Day 68

Today started with a 55 minute run - I went north and ran around the top part of East Lake but I got a bit lost trying to get back to the motel and tacked on a couple of extra minutes in the process.

For breakfast we decided to stay local and walked down the street, intending to go to Louisa's Cafe for breakie, but they were already closed! Instead we ventured in to 14 Carrot Cafe a few doors down and had a very nice breakie indeed. The staff were all lovely as well.



Our plan for the day was to do a bit of exploring. Specifically, to explore Fremont Street with the hope of finding Sonic Boom - the local establishment where one may buy and / or sell compact discs and LP records. We went back to the room, gathered our things and went for the Tom. It took a bit of chopping and changing but we managed to make it to Fremont Street and wouldn't you know it dropped us off right in front of Sonic Boom!









More browsing, more choosing, more listening and more buying. I picked up some quality dance stuff and a T-shirt while Paulo managed to dig up a few 'gems' as usual.

I wanted to walk up Fremont Street to have a look and find a watering hole but we got a bit distracted.



First, we saw another shop that we had read about called Jive Time.



We had a wee look and Paulo started pumping his fist in the air, saying 'I don't believe it!' He apparently found some obscure super-hard-to-find CD by a band that nobody ever heard of except for him. And he bought it for two dollars. A bargain is a bargain.

By now, the afternoon was getting on and we were getting no where. When Paulo was buying his fourth copy of only six CD, he started chatting to the dude in the shop who told him that there was another, cooler Jive Time across the street.

Next thing you know we are in the basement of this building in one of the coolest thrift shops that I have ever seen. And in the corner was a section of LPs and CDs with rock bottom prices. It would be the perfect place to start a vinyl collection. Everything was priced at about two or three dollars and there was a lot of quality there.



It would have been great to take a few pics of all the stuff in the shop but the guy working there kept following me around and I didn't get the chance to take the camera out. Next to the cash register was an old phonograph from God knows what year that the staff were using to play a really scratchy, beat up copy of 'Houses Of The Holy'. We stayed for the entire first side.

Despite the lack of movement, all the browsing and buying had made us really thirsty and a bit pecky. Luckily for us Triangle Cafe was right across the street from Jive Time. And they were showing the Cubs game on TV. Do I need to say anymore? I'm pretty sure you can surmise what we did for the next while. We stayed for a bite, watched the game and had a few 'prescriptions'.













During the course of the night, people came and went, karaoke started and there was some really, really bad music played.

We hung for a bit but when we couldn't take anymore we jumped in a Joer and went back to the motel for our appointment with some Zs.

Spin The Black Circle

Excuse Me While I Kiss The Pie

Day 67

We got up this morning and headed straight into town, eager to check things out and hit a few music shops. We got the Tom in and walked up 1st Avenue a bit, past Pioneer Square and Occidental Square. I would have liked to get a pic of the totem polls at Occidental but there were homeless dudes everywhere so we kept moving. We found a little cafe on Cherry Street called (surprisingly) Cherry Street Cafe and had a Johnny and a drink.

We continued walking along First Avenue, passing the Seattle Art Museum before making a links and heading down to the pier. We went through Harbor Steps and took in all of the art. And the pigs.











The Blue Angels are in town for the weekend and we got to see them warming up with several fly-bys along the pier.





We walked for about 45 minutes and eventually made our way to Big Dawg Records. We were looking for Easy Street but decided this would suffice for the meantime.



A bit of a browse led to a few purchases for each of us but we didn't go too mad.

After leaving Big Dawg, we turned right around the corner. Lo and behold there was Easy Street!





A bit of a frenzy followed which saw CDs, T-shirts and more CDs purchased. I also raided the counter for loads of cool stickers and flyers.

We were a bit knackered and wanted a rest from all of the shopping so we went into the Seattle Center to have a look at the Space Needle.

The Seattle Center is a 74 acre fairground and entertainment center. It was used by the Century 21 Exposition in 1962 after the Space Needle was built. The exposition was a World's Fair attended by over ten million people. Now the Center contains the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, the Experience Music Project and a fairground.

The Space Needle is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest and the famous symbol of Seattle. It is 605 feet high and weighs almost 10,000 tons. It can withstand winds of 200 miles per hour and (theoretically) earthquakes of a 9.5 magnitude. The design came about as a compromise between the two best ideas for the 1962 World's Fair. One was to have a giant balloon tethered to the ground. The other was to build a giant flying saucer. The structure was planned and now contains a restaurant and observation deck.











Next, it was back down 5th Avenue to the corner of Roy where we found Silver Platters. The only music shop that can truly send your credit card into the red zone.



Now, I'm trying to remain calm even as I write this. What a shop! Hands down, the best selection of second hand CDs that I have ever seen. Anywhere. The two of us looked and looked. And we bought and bought. I shudder to think of the beating that my credit card took today. I think it is going to start shaking in fear every time that I open my wallet now. But we got some quality bargains. Most of the stuff that I bought only cost between three and seven dollars. Ya
canty go wrong!











Leaving the holy mecca of used CDs, we walked back up towards Seattle Center and decided it was time to eat. Revolution looked like a good spot for a burger and a beer. And it was. They were both great.











A quick monorail ride had us back in the center of town and we got a Tom back to Eastlake Inn to dump all of our new music and freshen up.

Yes sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail!

Another Tom back into town and we were in Belltown - one of the neighborhoods that nurtured the growth of grunge in the 90s. We ducked into The Crocodile Cafe where Bishop Allen was playing but it was an all ages show and we didn't feel like paying in. There was also no beer being served and we were too thirsty to be messing around.

We strolled down 2nd Avenue and found Karma - a great little spot with a DJ who was playing quality house music. Not what you would expect to hear in Seattle. We stayed for a couple of drinks and then decided to move on. I could have happily settled in but Paulo was looking a bit edgy. He had that 'I need to hear some loud, rock music' look in his eyes.

Down the street to another small place called Viceroy, where we heard the Beastie Boys playing inside. But upon a closer look, the sound was crap and the DJ was playing off a laptop that was connected to a pair of decks. He was spinning one of the decks around and around while looking totally bored out of his melon. Move it on...

We walked all the way down 2nd Avenue and then down to 1st and there was nothing going on. Just hip hop music and posh upscale bars that had massive queues at the doors to get in. What happened to the Rock scene?

We ducked into the Virginia Inn for a beer and to check out what was going on. Again nothing! We asked the barman where we could try and when he told us 2nd Avenue we said we had already been. He suggested a place called Shorty's.

So up to Shorty's we went. It definitely wasn't posh and it was kinda rock oriented. Sort of. The staff were brutal. Each of them were trying to be more ugly and more rude than the other. Total indifference toward everything and everyone.

The interior was dingy with some clown paraphernalia. In the back were pinball machines and pool tables. And the beer was crap as well - Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap. Horrible. Paulo kept drinking it but I had to switch to bottles. There were also hot dogs. Dodgy ones. Paulo was eyeing them up but restrained himself in the end. I told him it was for the best. We stayed until closing time and then caught a taxi back to the Eastlake where we crashed straight away.

Day 66

I got up and went for another 45 min(ish) run around Yakima. I'm still feeling good and going quite well (for a change).

We packed up and went down the road to Mel's Diner for breakie. Mel's is the local greasy spoon and seems to attract a very large amount of people that own classic cars and motorcycles. I'm not sure how or why these people spend there days hanging out in Mel's instead of working but fair play to them. I went for the usual, heart-clogging, cholesterol-raising, mega-calorie big breakfast.

After breakie, we decided to go to Wal-Mart as I needed some supplies. And Paulo just can't resist a Wal-Mart when he sees one. He may change his mind when they eventually take over Ireland. I got my provisions and a few CDs to boot as you can't pass up some of the bargains on offer. I bought a copy of the new Doors album 'Live In Boston Arena 1970' for only 24 bucks. I convinced Paulo to buy a Led Zeppelin greatest hits because it was two CDs and only eight or
nine dollars. It's incredible that he has spent 33 years without buying or owning a Zep CD but don't worry, I think I have set him straight.

We headed further west on 84 to Seattle. Washington is called the Evergreen state and it's easy to see why - there are trees everywhere. It was another scenic drive and we hit Seattle fairly early. We got on to 5N and found our digs (Eastlake Inn) pretty easily. We checked in, went down the street to Pazzo's for a panini and then cleaned up and went straight into town.



Paulo had sorted tickets for the Mariners - Sox game and he was fired up at the chance to see Boston play again. We got on a bus just down the road from where we were staying and got stuck in one of the worst traffic jams I have ever seen. We were sitting towards the back and there were a good few froots about - one guy talking and laughing to himself, another guy talking to whoever made eye contact with him and the bus driver as well. She was a froot as well because she was fascinated with a double decker bus next to us. She even got off our bus at one stage (the froots yelled: 'the driver left the bus!') to check out the 'DD' bus. She was wearing a pair of radio headphones (which may or may not have been turned on) and was driving so badly that the froots in the back were getting edgier by the minute. We eventually made it to our stop on 2nd Avenue and got off. Amazingly, none of them tried to start a conversation with Paulo. It must have been because he kept his head down and eyes shut the entire journey.

We walked over to Safeco Field and into a massive queue at the will call section (as usual). Thirty minutes later, tickets in hand, we went in and found our seats. The game had already started but we didn't mind (too much). As soon as we settled in Paulo started cheering his proverbials off, especially when Youk came to the plate. Some dickhead behind us was taunting Paulo but after the Sox scored a couple of runs he wasn't so chirpy anymore. We waited until the 5th inning before we bought any beers or food and then got stuck in.













Unfortunately, the Sox lost even though Paulo shouted at them the entire game. He told me that he had spoke to Papi before the game and everything was sorted but they didn't play like that was the case.

We left Safeco and walked back towards town, stopping in Elysian Fields for a beer. They have their own microbrew and I was looking forward to some local quality. Again, disappointment. The microbrews over here are just not up to scratch. We both tried a couple of different ones but we just couldn't settle in.

We left the bar and couldn't find anywhere else that we wanted to check out so we hailed a cab and went back to Eastlake. We walked down to Pazzo's again for a night cap and a pizza. It was busy(ish) but didn't have the best atmos or at least the atmos we were looking for. The pizza was good though.

In an effort to save some energy for the rest of the weekend, we went back to the gaff fairly early and hit the scratcher.

Day 65

After a great kip, I got up and went for a 45 minute run. I felt good and it wasn't unbelievably hot at 9am so I was able to stretch the legs a bit.

I made it back to the DD Inn for some breakie and then after a couple of paddies, we packed up and set off on our way back on to 84W towards Washington.

We drove until Yakima and checked in there for the night. It was still quite early so we chilled out in the room for a bit.

Around 6:00 it was time to start moving. We gussied up and walked into town for a bite to eat. Things were quiet enough for a Thursday but we found a spot called Sports Bar that seemed decent enough. There is a big hunter on top of the entrance that turns from side to side and shoots neon bullets out of his rifle at night time.

We got seats at the bar, watched some baseball on tele and sampled the local brews. I was drinking some sort of amber beer that wasn't that great. I switched a few times but just couldn't find a nice one. Paulo settled in to some sort of lager beer. I had a chicken sambo to eat that was great while Paulo went for the 'full monty' - meat, potatoes and veg. He was delighted.

There was a guy singing and playing acoustic guitar on stage in the main room but for some reason the gig was over by 9:30. He sounded OK but the laddies seemed to love him - we heard a few shouting at him to take off his trousers. We didn't know it was that kind of bar and decided that maybe the hunter outside wasn't firing bullets...

We had a few beers and left after the baseball game was over. A DJ had started playing but he was crap. Really. He kicked off with 'Take Me Out', showing a bit of promise but then he just started playing loads of bad danced up versions of decent rock songs. I hate the way producers butcher and bastardise decent songs just to try to get a few peeps on the dance floor.

We walked back to the hotel and crashed from our big night out.

Day 64

Today was the beginning of our last month on the road and it bummed me out. I woke up late but made it downstairs just in time for breakfast. We got a phone call from Dollar to say that the new (or should I say next) car wouldn't arrive until about 3pm. I had a quick word with the manager of the hotel and she agreed to let us stay in the room for an extra two hours after check out. We got ready, collected ourselves and checked out.

We went to Jamba Juice for a smoothie, then Chipotle for lunch and then I went to Starbucks for an espresso. I insulted the girl at the counter because I wouldn't tell her my name when she asked. Fucking Starbucks - I hate the place. And I hate when you go into a shop and they want to know your name. I'm not there to meet them and become their new friend. I just want a shagging coffee. Or I just want to be served and then left alone. So, I asked the girl why she wanted to know my name as there weren't any other customers in the place. She very tersely replied that they try to personalise their service.

By the time I finished my espresso, it was almost 3:00. We drove to the garage and met the tow-truck guy called John. Incredibly, the only car that Dollar had to give us was another Avenger! The same exact model and colour. So, we are now on car number eight, Avenger number two and Dodge number five.

The kind people (who were probably Mormons) in the shop gave us directions without mentioning Jesus once. John had told us that there was a terrible accident on 15N just beyond where we had to get on. There is a bridge being built and it seems that one of the pillars for it fell from a crane and smashed some cars. I don't know what happened but I can't imagine that everyone survived.

We made the left turn out of the shop and straight into a really nasty traffic jam. But an hour and nine miles later we were back on 15 north of the accident and on our way to Idaho and more importantly out of Utah.

About 340 miles later we stopped in Boise for a bite to eat. I read somewhere that Boise is young, hip and a cool place to be. I must say from the little bit that I saw I actually agree. We drove into the historic district and found a cool little Italian spot called Posto's. The pizzas were great and the local brew - Powerhouse Porter was very nice indeed. I had driven the early shift today so I was able to enjoy two pints with my pie.

It was getting late but we wanted to press on so we got back on to 84W and drove about another 80 miles or so to Baker City. Upon arriving, we checked in to the Budget Inn or (more accurately) the Disco Down Inn. The room was covered in green shag carpet and most of the furnishings seemed to be from the 1970s. In fact the whole place was in a bit of a time warp - a great little slice of Americana. When I went to the front desk, I was greeted by the inn keeper who was an older chap with white hair and a white ronnie. He spoke with a funny little lisp where he whistled when he said the letter S. He reminded me of that old guy on Family guy who has a thing for young boys.

We check in, hauled the bags up to the room and hit the scratcher quick smart.