Packwood, WA
Mount Rainier in the distance Packwood, WA is the first town on State Road 12 out of Rainier National Park, and one of the few places where you can go to buy supplies if you happen to be out in the woods, casually roughing it.
Packwood is a funny little town. It has exactly one radio station, KACS Christian Radio, no cell-phone coverage, four coffee shops, five churches, and everyone seems to have high-speed wi-fi. The sporting goods store has a huge, faded Obama "Yes We Can" poster hanging from the rafters. The view from the grocery store includes Mt. Rainier in the distance; these people see every day what Seattlites spend good money and put good effort into seeing once or twice a year.
There are two gas stations, a Chevron at one end, and a Shell at the other. The Shell has a fast-food restaurant inside it and a lot big enough for tractor-trailer rigs. The Chevron has full service at all the pumps, provided by an elderly gentleman in a clean, pressed Chevron uniform straight out of the 1950s. The woman behind the cash register, likewise. The bathrooms were spotless, and my windshield was clean when I got back. The pumps are mechanical, not electronic and require a key to reset and operate. The prices on gasoline between the two stations are the same.
Restaurant For Sale The biggest operator in the area appears to be "Four-U Real Estate," a big wooden building at the far end of town, which sponsors the local newspaper as well as the aforementioned radio station. There were dozens of "for sale" signs lining both sides of SR12 as I headed into Packwood, all of them belonging to Four-U, including one at this kitschy "Bavarian-style" restaurant, which was locked and boarded up from the other side. The restaurant was next to a locked up motel of the same architecture but no for-sale sign. Still, the paperwork on the front of the motel suggested it had last been open in April, and as far as I know there are no ski resorts on this side of the park.
Aside from the funny Jesus statue and the radio station, Packwood didn't seem particularly religious. The guy with the Obama poster also had a truck with the bumper sticker, "Driver does not carry less that $20 in ammunition." At the grocery a pair of artist/hipster types were greeted by the clerk, who clearly knew them as if they lived there, and later I saw them drive off in a beat-up Volkswagon Bug with Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker.