By Bob Spiwak
Before getting to the Labor Day car count, there’s some local stuff other than all those vehicles. As most regulars here have observed, the salmon recovery operation by Weeman Bridge has come to a halt and all the equipment is gone. According to project foreman Darrin Flitton, it was declared a Level 4 situation by Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which means no work with any device that could start a fire. Excavators hitting rocks would be an example. Flitton could not give an estimate of when the ban would be lifted.
Sitting on the deck a few days ago, I saw what appeared to be smoke to the east of us and so reported it. Ms. Gloria did not think it was smoke, and the man who came in immediate response to my call did not think so either. It was determined to be a “water dog,” which is a phenomenon where morning moisture vapors rise in diaphanous clouds from the ground up.
The annual Labor Day car count was an utter bore this year. Never before has there been so little westbound traffic driving Highway 20 past our observation-calculation-tabulation-station here in West Boesel, downstream of the Weeman Bridge. Having done this vehicle count for both Memorial Day and Labor Day for a long time, we had set a general average of about 300 vehicles exiting the valley, or at least going in that direction. Eastbound traffic is likewise noted, but lacks the significance of how many people may have been here contributing to the economy (see this month’s Off The Wall column on this page).
Westbound, between the usual non-peak hours of 9 – 10 a.m. today, there were a mere 167 rigs compared to 212 the prior year, also during a monster fire season. In 2014, 64 eastbound vehicles were noted. There were only 45 today, including the garbage truck.
There was also a paucity of motorcycles: only one going east and three to the west.
We also calculated which of the outgoing vehicles were pulling camp or residence trailers. This came to 19, but surprisingly, an even dozen went past in the first quarter hour of the count. We speculated that they wanted to get out early and hopefully avoid the traffic that was certain to grow behind them.
We also did not see compressed strings of cars going by. In counts of the past, as many as 15 or more would drive by, at times bumper to bumper, occasionally passing. This made it difficult to count, and we had to be cautious about overheating our high-tech clicker apparatus. My sage wife speculated that this year it was just too cold for people to leave their beds. This may well be the coldest Labor Day in recent memory, and she may be correct.
