The Willapa Hills in Cathlamet
The drive from Oysterville to Cathlamet takes about an hour and a half. We gave ourselves plenty of time yesterday, but we hadn’t counted on the snow. Oysterville was sunny and 50° when we left here at 12:45. Who’da thunk it would be 34° and snowing over the KM Mountain? (Which, by the way, brings up another question. When did it become a mountain, anyway? When I was a kid, it was the KM Hill…)
We were on our way to see The Willapa Hills in concert at the Old Pioneer Church in downtown Cathlamet. They began at 2:30. We walked in at 2:28 and took the best seats in the house, right down in front!
The show was fabulous! Never mind that we had seen the exact same program right here at our house just one week ago. We loved it all as we knew we would. I felt suitably conspicuous when Kerrie credited my blog with inspiring her song about Oysterville’s Post Office woes, and I was greatly pleased when the woman behind me shouted out afterwards that it should become a national hit. Couldn’t agree more!
Also, it was fun to see the group up on stage where they had room to spread out – about twice the space side-to-side that they have here. And when Sunrise really got into it his foot-stomping on that wooden stage floor, a whole new rhythm dimension was added – lost, of course, when he’s on our carpet.
We visited with them a bit at intermission and again afterwards. Jessica asked if we were going to complete the outing by treating ourselves to dinner on the way home. We didn’t, although we considered stopping at Duffy’s Irish Pub and having their highly touted red beans and rice. (Hardly Irish, but then neither is owner Al Salazar, or so I’ve heard.)
It was straight home to Oysterville where we discovered that the Oscars were on. So we settled for cheese and crackers in front of the TV and continued our groupie role in a little bit different guise. That was fun, too, but not even hearing all those acceptance speeches in provocative French accents could compare with seeing the Willapa Hills live on stage in Cathlamet! Through rain or shine, snow or sleet…
I definitely think that the trip to Cathlamet is worth the trip to hear the Willapa Hills again!