The drive home was uneventful in part because everyone was tired and I suspect lost in their thoughts. We had thought about stopping at the same motel as we had stayed in going into the Gathering but they were full up. We couldn't decide what to do, stop and sleep or stop and eat and then drive some more. So we kept on driving. We stopped briefly at a fruit stand and loaded up on fruit and some veggies. Then we stopped for sandwiches and other stuff as we decided that if we were going to drive any distance we needed some real food. We had worked hard that day and were both physically and emotionally exhausted. All of this took time. All of this dithering (although no one called it that) caused some friction and some grumpiness.
A few hours later it was dark and I was driving. I got conflicting requests as to what to do. When I did turn off the highway to look for a motel, we couldn't find any, or rather the few that we did see were far too expensive. When I went in to ask the price of a room the clerks stared blankly at me as if I did not fit into their decor. I suspect that I looked less than presentable. The four other people in the van were quite good about giving suggestions as to what to ask for, but they were not willing to go in and ask for themselves. I think they may have felt in even worse shape than me.
They also didn't like my driving. It was a long van and the suspension was shot. Amongst other things this meant that it swayed a fair amount. This was very noticeable in the back especially when one went close to the speed limit (or a bit above) The road was clear and I wanted to get home. So the van swayed a lot. I should have gone slower.
Finally we reached the town of Tacoma, Washington. It had five or six motels in a row and we got a place that was sort of big enough for a $100. I along with one other person slept on the floor. As long as I got the shower first - I didn't care where I slept.
Tacoma is about 35 miles from Seattle, which meant that we were about 250-260 from Vancouver. I thought that with any luck at all we could be in Vancouver by just after noon. I was wrong. I was up early and went for breakfast at a Denny's around the corner. No one appeared from the room until after 10:30. The others apparently had to sort out some issues with each other which I think is a polite way of saying that they had an argument. I spent the time walking around the city trying to figure out why it existed.
Tacoma is near an air force base so there were lots of young men driving around in relatively nice cars. There were also a lot of small townhouses, some of which had for rent signs in them. I suspect that people who didn't want to live on base rented then when they were posted at the base. There were also a number of Korean restaurants in the area. Three out of the four that I saw had gone out of business. I don't have a clue what that means. I of course only saw a small part of the city .Many of the houses that I saw were well maintained and the elementary school looked new, but there was a sense that the city was not thriving, that it was at the very least experiencing the consequences of the economic down turn.
When one of the workers came out and mentioned that perhaps we would stop for a picnic and would perhaps not get home that night I was a bit frustrated. Then Sally came out and said that she wanted to buy a chair in the room. I was more than a bit frustrated. I think it would be fair to say that everyone, in fairly short order, understood my point of view. We needed to get going. If I had realized how long they were all going to take, I could have got on a bus and been home before they got out of the room.
The chair got bought and tied to the car, we got back on the highway and except for a brief stop to eat up the rest of the fruit before we got to the border we didn't stop. That is the way one should travel!
We made the last ferry to Salt Spring Island. That was cutting it all a bit close. If the rush hour traffic going past Seattle had been just a tiny bit worse, we would not have made it.
A few hours later it was dark and I was driving. I got conflicting requests as to what to do. When I did turn off the highway to look for a motel, we couldn't find any, or rather the few that we did see were far too expensive. When I went in to ask the price of a room the clerks stared blankly at me as if I did not fit into their decor. I suspect that I looked less than presentable. The four other people in the van were quite good about giving suggestions as to what to ask for, but they were not willing to go in and ask for themselves. I think they may have felt in even worse shape than me.
They also didn't like my driving. It was a long van and the suspension was shot. Amongst other things this meant that it swayed a fair amount. This was very noticeable in the back especially when one went close to the speed limit (or a bit above) The road was clear and I wanted to get home. So the van swayed a lot. I should have gone slower.
Finally we reached the town of Tacoma, Washington. It had five or six motels in a row and we got a place that was sort of big enough for a $100. I along with one other person slept on the floor. As long as I got the shower first - I didn't care where I slept.
Tacoma is about 35 miles from Seattle, which meant that we were about 250-260 from Vancouver. I thought that with any luck at all we could be in Vancouver by just after noon. I was wrong. I was up early and went for breakfast at a Denny's around the corner. No one appeared from the room until after 10:30. The others apparently had to sort out some issues with each other which I think is a polite way of saying that they had an argument. I spent the time walking around the city trying to figure out why it existed.
Tacoma is near an air force base so there were lots of young men driving around in relatively nice cars. There were also a lot of small townhouses, some of which had for rent signs in them. I suspect that people who didn't want to live on base rented then when they were posted at the base. There were also a number of Korean restaurants in the area. Three out of the four that I saw had gone out of business. I don't have a clue what that means. I of course only saw a small part of the city .Many of the houses that I saw were well maintained and the elementary school looked new, but there was a sense that the city was not thriving, that it was at the very least experiencing the consequences of the economic down turn.
When one of the workers came out and mentioned that perhaps we would stop for a picnic and would perhaps not get home that night I was a bit frustrated. Then Sally came out and said that she wanted to buy a chair in the room. I was more than a bit frustrated. I think it would be fair to say that everyone, in fairly short order, understood my point of view. We needed to get going. If I had realized how long they were all going to take, I could have got on a bus and been home before they got out of the room.
The chair got bought and tied to the car, we got back on the highway and except for a brief stop to eat up the rest of the fruit before we got to the border we didn't stop. That is the way one should travel!
We made the last ferry to Salt Spring Island. That was cutting it all a bit close. If the rush hour traffic going past Seattle had been just a tiny bit worse, we would not have made it.
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