Road Trippin'

I wrote this a few days ago, but have been in the middle of nowhere with no wifi… and Im a few days behind on our trip, but will update when we get to Anchorage.

I try to blog as soon as I can after whatever event or happening, in order to prevent the memory loss that inevitably comes with time. Unfortunately, blogging on a road trip is considerably less practical than I imagined. So here I sit, on a boat somewhere off the coast of Canada, trying to remember all the hazy details of the last few days.

After leaving Grandmas house we drove to Denver. I have been down that highway several times, but am always amazed how the mountains seem to suddenly jut out of the plains. After Denver, the trip was fairly scenic for only a few hours, the plains rolled into hills, spiked into mountains, and then rolled out flat again.

We met (one of) my best battle buddy and AIT roommate Vincent in Laramie, Wyoming for lunch. It was SO good to see her again and made me very homesick for my battle buddies! Laramie was a quaint little town, packed with cute little historical buildings and funny small town shops. Otherwise, I have nothing good whatsoever to say about Wyoming. It was the most bleak, ugly stretch of nothingness... when I first met Vincent, I was like "Wow, people actually LIVE in Wyoming?" She laughed... and now Im not sure why. My opinion that it is a complete barren wasteland has been confirmed. But seeing Vincent made the jaunt through there worth it.

Somewhere in Utah we drove up into the mountains, and Adrian had to remind me repeatedly that we were not playing MarioKart. I was (maybe) getting a little carried away... but in my defense, on the way down the mountains it is a little hard to keep the car under 90, Kia just wanted to have fun... and at least the curves had rails. Needless to say, by the time we peaked over the hill and Salt Lake City stretched out below us, Adrian was ready to strangle me.
Salt Lake City is a much nicer town than I used to picture, and I got to see my other best battle buddy Hansen, which was equally as great. The only way it would have been better is if the three of us could have met up together.

The next morning we left Salt Lake late (of course) so I got to use that as an excuse to move along quickly... TomTom (our gps) gave up beeping his speed warnings at me and just highlighted the speed in red for the rest of the trip. Going through Idaho however, was worse than Wyoming, which I thought surely wasnt possible. We stopped at a gas station which was probably the only sign of existence for a hundred miles, and decided it was the destination for the next "Chainsaw Massacre." AND they charged $4.30-something for gas.

The kids, up to this point, had been doing fantastically. Then somewhere in Idaho a switch flipped, and they decided they were done. Someone I trust says something to the effect of "Energy is never lost, it is simply transferred," which my son proved quite scientifically on that endless Idaho highway... what energy he usually exerts in a physical way, simply transferred itself into various levels of volume... no one understands "loud and chaotic" until they have rode with a 2 and 5 year old in the smallest car possible all the way across the country.

As miserable as Idaho was, Oregon and Washington made up for it. In my opinion these are two of the most beautiful states in the country, and I have seen my fair share. Gorgeous rolling mountains, beautiful creeks running through the valleys... we watched the sun set as we looped and curved toward Seattle.

We knew the children were about at the breaking point when we encountered the phantom cockroach-olive. We stopped at subway so I could get my subway fix of the week (its been a problem since Airborne…) and shortly down the road Mysteri is squealing from the backseat like something is eating her alive. We cant figure out what is torturing the poor kid, and eventually she points with one finger like a true priss to a little olive that has attached itself to her cup. “Yucky… I no like it, I no like it…” Oh bother.

We finally reach Seattle, where we spent two nights. Seattle is now officially one of my favorite cities. I should have known when the all-techno radio station found its way through our speakers… and once again, I spent the duration of the stay feeling like Mario when he catches that blinking star… and getting told off by one of the men in my life, and encouraged by shrieks of bliss from the back seat by the other…

Seattle was so eccentric, or eclectic, just odd and tweaked. We went to the Pike Place Market, several blocks of hustling and bustling, fish throwing and fresh produce, booths and booths of trinkets and knick knacks and completely useless necessities. And hole-in-the-wall restaurants galore. I had amazing Greek food, Cajun food (seafood gumbo like I have never experienced!), Mexican food, fresh Sushi and Sake… all of my favorites. We even had a whole fish, crisped and browned, head and all. Yum! Of course chocolate, and a fantastic dark chocolate caramel apple, and even a Macchiato from the ORIGINAL Starbucks.

We stopped at a little Asian tea-tasting shop and sampled all these different herbal teas. They combine different fresh herbs to your liking, steep it for a few seconds, and give you a shot of it. My favorite was a green jasmine tea that had some sort of other leaf in it (I couldn’t understand her thick Asian accent) that made it naturally sweet. Mmmm!

I bought some fun authentic cigars and sat over the harbor and smoked a fantastic coconut stogie! The weather was cool and moist, but not uncomfortable, and while it was gloomy there is something about the Seattle atmosphere that made me fall in love with it!

Even the “mountain men” on the corner seemed more fun than your average daily crackhead. There were street vendors on every corner, practically stacked on top of one another… and someone playing a guitar or banjo or violin in front of every other store. A group of three of the most soulful old black men sang and clapped their way through a marvelous little gospel number, they had quite the crowd. I felt thoroughly serenaded walking from shop to shop.

I've always believed each city has its own personality, and Seattle is one of those unique ones… like that crazy friend you want to introduce to everyone you know just for the sake of catching the expression on their face. I fully intend to make Seattle a habit.

We drove an hour north to catch the ferry to Alaska, and I’ll have to pick up there on the next blog….