We left the cemetery and headed back towards Ryderwood. We still had more comps to drive. The green hills were so beautiful, and made me happy once again that we live in the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, I miss home a lot, but this area is amazingly beautiful too.

Right down the main street of town; this photo just makes me smile. Two friends, out for a drive through town, companions in the middle of a quiet day. Nobody cared that they were going slow in the middle of the street; in Ryderwood, almost everyone goes slow!

We saw this cool fence and gate.

Anden! Right in town we saw these three friends, pausing for an early afternoon siesta and relaxation time. Right in somebodyʻs front yard!

They just lay there peacefully; I turned off the engine and we just snapped photos.

Try look da sweet face!!

She did not seem at all concerned that we were taking her photo. Kukui stayed quiet in the back seat, so that was good!

This guyʻs antlers are just barely starting to grow.

I love the ears on Mule Deer, so aptly named.

Can you see her eyelashes???

Then a fourth deer came by and checked us out.

Ho, kewt da tongue, yeah?

We even took a video for you folks to enjoy.

Back we went, this time able to get a pretty good photo of Campbell Creek.

Itʻs really a pretty little creek. A little creek thatʻs pretty.

These are the forested hills that surround Ryderwood.

I donʻt know why, but really old houses just fascinate me; Iʻm always taking photos of them. I know that once they were loved. Once there were families living in them, and sounds of people within their walls. I bet that once some loggerʻs wife really loved this little place. Or maybe not. Maybe she felt isolated and alone. We will never know. But in my imagination, I picture a happy family here. Go ahead. Call me Pollyanna.

Now this poor old house sits abandoned and falling down, and to me, it looks very, very sad. If only walls could talk, what stories would the walls of this one tell?

Hereʻs another one. Once someoneʻs home, itʻs now being covered with thorny blackberry vines. I love the cupola on top.

We had to turn here to go drive a couple of comps. I thought youʻd be interested in the names of the towns.

And for todayʻs history lesson, I include the following. Really interesting stuff this!

Pe Ell was officially incorporated on March 9, 1906.

There have long been several versions of how Pe Ell was named, none of which can be authenticated. One of those versions, and the more accepted one, is that the name comes from the attempts of the local Indians to pronounce the first name of an early French-Canadian settler, Pierre Charles, who was an ex-Hudson Bay employee. This version has it that the Indians could not pronounce Pierre, and their attempts turned it into Pe Ell. Another version is that P and L were the first initials for Pierre Charles and his Indian wife. Two words were made from the initials: “Pe Ell”. Another distinct version is that Charlie Pershell, a Frenchman, settled in the area and married an Indian maiden. The Indians found it difficult to sound out the “sh” in Pershell so it became Pe Ell.[3] In 1897, the North Pacific Railway built a railroad depot in the town. In 1907 Pe Ell’s population was around 1,000 — larger than it is today. The rich agricultural and timber resources of the region attracted farmers, millworkers, and loggers. By 1909, the town had a bank, three dry goods stores, two general stores, three grocery stores, two barber shops, five saloons, four hotels, a newspaper, a blacksmith, and even an opera house.

We were headed up into the hills and mountains surrounding Ryderwood. Oh, the green!!

Musubi had on his traveling cape, as always. He is in love with TryLook. As you can see, weʻre on Wildwood Road.

Ugly, ugly, ugly. I just hate what clear-cutting does to a land. By law, it has to be replanted, but it will take years for this to be green again.

We havenʻt come to Pe Ell or Boistfort yet. It sure is pretty country here.

We saw acres and acres of corn growing.

Iʻm so much more used to seeing corn growing down in flatter country, but here it grows right next to forested mountains.

Tons of corn, ripe and ready for picking!!

It was all tasseled out; we did not, however, kakaroach any.

This farm machinery was just sitting in the field; we were pretty sure this was a corn harvester. I would have loved to have see this in action!

Wider shot showing the tractor, too.

This photo is for guess who? Yep! AFK. This was the first cow crossing sign Iʻd ever seen; we came up on it so fast that I backed up so that we could take the photo. We were definitely at a dairy. Ask me how I know!

And there they are!

We saw another pretty creek.

And look! An old barn!

I love taking photos of barn windows.

Here it is from the front.

And so ends Part Four. But we still have more adventures in these mountains, including another old cemetery! Enjoy!