Wooooo hoooooo!!!!!!!  After 7,267 miles, I was finally in a state touching the Pacific.  But in the 100 degree heat, that's the last thing it felt like as I left Moscow, Idaho and crossed the border only a couple of miles away.  And immediately, I was in the town of Pullman.  The University of Idaho and Washington State University are only about 7 miles apart, and my first glimpse is seen below...

A Sight for Sore Eyes!!!! Pullman, Washington (Mile 7270)

That's right, baby!!!!  After 3,865 miles of living off the land, coffee-wise that is, I came upon my very first Starbucks in almost 2 weeks, across from the WSU campus.  How nice it was to say the words, "Iced Venti Americano, Extra Ice, Low Water, and an extra glass of Ice Water with a lot of ice...", then mix in my 4 Equals and 4 Sugar-in-the-Raws.  Otherwise, the town and campus were very nice, and with a lot of daylight left, I decided to take another detour.

WSU Campus & Football Stadium (Mile 7271)

I saw "Snake River Canyon" on the map -- and recalled some vague childhood memories of Evel Knievel jumping it on his motorcycle sometime in the mid-70s.  I suppose I could look it up on the internet, but anyway, after getting really, really, really lost outside Pullman, I found the rive and cruised alongside for about an hour in the late afternoon/early evening.

The Snake River in Eastern Washington (Mile 7303)

Pressing westward as the sun set, it was all empty, barren, golden, rolling hills, farms, tiny towns -- nothing like what I had pictured the state of Washington to be like.  Seriously, the only term I can use to describe Eastern Washington was that it had a "spooky charm" -- not unlike the Sunset District of San Francisco, if you've been there.  Anyway, there were alot of scenes like this one...

The Alpowa Summit on US 12 (Mile 7338)

I spent that night in Yakima and it was definitely the worst Motel 6 of the trip. Alot of hooligans going room-to-room with styrofoam coolers, which is always a sign of a bad motel.  I also passed thru my 2nd version of a "Tri-Cities" (Pasco, Richland, Kennewick) (the first was in Tennessee) -- but sadly had to bypass Walla Walla, one of the greatest named cities in the US (named after a local Native American tribe).  I didn't have time to sample one of the famous "Walla Walla Sweet Onions", but pressed on early the next morning with the intended destination of the magic city of the Northwest -- Seattle!  However, there was one stop along the way -- to see the beautiful, majestic, towering, mystical, monolithic Mt. Rainier!  At 14,411 feet, it was going to be quite a sight.  However, the Let's Go Book did warn that "clouds mask the peak over 200 days a year".  Well, my day was one of the 200.   As I stood with the Ranger at the Park Entrance, she pointed to the sight below, and said, yep, that's where it is!  Well, I never said the whole trip went perfectly!  At least it was on the way.  Maybe someday.  Anyway, it was 100F in Yakima, but had dropped to near 60 on the mountain, and it was about the same on the other side...

The Alleged Location of Mount Rainier (Mile 7621)

"You belong to the city, concrete under your feet, it's in your moves, it's in your blood, you're a man of the street..." -- Glenn Frey, Miami Vice Soundtrack "I'm a fool for the city." - Foghat   I had driven 7,710 miles total on the trip, and 4,310 since the last real city (Chicago), and as I pulled into the garage in Pioneer Square in Seattle, a warm feeling came over me.  Yes, I had had the time of my life blasting my way through the hinterlands of middle America, seeing the fruited plains, the purple mountains, yada yada yada, but at last, I was back in the city and I really felt like I was, in a sense, home.  I immediately headed for the first Starbucks I saw, and as I sat on the crowded, noisy street corner, with horns blaring, grunge kids milling around, tourists and businesspeople walking around, sipping my coffee, all felt right with the world. I had been to Seattle once before, to see a friend for New Year's 97-98, and had done a whirlwind tour.  The whole time, it was cool, gray, and rainy.  This July day was no different -- to start with.  But after a brief rainstorm, the sun actually came out and stayed out!!!!!  No kidding.  A sunny day in Seattle, can you beat that??  Fortuitously, I had remembered that my long lost Chicago buddy Greg had moved to Seattle a few years back, and I found his number and gave him a call, and he just rolled out the red carpet for me. June 2009 Note - That's Number Two!!! We met up around 7PM, but in the meantime, I hit the pavement to explore the town.

Seattle's Pioneer Square / Downtown / Waterfront / Pike Place Market areas are just absolutely spectacular, filled with 1,000,000 nooks and crannies and interesting spots to explore.  I won't bore you with every detail, but, predictably, one of my very first spots was to visit the very first Starbucks Coffee located across from the marketplace.  They have a gold medallion marker type thing inside there, and well, here you go...

At the very first Starbucks Coffee Location in Seattle (Mile 7710)

Seattle Scenes (Mile 7711)

After watching the guys throw fish, buying some souvenirs, having several more coffees, getting a haircut, and soaking up the atmosphere at Pike Place, I headed over to the Space Needle -- definitely, one of the most unapologetically touristy sites I had been to on the whole trip.  I must tell you, it was spectacular!!!!!!!!  A total blast!!!  Everything about it was just really, really well done.  Lots of fun attractions, facts, and exhibits upstairs, great views, just really fun.  I highly recommend it!

Shots from the Space Needle in Seattle (Mile 7710)

Greg came and picked me up at the Space Needle along with another surprise old friend from Chicago I had not seen in about 10 years and a few other Seattleites.  We went for Sushi which was great, then to this really cool beach-type park on the Puget Sound called Golden Gardens, where we got to see the sun set and there were alot of people with bonfires and stuff -- really neat.  Then, to the this neighborhood called Fremont, where we went to several pubs, where I needed to have a few beers to counteract all the caffeine flowing through my veins.  Greg did suggest we try this one type of beer called "smoked beer", which had a bacon flavor -- seriously.  And seriously, it was horrible.  I then switched to try what the locals call a "stubbie" -- the local beer called "Olympia" or "Oly" for short.  If you are from Chicago or Wisconsin, you can equate this to Old Style.  After the bacon beer, it was just fine.  I crashed at Greg's house that night and was off the next morning...  

The rest of Washington offered a number of delights and surprises.  First stop after Seattle was Tacoma, a town which gets made fun of for all its industrial-ness and bad smell, not unlike New Jersey and Northwest Indiana.  I got off I-5 and wandered around downtown for a bit, long enough to take this picture...

I didn't go to Phoenix, Arizona, Philadelphia, Atlanta, or LA on this trip, BUT I DID go ALL THE WAY to TACOMA!! (Mile 7790)

The next stop was the Capital of Washington, Olympia.  I kind of like to visit the state capitol buildings whenever I get the chance, and Olympia's capitol was quite charming, indeed.  A huge highlight is seen below right -- after only getting within 1,000 feet or so at Mount Rushmore, I was able to get right up close and personal with the Giant Head of George Washington!!!!  Here's to ya, George!!!

Washington's State Capitol (Mile 7820)

The last stop in Washington was Mount Saint Helen's --- which was just way, way cool.  I was pretty young when this baby blew back in '80, but I can tell you that it was spectacular to see up close and personal.  It's hard to believe it used to be a real, regular, full-on mountain, because now it's just a shell of its former self.  What's awesome is that everything around it for miles used to be a nice, dense, living forest, but now it's a wasteland, completely changed,  but with life starting to come back.  Yep, right here in the USA, not even mountains are permanent -- they're just part of the ever-evolving landscape.  Again, I took this trip back in July and August, but maybe they'll be selling postcards like the one below of the Manhattan Skyline showing where the World Trade Center used to be.  Yes, folks, the things of this world may seem permanent, but someday this will all pass.  Well, before I get to philosophical and evangelical, here are the pix!!

Mount St. Helen's (Mile 7908)

And now, on to Oregon!!