Shelton-Mason County Journal - Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886

In the early 1990s, when I lived in an apartment on Olympia's west side, I loved looking west to the southern peaks of the Olympics. You had a great view of them from Budd Inlet over the marina when walking along East Bay Drive. The Olympics felt immense, yet very close, making sense of the "gateway" term often used to describe Thurston County.

Indeed, a few more years in the Olympia-Lacey area provided all the priming I needed to get me ready to leave the crowds and hustle off the Interstate 5 corridor and head toward the promise of a slower, more nature-focused life in what I call the "va...