07/01/2010
Seattle was generally good to me. There were a lot of things to see and I had my fun, but for some reason, my interest was gradually decreasing and it started feeling like 15 days was a bit too long for me.
The first day I got very excited about the city. Walking around Capitol Hill and checking out all its little, unique shops, it was giving me the impression that this would be my kind of city.
Christmas eve and day were awesome. Either with E.’s family, or with a bunch of burners, the days were filled with interesting people, stimulating conversations, lots of laughter and ridiculous amounts of delicious food! I don’t know what others say, but to me, that’s what Christmas is all about. :)
The following days I did the touristy thing as much as I could. I started getting lost all around the city, taking photos, checking places out, talking to random people. I can’t say that I went out exploring as much as usual, but I definitely tried to figure some places out. I don’t have the same energy and excitement I had 6-7 months ago. I tried forcing myself one day to meet people, see places, take photos and it all went horribly wrong. Things need to flow naturally and just happen as they are meant to happen. Forcing myself to want something could never work out.
I did feel though, after a few days, that the things to see and experience are fairly limited. I can almost make a list of them.
Sunset at discovery park and the beach below it...
Exploring the houseboats and admiring the Seattle skyline from the water...
Walking through its steep roads...
Paying a visit to the troll under the bridge...
The public market where you can buy just about anything...
Almost diving in the nearby waterfalls...
And then that was it.... I must be honest, the last few days that my friend T. was back in town, I discovered more places and cool spots, but those experiences were people oriented, rather than including natural beauty or sights of the city. It may have also been the weather that did not help, as it was rainy and cloudy most of the days. It doesn't really bother me that much, and it does create some wonderful effects for photography, but it's not what I was after those days.
Either way, had it not been for my waiting for T. to come back, I would have probably left earlier.
A couple of days before leaving, my friend J. from New York flew in and we were gonna travel together down to San Francisco. So, one lovely thursday morning, we set off for the long way south.
M.
01/01/2010
Yeah yeah, I know that by now, we’re over and done with the wishes, but I only just now got round to updating these pages, so humor me.
I was thinking about how some years ago everyone would go crazy and stress out like hell, while preparing for the new year’s party. Nowadays, most of us don’t really care that much and leave things to just “happen” at the last minute.
Time was 11.30pm and we were still getting ready. Space themed party, E. said. Gotta dress up and paint your face, E. said. It was me, E. and two other couchsurfers at E.’s house, getting dressed up and mucking about. 
11.50pm and E. is still putting face paint on. I wasn’t really bothered how the night would evolve, so I was going with the flow.
E. finally got ready and at 11.56 we ran out the door. Walked a couple of blocks down to the bridge, where a bunch of other people had gathered to watch the fireworks. And as soon as we got there, the colorful show kicked off, all around the space needle.
WEHEEEEY!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hugs and drinks and smiles and kisses all around.
Ok, we’re done now. Off to the parties. We proceeded to honor a couple of different parties with our presence, which, conveniently enough, they were both “space” themed. As you can imagine, it didn’t take me long to pick some random garments from Charlie and come up with a weird combination that would meet the needs of the parties.
Please say hello to...
The SpaceOddBall and it’s stupid little buddies.
With this and that and the other, I got back home at around 7pm the following evening.
We’re in 2010 guys! We’re in the future!!!
M.
23/12/2009
I left Madison, Wisconsin on Monday early morning and arrived in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. I don't know if it seems like a long time to you or not, but I can tell you, I did that whole drive in much less time than I was expecting, even though the biggest part of it was as tough as I thought it would be.
The whole drive was 1928 miles (3103 kilometers). Although initially I thought I'd arrive in Seattle on Christmas eve (i.e. 3 days later), when I set off I set it as a goal to drive 650 miles a day and be at my final destination a day early. I drove through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington and the diversity of scenery, traffic, driving conditions and weather was truly remarkable.
The first day was just exhausting. Lots of snow and ice everywhere and the winds and snow would not stop attacking Charlie. Not only was half the highway covered in snow, making two of threes lanes very dangerous, but also the wind was maintaining a constant layer of snow floating over the remaining lane, like a big group of road ghosts, scaring all the drivers and laughing at their worried faces. And if you survived this, there was always the icy patch under every single overpass, attempting to send you skidding towards a deadly christmas road twist. Still well on your way? The bridges should finish the job, which, for some reason, many times had ice on their surface.
Try driving through this...
On a couple of occasions Charlie's wheels tried giving up on me and decided to go one way, while I wanted to go the other way. Luckily I had my hands tight around the wheel during the whole drive, and being the top class driver that I am (You better be nodding at this point!!), I kept it in line. That, however, does not mean that those split second were not accompanied by the perfectly understandable "oh, shiiiiiit!".
A stopped at a rest area as soon as daylight was fully gone. Funny enough, it was also the very same moment I had exceeded 650 miles and a snow storm had begun. Sleeping in Charlie was my only choice, but it was not going to be as pleasant as usual.It was 8pm and it was already -15 degrees Celcius. I am guessing realisation has not come, until I opened a can of corn that I had to eat, only to find its contents frozen solid. I knew that it was gonna be a chilly night. And chilly it was. (I ate the can of corn anyway. Hunger before comfort.)
The second day was much easier than the first. The second half of the whole distance to Seattle proved to be much quicker than I thought. I was expecting crazy mountain turns and endless mountains of snow, but instead, I found zero traffic and perfectly clean roads. I was still very careful for ice, but it was all fine. There were some random snowy moments and scary parts up in the mountains, but I felt confident enough to continue. I even decided to drive during the night, which got me to drive 950 miles before I parked Charlie outside a hotel at the state line of Idaho and Washington, to spend the night. Even the temperatures were much milder over there. Heck, I could even sleep naked (but still with 5 covers on top)!
The third and last day was a doddle. I was well ahead of schedule and it looked like I would be in Seattle for lunchtime. Even the skies were smiling at me and the weather was beautiful. Sunny day, blue skies and beautiful, varying scenery throughout the whole drive. There wasn't much snow around, but everything was crystalised and looked bleached!
I was in Seattle indeed by 1pm, where I met up with my friend E., whom I'll be staying with for a few days. I'm already getting a good vibe by this city. :)
M.
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