7/29/4 - Astoria to Boise Cascade, St. Helens

Whoo-boy, it’s been a couple of hot ones here lately! Atop of all that, I had one of those run-ins today with the State Patrol boys who always seem dead-set on double-checkin’ my overload permits. They’re in order fellas, every damn time! Anyway, after unloadin’ at Boise, I parked the rig and grabbed some eggs & bacon at St. Helens Cafe. The waitress there was tellin’ me how some of y’all don’t think much of Old Town, which got me to wonderin’ why it’s any worse than some of the other parts of town. Ya mean some of ya would rather be up there on the highway by all those damn fast-food places? Hell, you can set-up shop and live there for all I care; I see that kind of thing in every small-town I drive through from here to California and on past into Texas. The way I see it – it’s sure is nice down here on the river: ya gotta real pretty marina, the old City Hall and courthouse buildings, and some fine little shops all along the street. Hell, I even grabbed my wife somethin’ in one of those places, (Meg’s I think it was called.) So Lorraine was just plain tickled to death when I got home this trip. Now ya see, if I’da brought home a couple-a bags of burgers from the Mac-Donalds here in St. Helens, why she’d a just turned down that pretty little smile of hers and kept on with her business. No sir, think I’ll be spendin’ most of my downtimes right here in Old Town this summer. It’s one of things that make this a nice little town y'all got here. Be sure and take care of things, ya hear? -Tom

7/22/4 Raymond, WA to Port of Portland

Good to be headed through town again and to talk with y'all. Had a nice little haul this week from Raymond with a quick stop over in Ilwaco before I headed on over the bridge and then eastbound to Columbia County. It's nice to drive through St. Helens this time-a year because of the longer days and it being real light out later and all. It gets so damn dark driving through here in the winter, that I just as soon get the hell outta Dodge if ya know what I mean. Stopped for a burrito at Muchos Gracias when someone in line thought he spotted your mayor at one of the tables eatin' tacos; turned out the fella was a industrial lubricant salesman from Kelso who sorta looked like him. I'll keep my eye out for your mayor as I'm passin' through each time. I figure I'd better find him before November cause by then, even if I could find him I probably won't be able to see him. Take care of things here in this nice little town y'all got, ya hear? -Tom

7/13/4 - Clatskanie to Boise Cascade, St. Helens

A real pain in the ass haul from the logging road outside of Clatskanie to Boise Cascade here in St. Helens. Got madder than hell at the CEPA office which don't matter none other than I was hotter than my rig low on oil when I stepped in The Red Line to cool down. I no sooner was nursing a tall frosty one, when I heard this drunk talking about some of the good folks here gettin together to build an amphitheater in one of your parks for music and other gettin' togethers. A real nice thing I thought. This guy was going on and on about how y'all really need some goddamn conference center built which, as I figure it, will just end up hostin' a bunch of CEPA executive meetings. "To hell with that", I told him. "You shoulda heard about the dog statue they wanted to build in the park," he told me in a slurred bark. I figured he was just drunk because his BS story made no sense at all. I mean he was really drunk. Couldn't have been true. Anyhow, take care of things here in this nice little town y'all got, ya hear? Tom

7/6/4 - Longview to Stimson Lumber Portland

I really hate the loading foreman in Longview. He thinks he's got it all figured out and treats me like I'm some kind of second class citizen. I can never get a word in edgewise or however it goes. So it was nice to hit the road and get across the bridge into Ranier and downshift into St. Helens, Oregon. After a nice Fourth, the fireworks went off again as I was havin' a cup o' coffee at the Chevron on highway 30. One of the fellers there was tellin' me that the Democrats were backin' a Republican. I just imagined my old Granny rollin' in her grave. She was a lifelong Democrat who always swore she'd "never vote fer a Republicin!" She almost voted for general Ike way back when but even then she didn't do it. She always hated wolves in sheeps clothin' which sounds like what may be going on here, I dunno. Sounds like some of yer Democrats here might be Republicans in Democrate clothes. Some lady started talking about someone down the road in Scapoose who is just that but I had to hit the road so I didn't hear the end of her story. I'll be sure to keep my eye on all this business as I pass through town each week. Anyhow, take care of things here in this nice little town y'all got, ya hear? Tom

6/29/4 - Wheeler, OR to Weyerhauser, Bend, OR

Good to talk to you all on this here StHelensUpdate website. I don't know all that much about computers or websites though I do get my timber-run route over e-mail from the boys at the head office. I just usually read it and then go where they tell me. For the past few years I've always made a point of stoppin' here in St. Helens. I sure like stretchin my legs in your town and gettin' a bite to eat or a cup of joe. When I do, I get to talk with all the nice folks here in town and they usually end up fillin' me in on what's happening. It sure is a nice little town y'all got here. I became interested in this sthelensupdate website when I overheard some guy talkin' about how bad this website was for St. Helens. Boy, was he mad. He reminded me of my neighbor back home who's been madder than a hornet since they closed the mill down in Valsetz back in '81. Now I don't know about you, but whenever the loading foreman in Longview starts tellin me to shutup and quit askin' questions, I start thinkin' somethings wrong here. He's one of those guys who has all of the answers but doesn't seem to want you to ask him any questions. So I figure if people don't like this here website because it's askin questions, well, it sure might be just the thing for me. So, I figured I'd keep y'all updated on my passings through town and see where we end up. Anyhow, take care of things here in this nice little town y'all got, ya hear? -Tom