There’s only one possible reason I might not be able to make it - my band is going to be playing a couple of shows next month and one of them is in Ashland, Oregon (almost in California) so we’re going to be taking a road trip down there for a couple of days. When you know your arrival date, drop me a message and I’ll try my damnest to meet you. I’m thinking about taking the train up the Pacific Coast - I’ve always wanted to do that!
At least it will be easy to spot each other: we’ll be the most intelligent, best looking people in Seattle. Plus, I’ll have that, “I’m-looking-for-someone” stare and you’ll have that, “I-just-drove-across-the-damn-continent-and-I’m-ready-to-disembowel-someone” facial expression.
LouisB: I’m planning on gambling in Deadwood for a night or two. I’m glad you told me the hotel is haunted - I’ll give you a full report when I get back. I’ll kill your ex-wife for you if you’ll pay my gambling debts. (Dark humor, people)
Obfusciatrist: I hope to take a week off of work, so I’ll have to drive at least 12 hours a day if no one comes with me. I don’t think it’ll be too bad - I’m hearty. Thanks for the suggestions!
I’ll be driving either a Honda Prelude or a Toyota Land Cruiser. Both are exciting for different reasons - one is stick shift with a booming system, the other I can camp in to avoid seedy motels. I’ll probably bring a gas can with me though, anyway.
Thing: I’ll send you an e-mail when I get back to work on Monday to get your address. You’re lucky because I write great postcards.
UncleBeer: Even if I don’t stay (thanks for the invite but I was planning to drive to Wisconsin in one day) I will stop by for beer and sax practice. Get your reed ready.
Sake: I want to see your band! Heh - what’s 5 more hours of driving down the Pacific Coast? And if you play drums anything like that guy in Sleep, I’ll never leave. Don’t you need a sax player? No matter, I’ll let you know when I’ll be there and we’ll have a blast making fun of the inferior locals who still listen to grunge.
A road trip is not a road trip without a Green Bean in the car! If you’re still looking for a warm body (with a lead foot) I could maybe go…depends on the dates. I’d love to visit my cousin in Seattle! Drop me an email, eh?
I once biked across Washington state. We went from Seattle to Spokane on Route 2. (You’d be going the other direction, obviously) It’s a highway that parallels the interstate, more or less, and it is beautiful! Lots of gorgeous and unbelievable scenery, and the coolest little fakey tourist-trap town you ever did see–Leavenworth. I would suggest that route across Washington state.
You dig Sleep?. . .we’re definetly getting together.
I’d love to meet you, too, Green Bean - I hope you can make it! We’ll all relax on a secluded hill and watch the sun set over the Pacific. This corner of the world is quite amazing in June!
Don’t listen to them! Montana is BEAUTIFUL! Too bad you didn’t make this trip last summer, or you could have gone as fast as you want. They’ve reinstated speed limits now.
Remember the treeline behind the crazy separatist’s house? My uncle lived right behind that treeline. About fifteen feet behind that line was his clothesline, and another fifteen feet brought you to his kitchen window. He’s got a hell of a spread, and he used to be good friends with the Crazy Folk ™.
Montana truly is beautiful.
I may be young, but I’ve seen most of the states. Go to Rushmore. Go to the Badlands. Don’t go to Wall Drug. Go to Yellowstone. Drive the Bearclaw Pass at night, then pick up a postcard the next morning showing you what you drove.
Go to Jackson’s Hole and meet all the country music legends who call it home. Sleep in this huge old log-cabin hotel just north of Yellowstone. Wonderful, enormous rooms for dirt cheap. Pee on the Great Divide. See Chimney Rock in Nebraska, and see Devil’s Tower, and climb it. Have fun. America is BEAUTIFUL. Be proud to live here.
In Seattle:
If you can stand tourists, check out the Old Curiosity Shoppe down on the piers. The place has everything: the ten commandments written on a grain of rice, three headed piglets in formaldahyde, a couple of mummies, some fiji mermaids, etc, etc. And just a few blocks away is Pike Place Market.
Don’t forget Archie McPhee. Do some early Christmas shopping. http://www.mcphee.com/ This is their site, but the store is ten times more fun.
A Mariner game is a must. AL western division leaders!
Go to Alki too; gorgeous beach, not too far from downtown.
If you decide that you desperately need a tour of the SSCC campus, let me know. <g>
June is the perfect time to come; I agree with Sake–there’s nothing quite like this place in the summer. The rest of the year is mediocre, but the summers are divine.
Green Bean, I’ll let you know the dates! It looks like Tommy might come, though, but I’ll let you know.
Sake, stop making me crack up. While we’re having drinks I’ll tell you the story of the Sleep concert I saw about 8 years ago - one of the best concerts ever. That drummer is diabolical - they were a great band. In fact, the guitarist in one of my old bands bought an Orange Tube Amp to try to get the Sleep sound. So cool.
Homer, I am quite aware of the beauty of America, but thanks for the uh, inspiration.
Kiva, I’ve been to Seattle before, but I would love it if you’d show me the latest “hotspots”. Where does Eddy Vedder hang out? (I’M KIDDING) I’ll e-mail you to let you know when I’ll be there - drinks will be on me.
Uke, NOT FUNNY - now I’m going to have nightmares. With all this new anger, I’ll probably end up running over some hippies trying to hitchike.
Here’s an update: I’ll be driving the Toyota Land Cruiser. The gas mileage and top speed sucks, but it’ll be safer as in I can crush any sports car that gets in my way.
Also, I was offered a job in Seattle. I love New York, and wasn’t planning on leaving for another year or so, but the thought of skiing every weekend and hiking in the mountains seems really appealing right now. I don’t know what to do.
Lies! All Lies! But I do own the complete works of Warren Zevon. (Or at least everything that is available on CD, which I know perfectly well is hardly complete, so stop quibbling!)
Um, Sax, if you’re moving to Seattle, I hope you’re gonna return the books Ike and I loaned you first . . . Hmmm, I guess that puts the kibosh on our summer plans. Pooh.
Oh, well, I hear the hills are green as green in Seattle. Say hi to Bobby Sherman and David Soul from me.
Eve: Hold it, hold it. I never said I was moving to Seattle. And no, I would never return those books if I was. Geez.
As far as the music for the trip goes: No Jerry Garcia. No Warren Zevon. No Neil Young. We’re talking Gorefest, Public Enemy, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Hagen, Autopsy, Frank Zappa, Ella Fitzgerald, Slayer. In other words, driving music, not sleeping music.
