Day Four: The $300 Fun Receipt
My last day in Seattle and my first day progressing east towards home. It was good to catch up with Manny, things are going great with her and Zach and it sounds like they’ve been entertaining the idea of home ownership in a gentrifying and awesome neighborhood. She’s also prepping to start a serious photography program which I’m amped to watch her progress through. A good nights sleep, a trip to the grocery store and making breakfast is how the day started off. By making breakfast I mean Manny made breakfast since my part of making breakfast was boiling water and shredding cheese. To be fair I was half packing half sorting out where I was going that day. She made something called migas which I’ve never had or heard of. Turns out its awesome and so were the rosemary potatoes she made as well. After breakfast I had to get on my way so i could hit my goal of Coeur d’ Alene before dusk. We said our goodbyes, thanked her for letting me crash on the couch and I headed out of Seattle on I5 to hit 90 East.
The ride out of Seattle is really stunning, so much so that they actually have traffic signs all over to tell people not to stop and take pictures. Thankfully unlike the ride between Portland and Seattle there are actually quite a few spots where you can pull over and get good pictures from. I stopped a couple times while in the mountains and a few in the longer stretches of the desert-like area. This turned out to be one too many stops. About 40 miles out of Spokane I was dead set on getting to my destination FAST and by fast I mean I was riding at 100mph for a good 30miles straight. My luck ran out when a cop nabbed me riding about 90mph and he said I was tailing some truck which I dont remember but he had been throwing around towing me away in conversation so I didnt fan his flames. After getting a ticket or as I call it receipt for having fun/being awesome/being a badass totaling $300 I went on my way at a slower pace.
The benefits of riding slower
- Less wind blast.
- Less noise (it still exists even through the earbuds).
- Less tickets now that your entire ticket budget is gone!
I managed to make it to Coeur d’ Alene right at dusk and attempted to stay at the La Quinta Inn but $130 was too much so I asked if there was anywhere else decent and cheaper and they pointed me to the Budget Inn just down the road. At $70 it was the cheapest in town and I wasnt terribly surprised to see a very nervous guy and a methed out looking woman with him. Thankfully they were on the other end of the motel. I got my room key, unloaded my gear, showered and headed to the dock down the street to see what was so great about this lake.
I arrived too late to get any decent sunset pictures but the lake was very peaceful and it was a welcome atmosphere after a taxing and expensive day. The full moon and its reflection off the lake made it easy to see the landscape and the sound of waves hitting the dock was accompanied by some quality jazz coming from the classy resort and some karaoke from the bar nearby. I walked back to my bike and rode a few blocks into town to get some chinese food. I scarfed down a plate of chicken lomein and got to eavesdrop on some local kids having a conversation as horrible as you’d expect 19 year olds to have. I chuckled at my fortune and thought some real desert was in order. Since a shitty day is always an excuse for ice cream thats exactly what I had. While kicked back on a chair leaning against the shop a truck pulled up and a couple walked out. An older guy with a peppy woman with a southern accent that looked about 15 years younger than him walked up and said “You know I saw you eating that ice cream and you had me wanting that so much that two blocks later I decided to turn around and get me some” I responded “guess I’m a good salesmen” and she went up to order just as I downed the last bite. As I’m leaving I heard her go “One icecream please!” then “Wow, you have different flavors?!”
I showed up to the motel and saw some guys hanging around where I’d be parking my bike for the night. A quick positive conversation is great insurance when you’re worried about shifty strangers. I went back into my room but my wifi signal was shit so I brought my gear outside to start typing the blog post for the day before. It was there a drunk elderly couple from Calgary accompanied me and told me about their trip up the Oregon coast. The husband said he’d been all over the world and had never seen anything as beautiful as Cannon Beach, maybe next time I’m in the PNW I’ll take that advice. He spoke in circles as drunks do and combine that with the tendency of old folks to do the same you’ll end up with the infinity symbol. Thankfully they turned in and I finished up my blog post and fell asleep. The next day was to be the longest of the trip.
