nine hundred miles is a long long long long ways in a car
Back on October 14th, I flew into Nashville. There were some brief hangouts, though mostly I just spent a lot of time getting things ready. Hours were spent going through the boxes in the basement and packing them into my car; I drove to FedEx and shipped some of the larger ones to my address in Seattle. At one point I swapped out my car's Tennessee tags for new Washington plates in the rain.
Thursday night, the 16th, I met up with Tad in a dark parking lot just south of the city. We left at 9pm, heading west on I-24, and made it all of an hour before pulling off to get dinner at a Waffle House. At 3am, we hit St Louis. At five in the morning, we pulled off at a gas station to refill and have breakfast at the attached Wendy's. Energy drinks were purchased, and we drove on.
Just after Topeka - around eight or nineish, I think - we ended up pulling off the interstate and backing up to a fenced-off field to try and get a little rest. This didn't work so well; after maybe 30 minutes of fidgeting, I opened my eyes to see a state highway patrol truck parked in front of us, the driver asking what we were doing there. Tad's groggy answer: "Sorry, we were just havin' a sleep." A few minutes later we were back on the road again. I texted my brother to tell him that I'd gone through Salina with the Avett Brothers on the stereo.
We had lunch at a little Mexican place in Hays, and at 2pm parked behind an abandoned restaurant outside of Quinter to get some rest. After an hour (or maybe two), we started up again and got out of Kansas. It was getting dark when we made it to Denver, and we had dinner at a sports bar north of the city. Google Maps took us off the interstate, and I drove us up and down a winding SR-287 before picking up with I-80 in Wyoming. At 11pm, both Tad and I decided that neither of us was fit to drive any further, and we stopped at a little motel in Rawlins. After downing some skunked beer while flipping through stations on the television, we eventually passed out.
Sleep and showers improved our dispositions greatly. That Saturday morning was bright, and an hour after leaving the motel we ended up having lunch at Chop Stix Asian Bistro in Rock Springs. The food was amazing, and Tad declared it the best Asian he's ever had. It was not what we expected to find in the middle of Wyoming.
Utah was brief, but awesome. We came in on I-80, and took I-84 to skip around Salt Lake City. The first hour or so consisted entirely of views like this, and we loved every minute of it. We ended up taking a break in Brigham City so Tad could get a Blizzard at DQ. He took over driving.
After crossing the Idaho state line, it wasn't long before we passed Twin Falls, Built to Spill stuck in my head. Dinner outside of Boise. I wanted to tell mojavefive that I'd finally made it to Idaho, man - just a decade late.
When we hit Oregon the speed limit dropped to 65, which irked us both - ever since Colorado, it had all been 75 or 80mph. We made the decision to plow through, and Tad got us into Washington around midnight. We got gas for a ridiculous $2.60 a gallon in Wapato. Shortly after hitting I-90, Tad's vision started giving out on him, so he pulled off at an exit and we swapped out. It was around 1:30 in the morning.
Washington was draped in fog that night, but an hour and a half later we started seeing more and more signs of civilization. Soon we passed through Mercer Island, and then there it was - the skyline of Seattle. The two of us started jumping up and down in our seats, cheering. It was electric.
We pulled up to my building at 3:30am, with an empty parking spot somehow right outside the front door. It only took us a few minutes to unload my car, and then it was done.
Thursday night, the 16th, I met up with Tad in a dark parking lot just south of the city. We left at 9pm, heading west on I-24, and made it all of an hour before pulling off to get dinner at a Waffle House. At 3am, we hit St Louis. At five in the morning, we pulled off at a gas station to refill and have breakfast at the attached Wendy's. Energy drinks were purchased, and we drove on.
Just after Topeka - around eight or nineish, I think - we ended up pulling off the interstate and backing up to a fenced-off field to try and get a little rest. This didn't work so well; after maybe 30 minutes of fidgeting, I opened my eyes to see a state highway patrol truck parked in front of us, the driver asking what we were doing there. Tad's groggy answer: "Sorry, we were just havin' a sleep." A few minutes later we were back on the road again. I texted my brother to tell him that I'd gone through Salina with the Avett Brothers on the stereo.
We had lunch at a little Mexican place in Hays, and at 2pm parked behind an abandoned restaurant outside of Quinter to get some rest. After an hour (or maybe two), we started up again and got out of Kansas. It was getting dark when we made it to Denver, and we had dinner at a sports bar north of the city. Google Maps took us off the interstate, and I drove us up and down a winding SR-287 before picking up with I-80 in Wyoming. At 11pm, both Tad and I decided that neither of us was fit to drive any further, and we stopped at a little motel in Rawlins. After downing some skunked beer while flipping through stations on the television, we eventually passed out.
Sleep and showers improved our dispositions greatly. That Saturday morning was bright, and an hour after leaving the motel we ended up having lunch at Chop Stix Asian Bistro in Rock Springs. The food was amazing, and Tad declared it the best Asian he's ever had. It was not what we expected to find in the middle of Wyoming.
Utah was brief, but awesome. We came in on I-80, and took I-84 to skip around Salt Lake City. The first hour or so consisted entirely of views like this, and we loved every minute of it. We ended up taking a break in Brigham City so Tad could get a Blizzard at DQ. He took over driving.
After crossing the Idaho state line, it wasn't long before we passed Twin Falls, Built to Spill stuck in my head. Dinner outside of Boise. I wanted to tell mojavefive that I'd finally made it to Idaho, man - just a decade late.
When we hit Oregon the speed limit dropped to 65, which irked us both - ever since Colorado, it had all been 75 or 80mph. We made the decision to plow through, and Tad got us into Washington around midnight. We got gas for a ridiculous $2.60 a gallon in Wapato. Shortly after hitting I-90, Tad's vision started giving out on him, so he pulled off at an exit and we swapped out. It was around 1:30 in the morning.
Washington was draped in fog that night, but an hour and a half later we started seeing more and more signs of civilization. Soon we passed through Mercer Island, and then there it was - the skyline of Seattle. The two of us started jumping up and down in our seats, cheering. It was electric.
We pulled up to my building at 3:30am, with an empty parking spot somehow right outside the front door. It only took us a few minutes to unload my car, and then it was done.