GOALS LOOP DRIVE~Woodland-WA

JULY 12TH: Holland has been studying and working on an agenda - and it sounds like fun; I am in agreement with him, on this topic ;-)

So, this morning we got up bright and early to get to where we needed to be in St, Helens-OR before the freeway became a frantic Friday parking lot.

The swelling in my leg has gone down, and my jeans slid up my legs pretty easily … but I noticed, as I pulled my sleeveless top over my head, that I had an allergic reaction to the heart monitoring adhesive from yesterday's Salmon Creek debacle.

I am allergic to adhesives … I started getting allergic to Band-Aids a few years ago.

Off we went … with Holland jokingly quipping, "Now I'll never be able to go off on my own, for fear you'll die on me of a heart attack or a stroke." We laughed, but I say that to him all the time about his high blood pressure and COPD concerns.

We are at the age where we need to adhere to The Buddy System.

Holland asked me if I'd like to stop at the Goodwill in Scappoose to grab a few more books, and I happily replied (((YES!))); I like to read … and the internet connection here, in Woodland, is ify at best - nonexistent most of the time.

Scappoose-OR from Woodland-OR; 50 min (46.5 mi) via I-5 S and US-30 W

I jumped back into Betsy's cab with an armload of paperbacks covering a wide range of interests, and off we went towards today's real goal ;-)

St. Helens-OR from Scappoose-OR 10 min (7.7 mi) via US-30 W

We grabbed the mail on the way through Rainier-OR … and I was instantly miffed: some unscrupulous minion had sold our mailing address - and a clueless moron thoughtlessly opened a wound that took a long time to heal.

UNBELIEVABLE; Bob & I never had THIS address; this address is my New Life address - with my New Last Name. This query does not belong here.

I sold the house at Heron Pointe to get away from moments like this.

This P.O. Box belongs to my new life with my new husband: I loved Bob very much and memories of him will always hold a special part of my heart; but this part of my life with this man does not deserve to have the Past intrude on it. I was justifiably miffed.

But I refused to let the irritation steal this afternoon's good vibes.

When we crossed the Columbia River from Oregon to Washington, we decided to visit Bleu in Kelso: I'm glad we did :-)

Kelso-WA from St. Helens-OR; 36 min (25.5 mi) via US-30 W

Bleu was so happy to see me - it's been months.

We all enjoyed each other for a while before heading back to Woodland. Along the way, we stopped to take a look at the newest building on Kalama's waterfront; the paddlewheel cruise ship was docked there.

Woodland-WA from Kelso-WA; 21 min (19.6 mi) via I-5 S

We drove down by Kalama's waterfront to check this new building out … 

Public Market in Kalama, WA: 

(https://www.pcs-structural.com/projects/mountain-timber-market & https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/09/marvelous-market-mountain-timber-market-now-open-in-kalama-serves-up-sweets-wine-and-more/)

The Paddlewheel Cruise Ship was docked alongside the building.

Queen Of The West: 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_West)

Today, by and large, was a good day :-)