Deer at Ryderwood

an episode in "Adventures with John in his Red Ford Truck"

On a mild winter’s day, we climb into John’s truck and head out to see where we will end up. We exit Highway 12 onto a country road, then another and then another until we are in the wilderness. Eventually, we end up in Ryderwood, a lovely retirement community. We see a community center and lots of new looking mobile homes with carefully kept yards. I looked up Ryderwood and it is described as “The Village in the Woods”. That’s a good name for it.

We had just started down the first street when John and Zach said, “Look at the deer.” I looked down the road and could see a deer sauntering in our direction. We drove slowly. As we neared it, we counted three more and then a couple more for a total of six. “Wow! That’s more deer than we’ve ever seen on our nature drives,” I exclaim.

Then we pass a yard where deer munch contentedly on grain in a silver tub under a tree. “No wonder there’s a lot of deer on this street!” we laugh.

We reach the end of the block and turn the corner. More deer roam around. We count out loud, trying to remember the total from the first street.

We turn another corner and find several deer lying down in a relaxed pose along the front of a property. “That brings our total to at least twenty,” we exclaim. We didn’t see any humans out and about; maybe they were all inside on a cool and rainy day. I’m guessing that when they do come out, the deer may come right up to them to be petted.

I researched Ryderwood. It is possibly the oldest retirement community in the country and is located about halfway between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in Cowlitz County, west of Vader. It covers 102 acres and has a library and a coffee shop, besides the community center that we had noticed. The median price for a home is $144,000. Sounds like a good place to retire. The population is 402, but that doesn’t count the deer.

 

Reviews

[willweb]

Makes me wonder what the population would be counting the deer. : ) Thanks for this fun look at a small town in America.

[Shelley Warner]

LOL, yes what would the population be if adjusted for the deer. Thanks for reading.