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An Expedition To Kalama, WA
Since rains are returning today, our group of 4 elected to go on an expedition to the Kalama, Washington region yesterday to get a feel for the area, to check out a couple of properties there, and to visit a park or 2.
But first I smudged the outdoor areas around our buildings like crazy, as previously mentioned in yesterday's entry. I used one of the big sage smudge sticks I made last fall and burned over half of it, if that tells you anything.
Then we piled into Tad's economy car and made the trip north!
Since we're having issues finding an affordable and decent place within a 40 minute commute, we've decided to expand the search for up to an hour commute from the guy's work. They've decided to car pool 2 or 3 days a week to save gas (it won't be this cheap for long!) if that's what it takes. Prices go way DOWN once you get outside the big city job commuter locations.
So off we went! Still hugging the gorge, but going up a ways into Washington state, we soon drove off the interstate and began driving around the forested coastal hills around Kalama. The areas are nice, though there are some junkie (or “methy” I joked) people scattered here and there. Nice houses and modest double-wide mobile homes were intermingled with a few tiny farms or tree nurseries.
We checked out 2 homes. One was a very pretty blue and white ranch with a hot tub, small pool, paddocks and barn for horses, and open, mostly flat land surrounded by forest. But it was right against a fairly well-traveled rural highway and I didn't like that. Plus it was really out of our price range.
Then we wound our way into the hills further– to the point that the 45 degrees of the valleys turned into 26 degrees with a little snow and ice still making for crunchy walking on the ground. And we found the first place that I actually LIKED and didn't have any major reservations with– a little 2 bedroom ranch (though I HATE ranches– that's all you get around here it seems like) with a gazebo, deck, small barn and shed– and a spectacular view of the gorge and Columbia River! WOW! I couldn't believe such a place was well within our price range, but it was!
That gave me hope we'll actually find something I will love very soon. I definitely prefer the more rural locations, despite the commuting issue for Tad and Gerick. Better homes, more land, NICE amenities we could never afford close to Portland.
Now we're expanding our search officially and I look forward to what we find next!
Before heading home, we stopped by a couple of parks to see what sort of recreational things we could do in that region, since we're overall unfamiliar with it. And the parks are nice, though the ones with water are obviously overly loved by geese!! Poor things don't have many places they can hang these days, so I sympathize, but all the poop was a bit much. It was also very cold, so I checked things out quickly and then elected to wait in the car for the guys to finish goofing around and skipping stones on water or playing on the playground or whatever. Too cold for me to do such jolly things!
A lovely mellow weekend awaits us, and I look forward to some Sims 3 and movie watching. Hope is returning for the future, and now that the holidays are over, its back to the search for our next homestead.
Source: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/1097805.html
