Forgot about the $150.00 yearly fee at local lake. $3 each x 2 plus $4 boat fee each visit if not a member. 15 visits breaks us even. Surely we will get at least that many.
Other two larger lakes we visit are $5 ramp fee each day.
We usually visit larger lakes on Saturday, hour and a half trip one way. And ride until gas tank is empty.
Smaller Local lake is about 35 minutes so we go Sunday afternoon and sometimes during the week for a couple of hours.
My "local" Lacamas Lake (40 mph speed limit though) has three nice ramps, all FREE, the closest is about a MILE from my front door, most launches to the Columbia River are $5-$7 a day or $40 for a season pass ($25 for senior or disabled veterans), WA also grants a free state park pass for disabled vets for ALL parks/ramps year round. And, we are a BIG state, that's so cool, there's lotsa lakes! (No income tax either and a reasonable property tax - about 1-1.5% of assessed value). :laugh:
Flip side our fuel is always higher by .10-25 a gallon (typically as I type regular unleaded is just over $4~ a gallon for name brand and $3.90~ at the grocery store, Marina is close to $5 but, no ethanol) and the sales taxes run about 8.5-9% depending on county. Highest minimum wafge in USA at $9.32 an hour does hamper teen employment and part-timers hours but, servers are not exempt, so you can tip a little less. In 2000 the nations highest cost of license plate tabs was removed (gasp the government shook, roads would turn to dirt, traffic would stall and politicians would rant) Alas, NONE of that happened and you can register a vehicle /boat/trailer for about $40~$60 a year depending on county! :nerd:
But, living on the Columbia, the Peoples Republic of Oregon with no sales tax is across the water, with the funk of Portland and the high desert winery and craft brew stops are nearby...And more lakes...
Great place to live and play, yesterday from my neighborhood, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and Mt Jefferson were all clearly visable in their white cap glory! We average only a trace of rain July through Labor day and low humidity too! West of the Cascade mountain range summer Temps are typically in low 80's, it's only hit 90'F twice in 2014! Twilight 10PM still! with a 9PM sunset(s) mid June to mid Juy taking the Spark out after dinner is delightful! Hardly any (no) bugs either! (yes it drizzles 6 days a week November through March but, rarely do temps go to freezing, a 50'F winter day with some sun, mostly clouds and drips of rain are the norm. sometimes more rain, sometimes less, a 1/2 inch is a lot!) We average less annual rain than NYC but, don't tell! (No toll roads either!)
Single story house really doesn't need A/C my heat/hotwater is maybe $600 a year. Electric with the hydropower is cheap too.
And, we have one of the highest population per capita with concealed pistol permits so, be careful, if you wanna lift that (though it is padlocked via cable) Spark off my trailer behind that green Wrangler.
Liberalism thrives from Bellingham to Olympia (with peaks in Seattle LoL) and conservatism rules the rest of the state.
