One redeeming quality of the Days Inn, however, was that they offered a made-to-order breakfast from the on-site chef until 9am. I stumbled out of bed at 8:30am and made my way down to the eating area where I had visions of whole grain french toast and eggs benedict in my head. What I quickly learned is that "made to order" means you get to choose if you want one egg or two, one pancake or two, and bacon or sausage on the side. As far as I could tell, the only difference between that and the usual breakfast bar is that you get to hear the chef butcher your name as he calls out to let you know your order is ready.
When I was younger, Sean wasn't a very common name at all. The most common touchstone for many people was Sean Connery. Even so, it was not at all unusual for someone to call me "Seen" when they saw my name in writing. That lasted for a number of years, although as the name has become more commonplace, I rarely hear anybody mispronounce it anymore. It's probably been a good 10 years since it's happened. That all came screeching to a halt with Dave the made-to-order chef. As I sat at the table eating my Raisin Bran waiting for my food to be ready, I heard him call out various names. Jill's two eggs and a pancake were ready, followed by Rob's two pancakes and an egg. I then heard him call out a name that appeared to contain a long E sound sandwiched between some sort of digraph and a consonant I didn't recognize. My first thought was that he said "Jean." Did I make my S look like a J when I wrote my name on the order form? I quickly dismissed that and next considered the possibility that celebrities were among us. That seemed less plausible, so after noticing that nobody was claiming the plate of food at the window, I decided to wander up to see if it was mine. Sure enough, he said, it was. I guess I would have realized it sooner if my name was, in fact, "Schween." I gently corrected his mispronunciation and proceeded to eat less than half of the C- breakfast he prepared for me.
After checking out of hotel, we loaded up the car and headed west on 90. I knew we were ready to log some heavy miles that day when, after only about a half hour in the car, neither one of us even acknowledged the sign for the Montana state prison museum on the side of the road. If this had been Tennessee, Illinois, or even Nebraska, we would have gladly stopped and spent a good 3 or 4 hours learning about the finest gray bar hotels the state had to offer. But after being on the road for 7 days and almost 3000 miles, we couldn't muster the energy to pull over.
Our first stop was for lunch at Wheat Montana, a local bakery in Three Rivers recommended by a friend that makes all of its breads and pastries with wheat harvested on the adjoining farm. We both had excellent sandwiches, but the most noteworthy item was the cinnamon roll that Tanya later declared to be the best she's ever had.
Our next stop was a rest stop in far western Montana that was apparently known for its huckleberry shakes. What we didn't know is that they also had a live trout exhibit in the back of the store next to an animatronic moose head. We've seen some strange things on this trip, but a trout aquarium in a truck stop may be near the top.
We made our way through the rest of western Montana and crossed the border into Idaho in mid-afternoon, eventually making our way to Coeur d'Alene near the Washington border. We took a drive around the lake, which provided gorgeous views of the water and mountains in the background. Then it was on to Spokane, WA.
Jud Heathcote was the head basketball coach at Michigan State from 1976 to 1995 and is best known for coaching Magic Johnson and MSU to the NCAA title in 1979. After leaving MSU in 1995, he retired to Spokane where he has lived ever since. For the past few weeks, I had considered the possibility of trying to get a picture outside his house as we passed through town. Creepy? Yes. Stalker-ish? Perhaps. But how many other chances would I have to do it? I found his address before leaving Chapel Hill and left open the possibility of getting the picture if the opportunity presented itself. As we got closer to town, the idea became both creepier and more alluring. I finally decided to go for it, so we pointed the GPS toward the address and made our way to Jud's house.
As we arrived at the destination, we realized that he lives in a gated community next to a golf course and that getting a picture in front of the house was going to be impossible. I was both disappointed but relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of the old man chasing me down the street and away from his house. Instead, I got a picture outside the gate and a picture of his name in the resident directory. I still feel a little dirty.
We left Spokane and entered the final stretch of our trip. We stumbled upon the Columbia River Gorge just after the sun went down, which provided some nice picture opportunities. I could have spent all night there, but we got back in the car after a half hour and finally rolled into Olympia around 12:30am, where we stayed at a local hotel. The road trip was complete.
Morning came early once again. We rolled out of the hotel around 10am to cool temperatures and made our way to meet my landlord to sign papers and get keys to the house. After a walk-through of the house a quick tour of a couple local running trails, we began the long but cathartic process of cleaning out the car and moving bags into the house. We then headed downtown for lunch at the New Moon Cafe where Tanya introduced me to MASH, which apparently is a popular game among prepubescent girls. She assures me I'm going to marry Jamie Lee Curtis and own a house and a Maserati at some point in my life.
The rest of the afternoon was spent buying sundries at Target and discovering the produce market across the street that has local cherries for $1.99/pound, local pink lady apples for $0.99/pound, and fresh, wild caught salmon for $12.99/pound. I like this town already.
The road trip officially restarts tomorrow when we head up to Seattle to check out the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project museum and toss some fish around at Pike Place Market. Pictures to follow.
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