There are also residential houses in town. I doubt these are locals. I doubt there are any real locals. Each house is beautifully maintained. Almost every structure here is made of wood, very New England style. In fact, I’d think that I am in Maine or something.
Heading back to Seaside, even though Seaside is also a tourist town, it is a much more diverse community. You can tell that people here are “normal”, as in, you can believe that they do live here. There are many different types of businesses here, from auto repair to window installment to dollar stores. It is definitely not nearly as glamorous as Cannon Beach, but it has much more “reality”.
So the clouds didn’t leave. It’s going to be cloudy and moody all day. It’s just my luck. Apparently, it was sunny for a week and a half until my arrival. Just like the last time I was on the west coast, it was nothing but gray.
However, this is quite different. It is like God put a low ceiling with cheap florescent lights on me. The cloud is like a blanket that covered the whole sky, hanging low making me feel that the world is a lot smaller than it used to be. After 7 hours of drive, I understand why people say the North East is the most depressing area in the US. It indeed is. I’ve never felt so depressed on a drive before. It’s strange, but I was depressed. On the drive, I cannot stop myself from thinking about sad things that happened. Even though the Olympic forest is impressive….. I mean, VERY IMPRESSIVE, and that the roads are just plain awesome to drive on, my mind was appreciating the time. I just felt negative the whole way.
Driving through the forest, I soon realized that the main industry here is forestry and logging. The whole area is controlled forestation and deforestation. There are signs to indicate when the plot was cleared and when it will be cleared again. Every time I enter the Olympic National Park, the logging will stop. And every time I exit the park boundary, I will see empty pockets in the forest. It is interesting because you will see different plots with different stages of tree growth. However, seeing tree stumps poking out of the undergrowth reminded me of tombstones, and the mess left from logging looks like the aftermath of a massacre. The entire region can’t be more green though, but scars will always be scars.
The drive today also took me through the towns along the shore. What an eye opener. I guess I was thinking of the towns along the shores of California, most of which are affluent tourist towns for the rich. Washington state’s coasts isn’t as pretty. Towns like South Bend, Aberdeen and Hoquiam are dominated by two industries. Forestry and Fishery. Simply said, people here are either fishermen or loggers. The towns are not pretty too. In fact, it reminds me of Benton Harbor or Detroit. I guess due to the moisture from the ocean, pretty much every house looks stained and moldy. Many are abandoned or run down. It just makes me feel miserable, and the cloudy day certainly didn’t help. I don’t know why. This looks so unlike the America that I’ve seen. This is so….. used, beaten, worn… The route kinda forced the traffic through the local streets, and there was no cover up with tall polished office buildings. When I think of Washington State, I think of Seattle. This changed my mind.
This region of the country, as I observed, has a large of native Indian residing here. In fact, I just went to get my $10 “Recreational Permit” since I am now on Indian Reservation Land. Now, I am in Neah Bay, a remote small fishing town on the North Eastern corner of the state. Here, the gas station only has regular grade gas and diesel. There is no cell phone signal here and most businesses close at 7pm. I am in a motel, and my room is more like a trailer than anything else. Actually, I am very shocked to be able to steal wifi here….. there’s WIFI in this town????
I think all this depression is because, after two weeks of being with a noisy companion, I am suddenly alone, traveling for hours in the woods, tree after tree, turn after turn. The scenery is beautiful, but it doesn’t seem to change much. It’s quiet. In the past, I find peace in silence. Today, it was loneliness.
Tomorrow, I will pay a visit to the most North Western corner of the country, the Cape Flattery. I am predicting that I will be the only one there given that it will be a Tuesday. There seem to be a hike to the tip from the parking lot. I will be alone, in the middle of no where. Will I find peace? Actually, I just want a bit of sunlight. Enough already.
Click HERE for more photos of forest and stuffs...
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