stop and ask someone. I’m not shy about asking for help when I need it.
If I got lost enroute I couldn't call Bob and have him talk me back on track. Bob was my human GPS system. He never got lost. Ever. But, Bob is no longer here; and I am a fledgling earning my wings solo lobo …
A familiar landmark! Further up the road, I passed more familiar landmarks. I was smiling from ear to ear ;-)
Along Jackson Highway, I came to the Historic
Jackson House. I always stop here when I come this way:
Jackson House on Jackson Highway.
This cabin is part of Bob’s indirect family
heritage – Matilda was pioneering woman married at one time to a man related to
one side of Bob’s family tree. There is a State Park named for her further up
the highway, and Bob and I stopped there several times. I think the cabin is
pretty cool, and the Park is a nice place to stop and rest for a bit – it’s
small and unpretentious, but it’s a nice stopping place.
Further along the highway is the Lewis &
Clark State Park. Bob and I had stopped there one day when we were driving
around, and it really didn’t appeal to us – while I like primitive campgrounds,
this one was really atrocious. I read some time ago where it had been updated
and the grounds and trails upgraded to be at least useable. Some time when I’m this
way again, I might nip in and see what it’s like now …
Driving along, I passed the Grange and the
little strip Airport and knew I was coming up on Toledo. So now I know that if
I drive to Chehalis via Toledo … I need to drive straight past the Airport spur
of Jackson Highway that would take me towards Packwood. I would pass the old
Monastery that is now the Cowlitz Tribal Housing Office Building, and drive
straight through with no turns at all.
Passing through Toledo, and entering into the
backside of Castle Rock, I passed Paradise Cove RV Park. We stayed there one
year - 22 years ago. We had sold our house in Cathlamet about 4 years previously and decided
to buy a 5th wheel and just travel, working jobs that were available
to make ends meet until Bob could retire full time. Bob’s folks had done that,
and we didn’t have any kids at home at the time … Alex had graduated by then,
and Stacey got a bee in her bonnet at 16, and left home declaring she’d never
return. So, we decided to live a gypsy lifestyle; it suited us at the time and
we were still young enough to do it. We didn’t see a 5th wheel that
“spoke to me”, so when one salesperson told me they could build one to suit my
requirements (this would be our full-time home; it needed to be more than a
weekend camper), I detailed what I wanted … and it was built exactly how I
requested it. NOW, there are 5th wheels with a back-end kitchen and
an entry livingroom – and the bath and bedroom off to the right of the
livingroom. I had two slide outs drafted into the design, with a slide out
awning, a murphy bed sofa, a little fridge with a bottom freezer, a set-in
microwave, and LOTS of “basement” storage space. Bob called me Lucy; and we
both laughed because we were both thinking of the Lucy and Dezi Arnez movie,
“The Long Trailer”. 5th Wheel today are “standard built” using my specific
design. Thanks to ME wanting a functionable full-time upscale 5th
wheel – you are welcome :-D
Anyway, getting back to Paradise
Cove ;-)
We had our middle granddaughter living with
us at the time, and she was about 3-1/2 years old. She had a Hot-Wheels trike
she liked to ride, and we had a little dog that needed to be walked to do its
business off the RV Site: so, we’d cross the highway and walk the trail down to
the riverside. And we’d bring Alyna’s Hot-Wheels trike and she’d ride it while
we walked with our Pomeranian, Tyson.
One day, Tyson unwittingly stirred up a nest
of ground wasps and they viciously attacked him. He was covered with wasps, and
I was beating them off him with my bare hands. My hands were stung repeatedly (that’s
probably why I am deathly allergic to bees, wasps, hornets. Yellow jackets,
ect. now – I wasn’t THEN; but I am NOW), and those wasps were not giving up
– they wanted to kill Tyson! I could not believe my eyes when I saw they
literally parting his long hair with their feet so they could reach bare skin
to sting! It was horrible. I thought he’d die – but when I called the Vet after
reaching the Park again, the Vet said to give him a Benadryl capsule and watch
him (I did – like a hawk) and rush him into town if he didn’t rebound.
The Benadryl did the trick, but I never forgot the sight of watching those
wasps go after him like venomous vampires.
Looking at the beach today, I saw heavy iron
deposits in the water:
Wild water. I’m a rock hound (Lucy, remember? LOL), so every-once-in-a-while we’d try this side of the bridge.
I didn’t get what I set out for this morning,
but I had an enjoyable drive … and I finally got to Chehalis and back without
getting lost enroute :-D
The roads were pretty open – traffic was
light; I pretty much had the highways to myself.
On Delemeter again, I saw baby calves in the
field …
I always wanted a farm with baby calves … and
baby ducks, chicks, foals, ect. Bob didn’t. I did eventually get my garden and
chickens, but that’s as far as Bob would go with the homesteading thing. He
grew up in the country on a farm, and he just didn’t want to go back to that
way of life. Not even for me. I respected that – but I missed it, I miss it
now. I grew up in the city and in the country on a homestead; I always wanted
to homestead my own place. Bob didn’t want to experience that with me … but he
did make sure I always had homes with space for a nice sized garden (even when
we were RV’ing: I did container gardening). And when I finally scored on
getting my chickens: he built the Hen House and Hen Pen – and he did a good job
of it too ;-) He even got a kick out of my roosters.
He did design and build me 13 gardening boxes
when we bought this house 2 years and 10 months ago.
Those loving and considerate things done for
me was the extent of my urban homesteading from his point of view. LOL
Homesteading was to Bob what football is to
me. We agreed to disagree and not pester the other one with it. We loved each
other. I got my garden and chickens (I no longer have chickens - can't have them here), and after years of football drought, Bob
got to watch the Seahawks actually WIN the Super Bowl in 2014. And I agreed to
live IN – and on the very near outskirts of – Longview, 24 years ago.
Longview is {city} enough for me; it’s a small
home-town-feel type of city. I always laugh when people call Longview a city:
it just seems like a big town to me. I know Bob didn’t deliberately set me down
in Longview and then bail on me. But … sometimes … I do look up at the
sky, and say, “Really? You up and left me i.n.t.h.e.c.i.t.y??? Thanks a lot,
Babe!”
There went my day …
This woman will find anything to bitch about;
and if she can’t see something to bitch about, she will create a situation to
bitch about.
candy scott is to Heron Pointe what nancy pelosi
is to DC – I’ll just leave it right there:
candy demanding a signed declaration I will not prune trees without her expressed permission.
I set the letter aside. It doesn’t directly
concern me at the moment. I will “sign it” when I have the time and inclination
to sign it. Meanwhile, someone in the Park has helped themselves to something on
MY private Lot, and I’ll bet a hundred to one candy won’t be concerned at all …
My Tete-a-Tete daffodils were stolen right out of my flowerbed! They left the Cyclamen flower, but lifted the Tete-a-Tete daffodils.
I watered my flowerbeds, and
all the flowerpots I have placed around my Lot. While watering, I spotted a
ladybug in the parsley ;-)
Over-wintered parsley coming up.
Later this week, I’ll start preparing my
garden boxes for Spring planting. I want to get those tomatoes and onions first
before I stove myself up. Once I get started on turning the soil over with my
Claw garden tool and bending, planting, watering, pinching, staking, ect., I’ll
be laid up for a few days.
Because, like with everything else I do (reading
a book, cooking freezer meals, crafting … gardening), I don’t stop until it
is finished. I suck at pacing myself …
