Guest guest Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 well..now that we finally are home..all i can say is.. I wanna leave again!!! REALLY!! i mean, coming home to a disaster, ranging from the haus being a mess, room mate sorta moved out, to a garden that has seen mucho better days, to the cable company scrambling all the channels around, just doesn't make fer a fun return!!! ah well the trip was a blast, though, it certainly did have its ups and down..ok, so it was like climbing the alps and falling down some crevasse at times..but..still... First off, we had the absolute worse time just trying to leave...ya see, lil ol me doesn't drive, unless it's my motorcycle, though, i can push a mean shopping cart...and carrie had lost her license several months back...to get a new one in california means having the patience of a saint mixed with the determination of a kite flyer in a hurricane... after many trials and errors("im sorry, you lost your social security card as well? well, we can't issue a new one without IDOh, you lost your ID, well, just let us see your social security card and..."), including staking out comfortable spots on the sidewalk outside the DMV at 5am, the final week before we were planning on traversing out of oakland had arrived. And, still no license. As a fall back, she had gotten an appointment to take a driving test wayyyy back in july. And, as fate would have it, the first available date was..september 16..which was just wonderful, because we were suppose to leave on the 15th now, if i had only gotten off my duff and perfected my time machine doubleflubbbergasterextrodinaire then all would have been well...alas, not to be so, instead of leaving monday, we pushed the date back to tuesday.... carrie goes to get her license...and the person who is letting her borrow a car, is late... oh..this is gonna be a fun day.. she finally shows up, carrie takes the test, gets her license..voila... and of course..carrie has been sick and coughing the last 2 weeks..no sleep..fer either of us...but..we drink lotsa juice and try not to curse at one another... on to the next step... time to go pick up the car.... now, i had reserved a car many moons ago..we had toyed with the idea of just taking my bike...but, the realiztion of zooming through the Rockies in september sorta kicked that idea out, besides the fact carrie wanted to be able to walk again..spoil sport... so, as carrie is getting her license, i dutifully call the rental company...and, no cars...wot do you mean no cars??..sorry, no cars, call back later... !!!!!! carrie comes home..i make a few phone calls...no cars still..how a rental agency can be out of cars is a new one on me, but, wot do i know, i've never worked in one.. finally, we ride down there...well, the car should be ready any moment now...just hang tight..and, may we see a credit card? so, i had them mine...and then they ask for one from carrie... ummmm. wha? i'm renting the car, not her.. apparantly, from this car rental gulag they need one from her as well....suffice to say carrie doesn't even have a bank account uh oh fuming, we leave.. now wot? we head to another agency where a friend of mine works...of course, he isn't there, but, miraculously they have cars at this one! so, we start fillin out paperwork, when one of the fine person's behind the counter asks "so, where are you going?"...being the honest little fellow i am, i gladly pipe up with "Denver!".. sad faces stare at us from behind the counter my pen falters "oooh, i'm sorry, we can't rent out of any state that does not border california.." my lack of hair on my head thusly encourages me to seek some stranger out on the street, so i can pull his hair out..luckily, carrie stops me... with a last bit of will, we rush over to our last chance, the car company we had always rented from in the past, and had always 100% gotten something, somewhere wrong...and, lo and behold, they have cars, available cars even!! quickly, we rent one, watching the sky for raining frogs or a plague of locusts... fleeing home..we rapidly toss everything in, hey, its ok, we are only a day late..so wot if its almost 4pm, why, didn't einstein say time was relative?..after unpacking carrie from the trunk, and convincing myself that i didn't need all that camping gear..we head out!! onto the freeway! yes! northward bound!! Seattle here we come! of course, since we had skeedadled from oakland so late, that tossed all my brewpub plans along the way into a tizzy..never fear, we'll figure something else out! *note to self* never think that some roadside cafe that proclaims "best chinese food" and then lists hamburgers on the menu is "figuring something else out".. yes, we had dinner in the middle of the night in some...restuarant..in oregon...i tried to explain "vegan" half a zillion times, and the menu even listed vegetarian options, but, still not sure they understood..granted, maybe i was overtaxing the 15 yr old behind the counter, i mean, it was a skool nite and all...but, i think i finally convinced her that, no, shrimp were not ok..tofu is fine yes, but, no, no chicken..and we had a dinner that was only slightly less greasy then valvoline... and, off we continue into the nite... i hastily scratched off the places i had marked off in portland..don't think many brewpubs er veggie restuarants are open at 1am anywho...but, valiantly, we carried on...and arrived outside seattle at sunup... and, of course..its raining..wouldn't be a trip to seattle without clouds, more clouds, and rain... its amazing we made it at all, considering carrie's cough got so bad that we had to pull over every half an hour so she could have me thump on her back.. but, it was fun..carrie got to see her kid...we hung out at her sister's haus..did the brewpub thing, found some good restuarants, etc the bad part was, her cough wasn't gettin any better..not at all...at one point i almost was going to rush her to the hospital...instead, she sat all nite in the shower, trying to calm her throat and lungs.... food was definately better, though, fred myers away from seattle proper are sorta frightening places..i never knew taco bell made so many different styles of sauce er taco shells...i guess hoping for organic taco shells was asking for a bit much, but, man, we couldn't even find bread we could eat at that one store! but, it got better..there are numerous nummy places to eat in seattle, and we stocked up at several places we knew of..because...next, we had to tighten our belts and *gasp*..head inland.... *dramatic music que* So ends part one of fraggle's inane adventures please turn the record over after the tone to continue *beep* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Hi Fraggle Thanks for the account of your trip. It's a shame about Carrie's cough - I hope she is completely better now. I bet your dad was pleased to see you. Jo ---Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).Version: 6.0.515 / Virus Database: 313 - Release 01/09/03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 hi fraggle, your trip sounds like fun..exasperation.......and a character forming adventure..........i on ce had 4 day bus trip back from athens to uk, no food, no money and one bottle of water between two.........and i got flu..........i can laugh about it now.......even see the funny side, and i like that i survived......... you will laugh and be proud of yourself one day, if not already, catherine >EBbrewpunx > >homesteadcafe , ESI-List, eco_vegans , , TFHB > Trip notes >Tue, 30 Sep 2003 19:59:32 EDT > > well..now that we finally are home..all i can say is.. >I wanna leave again!!! >REALLY!! >i mean, coming home to a disaster, ranging from the haus being a mess, room >mate sorta moved out, to a garden that has seen mucho better days, to the cable >company scrambling all the channels around, just doesn't make fer a fun >return!!! >ah well >the trip was a blast, though, it certainly did have its ups and down..ok, so >it was like climbing the alps and falling down some crevasse at >times..but..still... >First off, we had the absolute worse time just trying to leave...ya see, lil >ol me doesn't drive, unless it's my motorcycle, though, i can push a mean >shopping cart...and carrie had lost her license several months back...to get a new >one in california means having the patience of a saint mixed with the >determination of a kite flyer in a hurricane... >after many trials and errors("im sorry, you lost your social security card as >well? well, we can't issue a new one without IDOh, you lost your ID, well, >just let us see your social security card and..."), including staking out >comfortable spots on the sidewalk outside the DMV at 5am, the final week before >we were planning on traversing out of oakland had arrived. And, still no >license. As a fall back, she had gotten an appointment to take a driving test wayyyy >back in july. And, as fate would have it, the first available date >was..september 16..which was just wonderful, because we were suppose to leave on the >15th >now, if i had only gotten off my duff and perfected my time machine >doubleflubbbergasterextrodinaire then all would have been well...alas, not to be >so, instead of leaving monday, we pushed the date back to tuesday.... >carrie goes to get her license...and the person who is letting her borrow a >car, is late... >oh..this is gonna be a fun day.. >she finally shows up, carrie takes the test, gets her license..voila... >and of course..carrie has been sick and coughing the last 2 weeks..no >sleep..fer either of us...but..we drink lotsa juice and try not to curse at one >another... >on to the next step... >time to go pick up the car.... >now, i had reserved a car many moons ago..we had toyed with the idea of just >taking my bike...but, the realiztion of zooming through the Rockies in >september sorta kicked that idea out, besides the fact carrie wanted to be able to >walk again..spoil sport... >so, as carrie is getting her license, i dutifully call the rental >company...and, no cars...wot do you mean no cars??..sorry, no cars, call back later... >!!!!!! >carrie comes home..i make a few phone calls...no cars still..how a rental >agency can be out of cars is a new one on me, but, wot do i know, i've never >worked in one.. >finally, we ride down there...well, the car should be ready any moment >now...just hang tight..and, may we see a credit card? so, i had them mine...and then >they ask for one from carrie... >ummmm. >wha? >i'm renting the car, not her.. >apparantly, from this car rental gulag they need one from her as >well....suffice to say carrie doesn't even have a bank account >uh oh >fuming, we leave.. >now wot? >we head to another agency where a friend of mine works...of course, he isn't >there, but, miraculously they have cars at this one! so, we start fillin out >paperwork, when one of the fine person's behind the counter asks "so, where are >you going?"...being the honest little fellow i am, i gladly pipe up with >"Denver!".. >sad faces stare at us from behind the counter >my pen falters >"oooh, i'm sorry, we can't rent out of any state that does not border >california.." >my lack of hair on my head thusly encourages me to seek some stranger out on >the street, so i can pull his hair out..luckily, carrie stops me... >with a last bit of will, we rush over to our last chance, the car company we >had always rented from in the past, and had always 100% gotten something, >somewhere wrong...and, lo and behold, they have cars, available cars even!! >quickly, we rent one, watching the sky for raining frogs or a plague of >locusts... >fleeing home..we rapidly toss everything in, hey, its ok, we are only a day >late..so wot if its almost 4pm, why, didn't einstein say time was >relative?..after unpacking carrie from the trunk, and convincing myself that i didn't need >all that camping gear..we head out!! >onto the freeway! >yes! >northward bound!! Seattle here we come! >of course, since we had skeedadled from oakland so late, that tossed all my >brewpub plans along the way into a tizzy..never fear, we'll figure something >else out! >*note to self* never think that some roadside cafe that proclaims "best >chinese food" and then lists hamburgers on the menu is "figuring something else >out".. >yes, we had dinner in the middle of the night in some...restuarant..in >oregon...i tried to explain "vegan" half a zillion times, and the menu even listed >vegetarian options, but, still not sure they understood..granted, maybe i was >overtaxing the 15 yr old behind the counter, i mean, it was a skool nite and >all...but, i think i finally convinced her that, no, shrimp were not ok..tofu is >fine yes, but, no, no chicken..and we had a dinner that was only slightly >less greasy then valvoline... >and, off we continue into the nite... >i hastily scratched off the places i had marked off in portland..don't think >many brewpubs er veggie restuarants are open at 1am anywho...but, valiantly, >we carried on...and arrived outside seattle at sunup... >and, of course..its raining..wouldn't be a trip to seattle without clouds, >more clouds, and rain... >its amazing we made it at all, considering carrie's cough got so bad that we >had to pull over every half an hour so she could have me thump on her back.. >but, it was fun..carrie got to see her kid...we hung out at her sister's >haus..did the brewpub thing, found some good restuarants, etc >the bad part was, her cough wasn't gettin any better..not at all...at one >point i almost was going to rush her to the hospital...instead, she sat all nite >in the shower, trying to calm her throat and lungs.... >food was definately better, though, fred myers away from seattle proper are >sorta frightening places..i never knew taco bell made so many different styles >of sauce er taco shells...i guess hoping for organic taco shells was asking >for a bit much, but, man, we couldn't even find bread we could eat at that one >store! >but, it got better..there are numerous nummy places to eat in seattle, and we >stocked up at several places we knew of..because...next, we had to tighten >our belts and *gasp*..head inland.... >*dramatic music que* >So ends part one of fraggle's inane adventures >please turn the record over after the tone to continue >*beep* Protect your PC from e-mail viruses. 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Guest guest Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 In a message dated 10/2/03 3:39:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time, cait2 writes: .....even see the funny side, and i like that i survived......... you will laugh and be proud of yourself one day, if not already, oh..it wasn't bad in the least now, that trip where the truck broke down repeatedly, back about 8 yrs ago..that was bad...but funny! and that trip which we use to call the "biblical plague tour", where we had floods, snow, hail, and funnel clouds..now, that was scary..hahahahhaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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