P.E. to the S.T.P.
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Originally uploaded by mkwhite11 (aka: Why Mel is a Rockstar)
Last Friday, July 11, 2008, I found out that I'd passed the P.E. (the Professional Engineers' Licensing Exam). I am a lousy test taker, and I suffer from substantial test anxiety, and I think this exam is particularly bad. It incorporates aspects of every branch of Civil Engineering, regardless of whether it's part of your profession or something you ever took a class in. The preparation process is long and intensive, you can only take the test twice a year, and I had to take this test three times.
Finally, it's behind me. It's over and I am a licensed professional engineer!!!
By the way, the test -- a standardized scantron-type test -- was on April 11, and they waited three full months to let me know I'd passed.
When I opened the piece of mail (that, by the way, didn't say congratulations or "you passed" or anything, but just contained the license certificate), I was ecstatic and relieved and overjoyed and would have loved nothing more than to celebrate big time. But I couldn't. I had to finish packing and preparing and get to bed early so I could get up at 4:45am for the S.T.P.
The S.T.P. is the 204 mile bike ride from Seattle to Portland. The furthest I'd ever ridden before was about 80 miles. My mom came into town and we did the ride together. We rode 103 miles the first day (including the mile from my apartment to the start line), camped at the midpoint at Centralia College in Centralia, WA, then rode the remaining 102 miles the next day.
It was a wonderful time. Don't get me wrong, it was physically the most difficult thing I've ever done. (Coincidentally, I think the P.E. exam was mentally the most difficult thing I've ever done.) But it was fun too. The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny and clear. We could see the mountains (Rainier, then St. Helens, then Hood) looming over us. We rode along rivers and lakes and through small western towns. There were break stops every 15 to 20 miles with food and drinks. My friend, Sze-lyn, and her friends, Nedra and Linda, did the ride, too. And the five of us hung out at the midpoint and finish line party.
After the ride, my mom and I stayed in Portland for a couple of days. We stayed at the very hip Ace Hotel in downtown Portland, only a few blocks from Powell's, the Rogue Brewery, and the original Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe (soooo tiny!), among other things. We also trekked out the Alberta neighborhood, where an old friend from high school (remember, I went to high school in the southern tip of Illinois) had opened a vegan restaurant/bar. The place was very cool and very popular, and the food and drinks were outstanding. If you're ever in Portland, I highly recommend Bye and Bye on 10th and Alberta. In particular, I recommend the bbq tofu bowl. Yum!
We returned to Seattle last night by train. The train ran along roughly the same route we rode, only it took 4 hours instead of 2 days. It was a nice ride, with beautiful views of the mountains and sunset on the Puget Sound.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Except for a couple cabs when we had to transport both bikes and luggage, we stuck with self and public transportation, which felt pretty good. And biking that far after passing a big, nasty test, makes me feel like a total rockstar!