Vancouver Washington to Kelso .

Vancouver is smaller and to me much nicer than Portland and many Americans commute daily across the Columbia River . This living in WA and working in OR also has the advantage that it is cheaper to buy things in Oregon as they have no state sales tax whereas Washington charges less property tax on residents .

They also let you pump your own petrol .
I have also yet to see a sign warning me of the illegality of unmuffled engine breaking .

I went to the local Wal-Mart ,always. . . . . . . a good place to get a feel for the locals and it felt right . I discovered a place to shoot locally called the English Pit so I checked it out . Everyone was friendly but it was a business with no club or competitions attached so no good for me .
As I liked Hood River so much I decided to check out the north bank towns of Camas and Washougal . They both had a really friendly small town feel and I would defiantly consider them as good places to live though a tad expensive - not surprisingly as they are very accessible to both Vancouver and Portland but are among the most beautiful English like countryside I have seen . I had a long chat with a realtor called John Raynor ( forgive the spelling ) and came away with a much better understanding for the property market in the PNW ( Pacific NorthWest ) .
Travelling north on rolling country roads I came across a small sign to an open house for sale . Here I explained my quest and was still graciously shown around the house by Lori Carroll who also gave me information on the neighbourhoods of Clark County .
I headed north towards Castle Rock but stopped at Kelso as I got tired and wanted to see Mount St Helens tomorrow ( Sunday ) The MOTEL 6 was only $45 and promised and delivered good Wi Fi I am there now about to check out Shari s . I believe a kind of up market Denny s .

Pictures ( a few ) here

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The S.T.EN. Gun

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CHARM - Why I had to act !

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The man from the Clapham Omnibus

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