11/22/2004: "Travelblogue - Day 4 - Best Laid Plans..."

You know, it just never occurs to me that there might be any possiblity of there not being constant nearby WiFi access. That said, I'm still a little surprised that the only available internet in the Seattle waterfront Mariott came in the form of $10/day ethernet. Even if we'd had an ethernet card handy, I don't think it's worth $10+ for me to post on here. Anyway we happened to find a nearby coffee shop that had free WiFi access up the road but that was about half an hour before we left town so it was a little late by then. So anyway I just got back in about an hour ago and it's probably about 46F in here, since it was 52 outside and there was an appreciable drop in temperature on entering.

Anyway, I'll try to sum up the trip. So, Friday featured a large amount of driving followed by a very uncomfortable dining experience. See, we got into Seattle and had ourselves checked into the hotel by about 9:30 on Friday night. Instead of finding a nice low key eatery my mom declares that it's 9:30 and nothing will be open (on Friday night. in downtown Seattle. heh.) so we should just go to the hotel resturant, which turned out to be this joint called the Fish Club, which is guess is owned by some jackass looking celebrity chef I've never heard of. Now, I consider myself the modicum of sophistication, but not when I've just stepped off the turnip truck with my football attending family. Good old social anxiety disorder and a bit of $50 a bottle wine got me through it relatively unscathed though.

Saturday. Two words come to mind when I think about Saturday: Underwhelming and Disappointing. I mean here you are in Seattle, you've been a city dweller for seven years up until the past few months and you're all excited to get in some culture and some city vibe, probably hit a few record stores since Seattle is well known for being a musically oriented town and what happens? Your sister and mother drag the whole troop of you off to some yokelburg tourist trap called Bainbridge Island. This is after talking to your cousin who tells you that Bainbridge Island basically sucks and there's not really any reason to go there. By the time you get back all of Saturday is blown and it's time to meet your extended family for dinner. Did you get to see any of the city you have gone to visit? No. Did you enjoy any fine culture? No. Is your record collection in any way enhanced? No. At least dinner involved decent amounts of beer.

Sunday. Not too terrible, despite the game and all that. Lynnea and I split off from the Family Dull in the morning and had a nice breakfast of pirozhsky and coffee in Pike's Market. The game was, uh, well it was football, but not a bad game as such things go. It was a close game, but the Seahawks won. That was kinda cool I guess. Bloody freezing actually. Whatever. Anyway after that we headed back and got the car, then took off for Eugene. Luckily I managed to talk everyone into stopping off at Powell's where I didn't get to look around for even half as long as I would have liked but I came away with some Letham, Jack Finney, and a hopefully rather helpful Go book. Got back to Eugene at around midnight and promptly passed out.

Today I finally got to at least hit one record store, just in Eugene, but at least it's a college town so their shelves were not completely bare. Not that it was any kind of magnificent record bounty by any stretch of the imagination. Picked up the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs box set and some Flaming Lips (Acid and Hit to Death in the Future Head), which is an ok haul but nothing I was seriously looking for. Anyway got back here, took a shower to try to wash off the trip, and here I am. And it's bloody freezing.

I'm gonna go make some tea.