July 12 // Somewhere west of Paradise, Montana [view photos]

I never thought I’d say this, but it’s kind of nice to be back on the road again. After a 40-degree night in the heavenly arctic reaches of Glacier National Park, we’re ready for a bit warmer weather and a warm bed to sleep in at night. Don’t get us wrong, we loved our camping experience for the most part, but I think we’ll add “bring a few extra layers of clothing” to our “will do differently” list next time we go camping anywhere above 3,000 feet elevation in early July.

It was sooooooooo cold. We had one sleeping bag on the bottom on our pads, one on top that we slept under, and an additional quilt on top of it all to keep us warm, and we were still cold. Add to that, the ground was very hard, about the equivalent of sleeping on a gravel driveway. Despite the priceless view of Glacier National Park, I think that our camping experience at Grand Tetons was far more enjoyable. The evening winds whipping through the valley were utterly arctic.

One hilarious moment though, before we went to bed, was another deer strolling through our campsite at Glacier, looking for a morsel to eat. Natalie was walking back from brushing her teeth, unaware of the deer and by the time she noticed, the deer was a only a few feet from her and started to follow her, presuming that maybe she had something to eat. It was pretty comical.

And speaking of not comical, how about I throw a bone for the number geeks and those who like facts pertaining to gasoline and general fuel economy? Let’s take a stroll through our fueling experience thus far.

So far, we’ve spent $337.59 for 80.464 gallons, and driven over 2400 miles with an average fuel economy of 30.134 miles per gallon — the average cost per gallon being $4.20. What really throws off that average is the high of $4.479 at the St. Mary Lodge Exxon gas station on the east end of Glacier National Park. They take the gold medal for ripping me off the most so far, whereas gas in Rapid City, South Dakota was only $3.979. Heh, only.

As we’ve been listening to some 80’s tunes on the way towards Seattle, we spent a little time reminiscing about gas prices then, recalling when gas was averaging 97 cents per gallon. Back in 1990, I might have spent $78.00 to get as far as we have, approaching Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. But instead, we get the privilege of lining oil futures speculators’ pockets by driving cross country. Ain’t life grand.

We should be rolling into Seattle by about 5:30 pm this evening and I’ll write up a bit more later this evening.

—

We’re finally in Seattle, and I have to say that so much has changed since I’ve been here. In addition to what appears to be two new ball parks next to Pyramid Brewhouse (a favorite brew-pub-restaurant of mine), the Qwest Stadium and the Safeco Stadium. I just don’t recall those being there nearly ten years ago.

In addition, Seattle seems to have become a much dirtier city than I once remembered and the amount of beggars on the street seems to be on the rise as well. In the short hour that we walked up and down First Avenue from the bohemian district (near James Street and First Avenue) towards the Seattle Art Museum, we were solicited for handouts by nearly a dozen people, a third of them older African-American women. It was equally sad and pathetic, people both down on their luck, but probably lacking any will or drive to do something about it. Not to judge them, for I don’t know their circumstances, but it’s a pretty sad sight.

Seattle was buzzing with a lot of activity, it was very loud with all the traffic and WA-99 overhead, and there was just a general feeling in the air that didn’t seem to compare to when I had first been here. All the mystique that I once held towards the beautiful city of Seattle was pretty much washed away in a sea of noise, traffic, and an excessive amount of beggars asking for money. Granted, it is a Saturday evening, and I’m sure things are different during the day, but it just isn’t quite what it used to be.

We have two full days here in Seattle and then on Tuesday morning we make our way to Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. And yes, we have our passports.

July 12, 2008, 11:27 pm

Filed under: General

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