Las Vegas to Seattle and Back in Three Days (Part 3)
I woke with the alarm clock, with sun rays on my face, quite glad that I wasn't waking up in Vegas. Renewed, I hit the ground running and showered and then checked out of the motel in what must've been a personal record time, only somewhat disappointed that I'd missed the free continental breakfast that ends at 7am.
At this point, my clothes positively reeked, so I looked up a Target store to get new clothes, and any place I could order the only breakfast that'd suffice for a road warrior--two eggs sunny side up, American cheese and hash browns, sandwiched between two slices of buttered white toast, and a glass of water to go with it. The breakfast place in question turned out to be the IHOP near the Snake River Gorge. This time I remembered to take pictures.
There was a bit of construction at the junction of I-93 and US-84 that spun me around and had me going in the wrong direction. Luckily, the dividers are roughly ten miles wide, and I feeling particularly brave that morning, I made a U turn and continued on my way to the next check point--Boise, ID.
Between the facts there's nothing but farms in this state and that you can see for miles upon miles in any direction, their state highway patrol took it upon themselves to hide in the tall grass that sometimes served as dividers between lanes.
Predictable,I'd laughed, feeling quite intelligent, but in the same thought I'd underestimated the breadth of my impatience and magnitude of my stupidity.As I approached Oregon, the drivers became more sheepish and started to get in my way.
The thing about my temper is it's probably typical of many guys--I notice it, handle it responsibly. Then it builds up, and but I'm a big boy, I can handle it--then a fucker breaks into my lane and slows right down. At this point it is my personal mission to quickly and ruthlessly pass said fucker and fuckers beyond until I have my own lane again.
As I passed said fuckers on the swerving downhill mountain road, I failed to account for the Idaho Highway Patrol officer waiting just around the corner, at the bottom of a descent that I rounded at a spirited pace. The trooper was surprisingly nice given the speed he caught me at. Perhaps he did something similar in his youth and understood why I did it. He even complemented the car I was driving as he wrote me the ticket and told me to slow down and be careful.
I still felt like crap, but then I looked at how lucky I've been so far. I consoled myself by saying this was just a bit of bad luck and to be more careful. I had to be more careful, because soon enough I was in car hating Oregon, where the maximum speed limit is 65 and their chief export is highway state troopers.
The bright side of all of this is I got toseethe evergreen forests and windmills in the countryside instead of them remaining a blur in my peripheral vision. Half way through the second day, I stopped for a quick bite and gas at a Jack in the Box, where I saw the new 2011 GT500 and quietly envied the man while trying not to cast a critical eye at the plucky rental.
Continuing my trip, I started to amuse myself by counting how many cars I'd like to drive as they entered and joined the freeway. I eyed a few nice houses I wouldn't mind living in, but the country life isn't for me, but eventually I started playing an old grand touring tradition: making a highway buddy and driving with him until we go our separate ways. I crossed a bridge or two, charged up a winding ascent as the grass became less green and more and more dry until I finally made it back to civilization in Washington, where the limit leapt from 65 to 80. I celebrated with a quick leap into the centennial club, but to be honest I missed just kicking back on cruise control.
At the summit of the ascent, you could see for miles upon miles in either direction and the curvature of the earth itself. I wish I could've taken a picture here, but nothing short of the human eye would do it justice.
A while later I was descending another mountain near North bend, WA, and the reasons I mention that place by name is because it happens to be where Eric Nylund, author of the original Halo novels lives (or used to live), and as something of a writer myself he's a bit of a role model. I also remember it because I honestly believe the picturesque scenery will wind up as a wallpaper in Windows 8. There was also some kid in an older BMW M3 that I did a few downhill runs with. I never initiate runs, but it was a good bit of fun and I'm not ashamed to admit I lost gracefully.
I remembered that I actually had an old friend who lives in Washington and decided to strike up a conversation. It was actually a fairly significant detour to Redmond, but well worth it. A bit shorter than I imagined her, but still as cool as I remembered. I also saw the Nintendo building, and I was going to look for Microsoft's location but I had very little time left. It was about 1700 now, and I had to go where I drove a thousand miles to see-- the Space Needle.
I continued on the way back to Seattle, and this is where things got fun. I got turned around more than three times in more construction zones; my phone crashed on me while I was trying to navigate my way back to course, causing me to miss my turn, and drive around in traffic while it took nearly five minutes to boot up. This mishap diverted me to a tunnel that linked Mercer Island, and this is where I rolled down my window and blipped the gas, only to be disappointed by the restrained exhaust note.
The unplanned tour brought me to what I imagine is the financial district and it was an 8 out of 10 memory. Really pretty and cool to look at, but not something I'd save as a wallpaper. I drove down in what seemed like bumper to bumper traffic on narrow but usable streets, and I wasn't bothered one bit. Las Vegas, my job, family, my cars--everything seemed like it was on another planet, yet I was filled with a determined optimism and satisfaction that I'd finally made it.
By the time I parked at the space needle, it was starting to get dark. I have to mention this was by far one of the most talkative weeks in the year so far. I had another group of locals take my picture with the space needle and got shown around to gift shop, where I engaged in another grand touring tradition and bought a souvenir hat, then got shown the ticket booth to go upstairs. I had planned to have dinner in the restaurant they have in the space needle, but it had a huge line filled with people far better dressed and better off than I. I suppose it'd have also looked extremely weird to be sitting there by myself--not that I notice such things anymore, since I'm usually lost in my own mind to pay attention to the outside world.
At the observation deck, I decided to try a glass of wine as a symbol of celebration. I sat down near a power outlet and took a moment to enjoy the champagne--didn't like it much--then started to reflect on my journey so far. It seemed crazy that I drove this far just to experience this small part of Seattle for little more than two hours, but to me it was worth every pain and mishap, and that alone reinforced the "driver" part of my identity.
Soon I fell back to my introverted tendencies and later watched the city as the dark blue clouds peeled away to reveal the cold moon in the night sky. Below I saw rivers of street lights marked into the night, stretching into the distance, and farther yet I saw the snow capped peak of Mt. Rainier. My smart phone showed I faced Canada in another opposite direction. It was around 21:30 when I finally started to look for a place to spend the night and found one by SeaTac airport.
The drive toward Tacoma brought me past a university campus, which seemed both expensive and dour at the same time. I missed a few turns again and found myself near a Boeing factory and the Museum of Flight nearby, which as a techie I had an obligation to visit the next day. On the way to the hotel I stopped by a Denny's and ordered the road warrior's breakfast, and then continued to the hotel room. I was tired, but I didn't care and it didn't matter. I'd made it to Seattle.