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Portland / Seattle Feb 2003
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Left Paradise at 8:00 am on Friday morning - tried to stop in Medford to take
my oldest to lunch - no such luck - seems she was in a meeting with grandbabies
teacher - so, off I head toward Portland - having the highest mountain pass now
behind me [4381 feet - highest pass on I-5]
Up, and down, and up, and down, and up, and down - Oregon has LOTS of them!
However - NEVER let it be said that all the crazy drivers are in California -
not by a long shot! Especially the closer I get to Portland!
However -I get to the outskirts of Portland - Alan Jackson wailing at the top of
his lungs and mine - at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon - not particularly good
planning on my part! It took 90 minutes to go the 20miles to my sister's house.
All in first gear. Would you believe that all of Portland's ramps go UP - and
I'm driving a stick shift!
Finally arrive at sister's house at 6:00. Exhausted. If only I had known about
the bypass!
 Saturday
morning, EARLY, my brother-in-law offers to drive into Portland to Tama's
library, so I don't get lost - and he sticks around to listen to our chatter
over coffee and take pictures for me, because Tama has gotten permission to give
us a tour before the library opens. I AM REALLY IMPRESSED - with Tama, AND with
her library.
Tama's library is in the section of Portland where Beverly Cleary grew up - and
the wall in the entryway is dedicated to her - a marble "map" of the
neighborhood, with her homes and the homes of her characters shown on it!!!!
Absolutely gorgeous! And the library didn't mind if we took pictures - not like
the stuffy old museum [see explanation further on]! AND, I have copies of their
brochures for the girls and I!
I finally HAVE to get going, because Jamie is waiting for me, so Alan Jackson
and I hit the road
again. Not too much further down the road, I cross into Washington State - where
the sign says "Visitor and Volcano Information" - there's a comforting
thought! And the speed limit drops to _60_! Trust me - it is REALLY hard to keep
Jamie's car down that slow. But Alan Jackson is keeping me company, so I do my
best to slow down, which is a good thing; because the state patrol is everywhere
I look! A couple of "rest stops" and a gasoline stop, and I'm across
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and headed for Bremerton. [Some day, when you have
time, look up "Galloping Gertie" in Google - quite a story!]
I manage to arrive at the base about 1:00 [only an hour late, it was fun
chatting with Tama!] and I see AIRCRAFT CARRIERS at the docks. This is WAY cool,
because I love aircraft carriers, and I want PICTURES. Finally wind my way
around to the proper gate, they ask my name, I tell them there should be a pass
for me, and the youngster grins and says, "OH! You're Jamie's MOM! Just
pull right over there an they'll give you a pass." but that's not
necessary, because Jamie is THERE, and can't wait to get behind the wheel of her
car. **GRIN** Seems she has been telling everyone for three weeks that "my
momma is coming, and she's bringing my CAR." We drive up to the barracks
and she corrals another young man into helping unload her stereo system and get
it carried up to her room. Then we're off on a tour of bases and friends. “You
brought her car AND
her stereo? Oh, MAN, we’re ALL in trouble!” Some jewelry changes hands in a
couple of places. I want to take pictures of the aircraft carriers . . .
"NO, MOM! You'll get arrested, and I'll get in BIG trouble!" **sigh**
These particular ones have been decommissioned, but they're still carriers.
Would you believe that in the entire town, there isn't a postcard or picture of
any kind to be found of the carriers or the base? True! I guess I'll just have
to swipe pictures out of the Navy News. **pout**
We finally give up and admit we're both tired, and Jamie drops me off at the
hotel room she has reserved for me, and she heads back to the base, intending to
get some sleep. Turns out that just as she gets back to the base, the people on
her shift come in from work [Jamie is on liberty for the weekend]. They all want
to hear Jamie's car stereo and go for a ride.
And they all want to know where _I_ am, because they wanted me to come back
and party with them!!!!! I thought that part was really sweet! None of them
is over 21,I don't think, but they are so impressed that I would drive Jamie's
car all the way up there to deliver it to her, that I must be fun to be around.
That really made me feel good - of course, she's told them all about my trip
with Alan Jackson . . .
.
. . you see, all this time I've been driving Jamie's car around, _I_ thought
that the only sound you could hear on the outside of the car was the
"bass-boom" from the speakers. I mean - that's all I hear from the
ones that drive by, right? NO! It seems these particular speakers throw ALL the
sound both inside and out. So unknowingly, I have blasted all of Northern
California, all of Oregon, and all of Washington State along the I-5 corridor
with Alan Jackson for the entire trip! Jamie thought it was hysterical. I'm
amazed I didn't get at least a dozen tickets. [But it was a lot of fun, driving
750 miles singing at the top of my lungs with no one to complain about my
voice!]
Sunday morning, we managed to be on time by accident - Jamie slept through her
alarm, and the hotel forgot my wakeup call - but we still managed to make it to
Seattle on time. Yes, Jamie freaks out if she thinks I'm heading toward a
bookstore ["We'll NEVER get her out - do you know how many hours I've
followed her around book stores?"] and she browsed the sporting goods store
while we were in the bead store - but we had a great time. Jamie kept her sense
of humor and managed to crack people up several times with her view of Navy life
and Seattle in general. Kat and Kandice explained all KINDS of things, and made
the day worlds of fun for me.
Adventures in Glassware - Kat
So, on Sunday, February 9, 2003,I met internet-friend Vicki, her daughter Jamie
(who is strikingly pretty, even in a bright pink hoodie), and one of Vicki's
other internet-friends, Kandice (super talented redhead), here in Seattle. We
met for breakfast at the Salmon Bay Cafe next to the marina where my boat is
moored. It was a rather gray and cold morning, not raining but overcast and
definitely hinting at moisture of some kind. Chilly at 44F (that's 6C for you
Europeans).
 First
thing, it turns out I've given Vicki the wrong phone number. Luckily, I gave her
my husband's cell phone number also, so she got through to him to say that she
and Jamie were at the cafe and waiting for me. I grab my pullover, camera and
purse and hop it for the restaurant, where Vicki is looking out for me in front
of the doors. She looks exactly like her picture and I would have had no trouble
spotting her, even if she hadn't spotted me first. She is an utter darling.
 Big
hugs and we hustle inside for some brekkie. Kandice has not yet arrived, but she
does right
after I order. What timing! We all munch while Kandice and Vicki show off some
really gorgeous jewelry and beads which they have made and are going to put up
for auction to benefit a beading friend with really scary medical bills. (Ask
Vicki for more details. [see http://www.vickijean.com
and click on the link for "Carol auctions]) Jamie is a little bored by the
beading chatter, but very polite about it. We snarfle down our food and head for
my boat to introduce Jamie to the ferrets.
 Ferrets
are, of course, wiggly and goofy, as expected (see,I knew those bribes would
work). Once Dex and Fidgie have done their best to sniff Jamie all over while
husband-mine plays host and protects his computer from marauding ferret-feet,
the caravan is off to visit Fusion Beads, just down the street.
Both Vicki and Kandice are bead people, so I figured Fusion was a safe
bet. We are early and have to lounge about outside the door for a while. I hang
out in the car with Jamie to stay warm and listen to some kickin' tunes, which
do, indeed, kick as the car is not so much a form of transportation as a mobile
stereo with seats. This is highly enjoyable for me and Jamie, but Vicki and
Kandice choose to forego the joys of bass-induced cardio arrhythmia by driving
down in Kandice's car and hanging outside the shop door to talk until such time
as the sales staff shall take pity upon us and let us in. Eventually, they do.
Much investigation of the stock is made and a certain amount of "Ooo...
look at this one! Aren't these great!" fills the air.
After nearly an hour of drooling over the beads and findings, we begin to
commence to start to get the flock out of there, but end up waiting a little
longer as Kandice shows the glass beads she makes to the manager. Haha! Our
lucky day! (Well, certainly a good one for Kandice.) Kandice walks away from the
store with a bag full of really cool stuff
and an arrangement to sell her beads to the store. (Who says you can't
mix business and pleasure?)
We're off to the Tacoma Museum of Glass. Once again, Jamie and I in the Honda
tune-mobile and Vicki and Kandice in the more sedate, dark sedan.
 Some
evil-doer has started roadworks on the street to the museum, so we take a detour
through beautiful downtown Tacoma (which is beautiful in about the same way that
a dead fish is beautiful, for the most part) and find our way to the museum.
It's easy to spot by the large, inverted cone of steel and glass sticking out
one end like a baby volcano.
 The
museum is moderately busy. Unfortunately, they do not allow the use of cameras
inside, so no pictures from us of "Jane's Hot Shop" (the live
glass-working area) nor of the really strange main exhibit gallery. No pics of
the glass flags of the world, either. (Insert frowny-face, here.)[according to
the museum guards, the artists own the copyright to pictures of their work, and
the museum sells videos of the "Hot Shop" - hence, no cameras.] But we
do get nice and warm in the Hot Shop while a couple of remarkably good-looking
young men make an exotic bird out of glass and see some really strange stuff
done with glass in the gallery. One of the installations is a set of floating
glass cubes make by drawing heated glass tubes out with tweezers. Another looks
remarkably like a collection of l ovely
red, black and white sperm. Or possibly some variety of bird, but a lot of them,
nonetheless. The weirdest thing is a strobe-lighted exhibit of whirling glass
figures which appear to be born out of the heads of sleepers at the bottom of
the piece, climb upwards while mutating into wheels which become square, print
words on the uprights and then melt back into people who hop into mouse-trap
beds and vanish to start the cycle anew. Very surreal and a little nauseating,
what with all the flickering, but also rather cool.
A quick trip through the museum store and then outside to see the exterior
exhibits. Kandice shows
me a gigantic tea service made of branches and twigs afloat in one of the
museum's reflecting pools. I wonder what sort of tea party requires a grass
teapot. With a doorway in it.
We go up the stairs around the steel volcano (actually the exterior of the Hot
Shop) and find a pool full of floating glass apples, giant Ms made of clear
glass panels, and the "bridge of glass".
The bridge is a walkway over the railroad tracks, which connects the
museum, located on the commercial canal, to the old railroad station, which is
now the Historical Museum. At our end, the bridge looks very unexceptional from
the outside. Just two heavy vertical walls blocking the overpass. But inside the
first set of walls is a display of large glass pieces by local artist Dale
Chihuly. Mostly vases and giant glass flowers made in bulging, swirling organic
shapes and bright, rich colors. The back wall of the display is frosted glass.
If the sunlight were a little brighter, the objects would glow with light and
color. But the sun is a bit scanty and the glass urns and pots are not quite so
lively. I catch Jamie on camera adjusting a woman-eating sock.
A few steps further and we come to a tunnel. It doesn't look very exciting from
the outside, but Kandice, who has been here before, assures us that it is.
Inside the tunnel, the roof is filled with colored glass objects ranging in size
from fist to dinner table. Giant rods of
twisted and colored glass, ribbons and plates, goblets, marbles, flowers,
creatures and quite possibly a few  giant
tadpoles blaze over our heads, piled and jumbled and spilled together on the
clear class ceiling, glowing like gems. I lie down to take a picture and manage
to sneak in an extra one of Kandice and Vicki by humping around upside down and
putting the camera over my head. Strangely, no one seems to think it's weird to
see an adult woman lying on the ground here, with a camera.
 We
carry on across the bridge and stop to take another couple of pictures
of the pillars of blue glass "rocks" tickling the clouds, which anchor
the other end of the bridge. Jamie and Vicki both declare them to look
"like rock candy". The largest rock candy on the planet. On a bright
day, I imagine it would be blinding. It's certainly very large and I am feeling
very short.
We make it across the bridge and spot a Starbucks, which we all agree sounds
like just the thing, considering that the temperature is now about 39F (no, I
can't figure that one out in C).
Passing a branch of the University of Washington bookstore, Jamie mutters a
prayer that it will be closed and we shan't be forced to dawdle endlessly among
the books, as her hip is hurting her and she knows her mom is a book-addict.
(Aren't we all?) Her prayers are answered and the bookstore is closed, thus not
impeding our progress to a cup of hot coffee.
We take over a table and swap various wicked tales about pretty much everything.
I nearly make Jamie snort caramel macchiata out her nose with a comment about
how young men have been dating, not women, but makeup and support hose. The poor
creatures. I am very hard on Jamie's ability to keep a straight face, which is
fine, since she's a pretty quick wit, herself. Kandice and Vicki nearly fall out
of their chairs.
We finish up our coffees and head back across the bridge for cars and home, the
light is failing and the museum will be closing very soon. It is also getting
downright icy and a misty rain has begun to fall. We discuss Alice Walker and
everything purple on the way to the parking garage. Purple is Kandice's favorite
color.
Lovely day, in spite of the now-lowering sky. We bid Kandice goodbye in the
parking garage, as she has to head in a different direction from us. Kandice and
Vicki demand copies of pictures. We expect to hear all about the success of the
auction.
A long, wet drive ensues from Tacoma back to Ballard. Clouds have decided to
come and sit on the I-5 corridor like sulky children and blubber misty wet stuff
onto the roadway while obscuring everything nearby which is more than three
stories tall. We are heartened by music within our roving stereo.
No incidents on the way home and I am forced to wave goodbye, at last, in the
cafe parking lot. Back where we started.
Delightful company. Delightful day. I hope we can do this again, sometime.
--------------
But at 5:00 it was time for everyone to get home, and me to get to SeaTac before
I turned into a pumpkin - which is a whole 'nother story.
First, they unpacked, checked, and repacked not only my checked baggage, but my
carry-on stuff, too. And everybody gets the "wand" treatment. I KNEW I
should have changed back into my sweats before going to the airport - even the
rivets in my jeans trip the wands!
Plane was to take off at 7:25. Right. At 8:00 we still hadn't even boarded.
Never did find out what happened. Finally took off about 8:45. **sigh** everyone
knows how if feel about flying anyway. It was NOT a smooth flight. Then, just as
we are closing in on Sacramento, they announce that this plane will NOT be
continuing on to San Diego after all - but there will be a connecting flight
from Sacramento - being held just for the passengers on this plane. So - would
everyone please stay in their seats, except those going on to San Diego -
because they need to get to the next gate ASAP, because the plane MUST arrive in
San Diego before 11:30 pm [it's now 10:15pm] because due to security concerns,
San Diego airport is being CLOSED DOWN at 11:30 and they have to get there
before that happens.
Then they change their minds. Would everyone going to San Diego please stay ON
the plane, because they are bringing the other passengers over. VERY rough
landing. That pilot was in a HURRY. I've never seen a plane taxi to the gate
that fast. I was the FIRST person off of that plane! My Johnny was at the
airport to meet me, along with David and Cody. Finally arrive home at 12:15am.
It’s now 1:30, and I'm exhausted!
-
Kat Richardson & Vicki Ball
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