Snippets from the last weekend on the road! (Mt. St. Helens, more strangeness of Seattle, etc...)

I am writing this post as I conclude my one-and-a-half-month-or-so travel journey around much of the country and continent (yay Mexico!). Phew. Many thoughts are going through my head. Lots are about residency. Lots are reflective of what a good last two months I've had, being fortunate to meet up with so many wonderful friends. I've definitely had some travel adventures with flights. And I've gotten to see a lot of new, beautiful parts of the country. I realize that I managed to get through this whole interview journey with staying in only one U.S. hotel (that one being in Chicago before my C.S. exam-- so that one wasn't even for an interview!), thanks to some incredibly gracious hosts (thank you, Erin and TJ, Eric, Cathleen [my christmas buddy!], the Petkuses, Sarah and Phil, Tom and Anne, and the residents [Angela and Adam, Ian and Ali that were also so kind to open up their houses for me]).

This quote is one I recently read in one of those travel magazines on some plane:

"A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles" - Tim Cahill

It really made sense to me. This has been an incredible journey, just because of how many wonderful people I have met and seen. And whereas previous travels of mine have tended to be a bit crazy with sightseeing, on this one, I just focused on spending time with people whose company I enjoyed. But I got to see and do cool things as well. It was the best kind of journey.

As far as last interesting things in the Pacific Northwest:

Friday, I drove from Portland to the Mt. St. Helens visitor center to learn about the volcano and the blast of May 18, 1980 that surprised everyone. It was actually a really beautiful day in the Portland/Washington area and a lovely one to drive up through the evergreen forests towards the mountain. I didn't go all the way to the base-- there were several visitors centers that were closed because of the time of year and I wasn't sure how the roads would be with the recent snow, but I did get some views. It would be awesome to go in the summer, where you can visit the pretty lakes at the mountain's base, go on tons of hikes, visit the observatories, and even explore these Lava tubes, which are caves in the mountain formed by the molten lava flow of the past! I traipsed around in the woods a bit but then decided that, being out of cell-phone range, cold, and alone where bears or some other wild animals could get me, I better not spend too much time out there :) But here's one pic I got from the Sediment Dam viewpoint.

I headed back to Portland to meet up for dinner down on the waterfront at the Old Spaghetti Factory with Tom, Anne, Sean, a friend of Sean's from college (?), and two of her friends from Peace Corps in Moldova. It was an interesting group, and the food was great! The restaurant's "dinner" meals include a drink (I got hot tea!), salad, the pasta dish, as well as spummoni (sp?), a gelato-like treat. Tom and Anne were nice enough to let me sleep on an air mattress in their living room (I'd already said goodbye to Phil and Sarah before this change of plans and so felt a bit embarrassed about going back to their house..... ), and this morning, we all had waffles (yum) before dispersing for the day. Sean, Tom, Anne, and Daisuke (another OHSU FM intern from Japan!) headed out to the Oregon Coast while I headed back up to Seattle.

I drove down to the Pioneer Square (historic district) area and went on an Underground Tour, which came recommended by way of Ed. It was really neat! Seattle used to be much more low-lying (and "crappers" used to erupt everywhere when came high tide!) but, after a fire in the 1880's, the city was rebuilt.... higher. It was interesting how they actually rebuilt the new buildings on higher ground and then, later (I know! It seems backwards), "raised" the street levels by filling them in with sawdust, dirt from the hills (so the hills of Seattle are really less steep than they used to be). For a while, pedestrians walked around sidewalks which were way below street (building) level, like a moat! Anyway, we had a very amusing tour guide the entire time. Here's the original water system.

I then found my way to Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe by Pier 54 on the Seattle waterfront. It was a really neat place. They sold all kinds of souvenirs, but what was the most interesting was the curio that they show in museum-like glass cases. I think the place has been there since 1899 or something (so it really IS olde!). They have such varied things displayed as: whale eardrums, four-legged (stuffed) chickens and two-headed goats and calves, shrunken heads, mummies, and more. Here are some photos I took: This is Sylvia :) This RIPLEY was crazy! You look through a magnifying glass and there it is: "RIPLEY" in capital letters written on a translucent hair! The pinhead prayer was also impressive.

This was perhaps my favorite thing to see: A "Freak Pig" with (as you can see from the sign) about a couple more of every body part than it should have had...

Some more curiosities of Seattle:

• Just before returning my rental car, I went to a gas station to fill up the tank so I wouldn't get charged the $6 a gallon or whatever it is if you let them do it. It did not take credit cards. Not outside, not inside. Only debit or cash. Interesting. Quite annoying, actually. I'm not sure I've seen that before (and Wendi, no comments about how this is like those drive-through bank tubes, please). I just drove down the block to a different station but was scratching my head on the reasoning.
• Seattle is a really hip city. I like the downtown feel a lot. It's very "earthy" and there are a lot of neat coffeeshops and bookstores to visit (Elliot Bay by Pioneer Square was awesome, and I also walked through one devoted exclusively to mysteries). I was in a bit of a funk last weekend, which I know because I wasn't that gung-ho about doing much of anything, but I was glad that I came back today to see a couple of more things. I hear great things also about the Experience Music Project (an exhibition part of the Seattle Center, where the Space Needle is), but didn't make it there today because of the limited winter hours (next time!).
• Traffic here is weird. It is supposed to be bad, but from what I hear, the badness comes from just being totally unpredictable. Lesley had an interview at U.W. on Monday and left ridiculously early, but there was virtually no traffic. And it was smooth sailing for me all day today, downtown, and in and out. Very doable. I think I may have also lost some of my fear of navigating cities larger than Rochester (does Roch even count as a city? :)), which makes travel much easier. I was impressed by Seattle sans trafic :)
• I like the idea of red-eye flights. I'm in the airport now, really just killing time before my flight at 12:50 a.m. Yes, that really is 12:50!!! But I had this whole day to spend doing anything I wanted to. And I'll have a full day tomorrow back in MN to enjoy with unwinding and dinner with friends (my flight gets in around 6 a.m., CST). I feel like it really minimizes the wasted time of travel. Perhaps I'll feel differently about the idea after actually taking the flight (although I generally sleep quite well on planes), but I think I could get used to it. There's something also peaceful about being in the airport late at night. So perhaps this is a reason to move to the west coast (the other thing is that flying to the west coast buys you time because of the time change! :)). Hmm...something to think about while trying to decide on residencies....

For now, though, I'm just happy to be finally going "home"....