I woke up and my neck hurt. The windows in the car were fogged up and it was cold outside. I had no clue what time it was but I could tell from the dark blue color of the sky that the sun had not fully risen and it was early. I stepped outside and it was indeed cool. I don’t remember what city we were in. When you are on the road with an end destination, it matters less and less where you stop on the way. I was so filled with exuberance and energy yesterday that we mad it quite far. But now I was drained and sore and sure to be even more sore the next day.
Our goal was to make it to Seattle. Although we did not want to impose on our friends so perhaps a stay in a hotel was in order. We drove a lot that day and stopped even more. I actually asked Di to drive for once. It was sort of a boring drive and not much of note. When we got into Spokane, WA I actually liked the area. It reminded me of home. The weather was good and the sun was shining and even the interstate there reminded me of MN. I figured the people here would be too.
Now that I think of it, one thing to MT’s credit, they stared at us less than some places in MN. I am sort of surprised that some places where Di and I go, people still seem surprised at a ginger with a brown girl. So much so they feel the need to stare. Di and I like to joke that they are staring at me, the ginger, outside in the sun. At any rate, we did not catch a whole lot of that in MT. Which I suppose could also be a bad thing. Like they felt so strongly that they had to ignore us.
In Spokane we stopped at a McDonald’s. This will be a bold statement but I think, in some small way, McDonald’s is improving this country at least for travelers. They always have free wifi and bathrooms that are clean enough that you don’t mind squatting for 20 minutes or so. Plus they are located everywhere. I took the opportunity of this one to book a hotel called Knight’s Inn. I was a little leery because of some reviews I had read.
The hotel was in Tukwila, which is just south of Seattle. Again, we did not want to impose on our friends for 2 nights, so we stayed there. Plus we thought a good night sleep was in order.
Well, I will let Di tell you about the hotel but, suffice it to say, it was not great and I wanted so badly to like it because it was a nice Indian family running it. Not Native Americans but real people from India. I have always had good experiences with all of them. Oh and to my brother in law, Charith Rozairo, the guy at the front desk sounded EXACTLY like you. And this is not just my opinion, Di agrees.
Anyway, the next day we went to Seattle and Di has the hotel and the experience in Seattle covered. Soon I will rehash our experiences in Oregon!
Have a great day!
~Mitch Heid!