SF To Seattle

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Day 1:

I spend the better part of my day applying the last of the finishing touches to packing up my belongings and cleaning my soon- to-be deceased and departed room; a room that would soon be occupied in the form of my friend a successful Chai tea business owner. One might even go so far as to call him a chi-coon in brewing. My cleaning and packing of the day is followed by some much-needed SF Mission goodbye burritos. After some delicious life won’t be the same without them burritos, the events shift to watching Ryan, my roommate and driver for my moving excursion use the utmost limit of Tetris skills available as dictated by the ratio of amount of my belongings divided by amount of truck available.

Needless to say the truck is so soon sufficiently over-packed and my BMX and Zebra footrest is left behind as sacrificial offerings, victims to the gods of not having enough room and to having way too many clothes. After the last of the struggle for room is completed the packing is finished off by Ryan’s patented 2-tarp sandwich rain resistant protector system. The finished product has the touch of a moving urban contemporary art project and Christmas present rolled into one. (All that is missing is a big bow tie). If truth be told, I’m actually surprised that I haven’t accumulated a massive gold one among my many other gold but little-practical-use-for products.

After a few pit stops for coffee and gas we set off at 3:00 pm listening to at Ryan’s bequest: A mixtape of it’s on the rub 2006 year of hip-hop (itsontherub.com). Our journey to Seattle stars by going across the Bay Bridge on RT-80, which leads us to RT-505 before we soon fond ourselves on the old familiar I-5.

5:00pm: The year 0f 2006 hip-hop gets benched in favor San Francisco’s own Giants and game 1 of the 2010 World Series.

5:45pm: Ryan’s patented rain resister is threatening to be put to the test as it starts to lightly rain.

Due to commercials and radio signal difficulties our listening to the Giants game is intermittently switched over to my first experience with Savage Nation an extreme far right republican conspiracy fear inducing radio show that within instants reduces me and Ryan to complete laughter due to the amount of unbelievable bullshit and lies that are talked about.
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6:00pm: The Giants score their first run, met by an enthusiastic but under executed hi-five.

6:45 pm: The Giants taking the lead at 3-2 coincides with our first stop for Gas in Redding at Valero. Much to my worry for the state of my belongings it is discovered that top end of the high-low sandwich tarp has somehow managed to spring a few holes in it much like the Rangers and Cliff Lee as the score is 8-2 when we leave the gas station under a steady rain.

8:20pm: We stop at Weed for more gas and to search for some tarp protection. The best we can do for tarp reinforcements is duct tape. We do what we can patching the holes in the tarp with the duct tape. After a quick inspection the suspicion is that the holes are from the rubbing of the tarp against the rope straps. Ryan gets some Taco Bell. The weather is unbelievable cold a miserable combination of wind and rain. I actually uttered the words “ This is the coldest that I’ve ever been in my life” due to the duct tape session of standing in gusts of wind and rain. The Giants game ends in victory 11-7, baby!! Back to the hip-hop mix tapes and my much-approved year of 92.

A departure from Weed is also a departure from the much-traveled familiar route as we say goodbye to I-5 and get on RT- 97, which immediately offers an appreciated fresh alternative to the accustomed route of driving on 5 for the whole way. It is much more of a scenic personal drive and besides the occasional truck there is absolutely no other traffic on the roads.

At around 9:30 we make it our 1st day destination of Klamath Falls. Our original plans to camp have been rendered obsolete due to the hideously cold combination of rain and wind. Upon reaching Klamath we take a tour driving through the town in search of a Hotel to spend the night at.

We both take an instant liking to Klamath Falls. It is a town that seems to have a lot of character and a nice funky without actually being funky vibe to it. After driving around and admiring the sights on display we eventually end up staying at the Econo Lodge Hotel/Motel.

After checking into the room, which only extends as far as going through the we just arrived at a hotel that we don’t actually really want to spend that much time at. We make quick work of it and soon go for a walk down the street, which ends up with us at the local pool hall. The pool hall is a nice looking place and gives the impression that it is one of the places to be seen at in Klamath Falls on the weekend. We get a few drinks and play a few games of pool before finishing the night’s festivities off with a little video poker gambling.

Day 2:

I awake in the early hours of the morning to the sound and then sight of a medium sized downpour. A downpour that quickly intensifies my preexisting worries about my belongings.

At about 8 in the morning, we hit the road for day 2 of our travels. Unfortunately a new day has failed to signify a change in the weather as it continues to be bitterly cold and rainily unpleasant in everyway.

After about 15 miles on RT-97, we veer off of 97 and on to RT-62, which soon takes on the pleasant persona of adapting to more of a forest feel. We continue battling the elements for about 10 miles when the rain suddenly turns into snow. The changing of rain to snow is a rather strange occurrence of events because there is no noticeable steep elevation increase. We just simply went from wetness to a snow covered ground seemingly out of nowhere. The snow covering the ground and trees creates a picturesque scene that unfolds before our very own eyes invoking a truly Christmas feel to it along the way.

Sadly and unfortunately the appearance of snow on the ground signals the end of our side journey to Crater Lake. Ryan has no snow chains/ tires and the snow level and potential of getting stuck in a remote snow area is greatly increasing by every snow-covered tree we pass. So we have no choice but to reluctantly do the practical, intelligent thing and turn around and backtrack to RT-97.

The snow soon makes an appearance on RT-97 although at much less of an advanced stage then on RT-62. At times, it gets to the point of threatening our plans and driving route but it eventually subsides and comes to nothing but nice scenery.

We next stop at Bend so Ryan can eat some breakfast and get coffee. We stay the course on 97 where it continues to strongly reinforce my belief that 97 will be the preferred route to Seattle for the forcible future, with the possible stipulation of actually being able to go to Crater Lake.

The post Bend 97 has a sprawling landscape of forests that really brings out the autumn colors. The forest combines with a number of Valleys and bodies of water to create a moving Bob Ross painting. It has been a long time since I have seen and experienced the effects of Autumn. I am lucky enough to experience them in full glory as we drive by. The colors of the trees are worth mentioning again because they are so radiantly enchanting. The route has the unique distinction of passing the midway point between the North-pole and the Equator.

We continue to take RT 97 all the way to Portland where we take a break and go to Stumptown to see Ryan’s ex-boss. Our arrival is perfectly timed with her shift ending so we go and get a beer at Kell’s, an Irish bar a block away. I use their Happy Hour to my advantage and get a veggie burger.

From there it is back on ye old I-5 all the way to Seattle. The roads are essentially nothing but clear and we make great time aided by a second Giants victory playing for our soundtrack. There was a hero moment for Ryan when he put his cat like reflexes into impressively quick action swerving out of the way of a fallen object that abruptly materialized before our eyes. Ryan didn’t miss a beat when he steered the truck out of harms way crucially managing to avoid fish tailing along the way.

We arrive at our destination at this point my Dad’s house, at about 8:20, where we promptly unload my life’s possessions. To my great relief there is very minimal water damage to my belongings. There are a couple of real close calls to some near and dear parts of my life. Thankfully they manage to escape the wrath of Seattle’s stereotype and remain just dry enough.

It is official: I am back in Seattle for the next few months. We quickly go and stamp our authority on Seattle by going to Fremont where we meet up with our family of friends and celebrate in impressive style. Instantly confirming the belief that WE STILL GOT IT. On a side note I am WAY MORE OUT OF IT THEN RYAN.

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