Sunday, June 28, 2009

Day 14: "Seattle"


Hey, wait a minute, the belly dancers are behind us and that pink float is in front of us... how did we end up here?

States: Washington
Miles: 162.4
Weather: A little chilly at times, but sunny all day! What are the odds of that in Seattle?

$$$
Gas: 43.21
Camping Fee: 15
Space Needle: 50.40

Total: 108.61

Signatures: +0 :(
58/100

So as you already know, we spent last night at a Motel 6. Let me just say, it was an EXCELLENT night of sleep. We set an alarm for eight a.m., but did not wake up to it. Instead, we awoke to the sounds of the couple in the room next to us screaming at each other about something at approximately ten a.m. What fun, we overslept again, and though we needed it, we were still slightly disappointed.
In addition to sleep, the motel also provided such other necessities as showers and laundry. We all showered, but left without doing laundry because the machines were all in use, and would remain that way for some time...bummer.
Anyways, we made our way back into the city of Seattle, where we parked our car and headed towards the monorail station. Our plan was to take the monorail from downtown Seattle to the Space Needle, but on the way to the station, we were slightly distracted by the Gay Pride Parade going on. We decided to follow the parade instead, and thought it was awesome, from the flags and banners, to the belly dancing lesbians, to the free samples of Starbucks instant coffee!
Eventually, we reached the Needle, and took the outdoor elevator up to the top, which I might add is open air. It was awesome, and gave us some great views of the city and Mount Rainier. After reading about the history of the Needle, we went back down and took the monorail from there towards downtown again. After some more walking about the city and the shoreline (where we saw a group of oldtimers playing classic rock on one of the piers), we headed back to the car.
From there, we went pretty much directly to Mount Rainier, as we were all still really tired, and it was getting to be late afternoon. It took more than an hour to get there, and upon arriving, we proceeded (in our tired delirium) to throw an empty milk jug at each other and use the tent poles as swords (until one of them broke...whoops). After that, we actually got down to the business of setting up camp and cooking dinner (hot dogs and soup... what fun!) For the second time in a row, the hot dogs, when cooked over the fire, developed this black oily residue, which we discovered was from the sap in the evergreen wood (adding to the previously excellent flavor... sort of). Anyways, we ate them, cleaned up, and then read in the tent until sleep overcame us all. Goodnight.

Matt

3 comments:

  1. FYI - It was on the news that Seattle just tied its all-time record of 29 straight days with no rain. Guess you picked a perfect time to be there! Stay safe - Love you, Mom G.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MJ - Mom's getting paranoid. She needs you guys to start heading towards home. Mateo - Is there any day you can't do a Board Of Review? MJ's mom wants to get you finished. Phil - Did you meet any Burros???

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since the other 2 parents checked in, I thought I should too! You guys are quite the writers! This is totally an awesome trip! And this blog is kool! I have not once rec'd my 2 mandatory phone calls per day, so when I get nervous, I check out this blog and then I read what you 3 have been up to, and a big smile comes across my face! (Except when the car was leaking fuel and I thought you were driving to Portland, and I kept seeing this image of you guys driving, and the car in front of you throwing out a lit cigarette - well, you can understand I did NOT sleep well that nite!!!) But anyway, this is truly a memorable experience for you all! I just found out that Phil's grampa also took a trip out west with his buddies after high school. Pretty kool! So see you soon! Be careful in the construction zones in IL!!! If you go 1, yes one mile over the speed limit, you will get a $375 ticket!! So please drive the speed limit! Love and miss you all! See you soon!

    ReplyDelete