Notes from the Road - Day 11

2/9/04 10:00pm Seattle, WA

I met Julie for breakfast before heading out of Spokane. Last night, she told me her only memory of our grandfather was when our grandmother was dying. She was too young to go in the hospital and see her, so he sat in the car with her. Her only memory of them together was from when she went to their house and they hid candy for her to find under the cake pan. I miss knowing them. My neighbors used to keep putting candy bars in their garage refrigerator for me to find. I don’t remember this, but Mom told me. I do remember going over there often, however, and walking around whichever car was parked in the garage.

It’s been few and far between that I’ve had opportunities to see any of my father's side of the family, and that’s a shame. I have a feeling I’m going to treasure the memories of this trip for getting to see so many of them as much as I will for anything else. This is a factor of the distance involved, and it makes me feel ambivalent about living so far away from the rest of my immediate family.

Julie and I ate breakfast in a diner made out of a modified tram car. It was originally set up in Seattle, then moved to Spokane in the 90’s. It reminded me of the trip my family took by train to see aunt Ruth and uncle Carl in New Mexico when I was probably around ten years old.

When I left Spokane, snow still covered most everything, and it got thicker when I left the city, but some ways out I thought the snow was breaking for good when I started to see clear farmland. The road was dry, and the only places snow remained were the shadows, while the temperature got up into the 40’s. It was around this time I saw signs for the Gorge Amphitheater. I thought this might be a natural geological formation, but it turned out to be the Coors music venue servicing Washington. However, the gorge itself was quite a site, especially when I came upon the bridge crossing the reservoir that apparently formed it. As with so much of the beautiful scenery I’ve seen, there wasn’t anyplace to stop and take a picture.

Closing in on Seattle, I crossed the Cascade Range, the last mountain range before the Pacific Ocean. The ground was once again covered in snow and the temperature dropped, but I was unfazed. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. The snow had been plowed to maybe 6 feet on either side of the road, but not recently. Where in Montana the mounds had been white, here they were a dull gray.

The land became rolling hills following the final descent, and Seattle surprised me with an island just before the city. Several tunnels led through it, the first I’d seen on this trip. The bridge from the island to Seattle floated on the lake, and it looked like I was driving just a few feet off the water. I didn’t realize it until I was in the middle of the city, but I had to go to the bathroom so bad I drove straight through downtown and out the other side towards Vancouver before I found a place to stop. Then I called my friend Lyndon for info on hostels that he could get me off the internet.

I drove back into town and ended up at the Green Tortoise hostel, right by the waterfront, adjacent to the Public Market Center. I parked my car in a parking garage that has a deal with the hostel for cheaper rates. I feel a sense of discomfort in separating from the car, which still has most of my stuff in it, that I never had to deal with when I was staying in hostels traveling around Australia. There I had only a backpack and my plane tickets. I feel like I could have done the same thing this time, carry just a backpack and wear my clothes for days on end without washing anything the entire trip, but this time I’m going to be away more than twice as long and I was going to be seeing family, so I brought nearly everything I own. Oh, well.

This hostel is like any other I’ve stayed in. They showed a movie, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and served a cheap supper. There’s a common room, multiple bathrooms, and bunk beds. I’ve gotten so used to hotels, I’ll miss having a room to myself, but I’m here for two nights so I hope I get used to it.