Wow. Nomo da Mystery Road Trip. Feels really weird. But back in October of last year I promised this one, so off we go!

Nolemana and I received an appraisal request to inspect a house in Washington State, in a town we’d never heard of before. I looked it up on the internet and knew right then and there that I’d write about it on da bloggie. Kikue, you’re gonna love this, because I took lots of photos of the little town.

We crossed over the Lewis River near Woodland as we traveled North on I-5.

Going up the freeway, we exchanged shakas with the occupants of this kawila. I love when that happens!

We could look across the Columbia River to the forested hills beyond. At this point the river flows North instead of East/West like in the Columbia River Gorge. This is near Kelso, Washington.

And there’s a tugboat out in the river. They help to move all the barges up and down the Columbia.

The Pacific Northwest is so beautiful, so green, and except for the large cities, are relatively uncrowded.

Now we’re about to take the turnoff for Castle Rock. Castle Rock is located about five miles west of one of the Mt St Helens Visitors Center. You remember Mt St Helens, right? Instead of lava it erupted with ash going everywhere. You can read more about it here.

We have turned onto Highway 411 and will soon be into the town of Castle Rock. But that’s not our final destination.

This is the Cowlitz River, which flows right next to the town. One of the things I love about the Pacific Northwest is its abundance of rivers everywhere.

This is the small town of Castle Rock. There used to be a bunch of sawmills here when logging was king.

When I see old cars I always take photos of them for my brother Kaniela; he and my papa-san love classics like this. Kaniela thinks this is a ’64 Chevy. I knew it was a Chevy, but I had to check with my brother to find out the year.

Oh my gosh! A ’56 Chevy wagon! I recognized the year of this car right away because I used to have a ’56. Never shoulda sold it.

We cross the Cowlitz River on our way out of town. AFK should love this river cuz of “Cow”. I was gonna say she’d probably call it the Pīpī River. But mainlanders would probably think they shouldn’t swim in it then. Oh, never mind.

We’re now heading North up the Westside Highway. Ho da green, yeah? And no traffic!

We see a wonderful old barn with a bonus for Kikue.

See? I love the roan on the right.

The Oregon Big-Leaf Maples are just beginning to change color from green to gold.

Look! Traffic! LOL.

We’re still going North on the Westside Highway. This is the kind of drive that I just love. There are so many colors of green here, with trees just starting to turn. Did you know that it’s been shown that Oregonians can recognize more shades of green than anyone else? It’s even more obvious in the springtime.

We’re just past Olequa Road here. And try look: a train trestle!

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that Mokihana is going to say how cool it’d be if a train came along right now. And you’d be right!

Hmm… which way are we going? Back towards I-5? Or heading towards Vader?

You guessed right!!

Still heading North. We could have traveled more North on I-5, but this is the way TryLook took us, and we were really glad for it.

I loved the curving roads because we just never knew what might be around the next corner. I find curving roads to be much more relaxing and enjoyable than just going straight. Though really, the straight roads through Montana were cool, too.

So green! We wound our way through the beautiful countryside, pretty well alone on the road. The air smelled fresh and clean, and we rolled the windows a little bit.

A barn? Somebody’s old house or farmstead? Dunno. I just know I love photographing stuff like this.

Now we’re about an hour away from home; this was beginning to feel more and more like a real advencha!

See the Westside Highway? How it curves through farmland and forest? We’re heading up towards that green line, and next time you get to find out what town we went to! I think you’ll really enjoy exploring it with us.

A hui hou…till the next time…