I took I-90 East to sounds of my Seattle playlist.
I-90 is the longest interstate highway in the United States stretching from Seattle to Boston, and it would take us through through Spokane, Washington's second largest city. Washington is nicknamed the Evergreen State and the drive 50-100 miles from Seattle is impressively green, with tress covering the Cascades.
We stopped for a pit stop in the vicinity of Keechelus Lake and the song playing in the gasmart struck me as being awesome. It was The Band Perry - Chainsaw. The other thing that struck me was the pride of the woman working there to keep things in spotless condition.
Once we entered the Colombia River Basin the trees disappeared and the hay fields began, and my allergies went bananas. And my neck was sore, so the 500 mile drive to Missoula was already miserable for me, and the sad, angry grunge music was making things worse, so I needed a change in audio input. One song from the Seattle playlist really hit me in the right way - Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. I was introduced to this beautiful song by the morning TV show at school, the instrumental part plays on the three minute countdown on Wednesday or Thursday. When Ben Gibbard sang,
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
It seems farther than ever before
I need you so much closer
I felt the same way, exactly. Although he was probably thinking about a woman when he wrote those lyrics, I was thinking about today's destination Missoula, Montana. Either way, we connected, so much so that I called the event the Evergreen State Mind Meld.
When we stopped in George, Washington...think about that for a second...two different dudes noticed my USA soccer jersey. One said 'I like your jersey" and the other said "Hey U-S-A". My first World Cup memory is returning home from a trip to Ireland in 1994 and seeing that USA '94 dog everywhere driving home from the airport. Since 2002, I've loved the World Cup, it's one of my top two favorite sporting events. I've predicted Brazil for this year.
Haunted for 64 years by the disappointment of 1950, #worldcup2014 will be a story of redemption. Brazil wins⚽️ pic.twitter.com/cIn5ReFexw
— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyTweets) June 12, 2014
Crossing the Colombia River was pretty epic. I pulled off for a scenic view after crossing on the Vantage Bridge.  |
| Colombia River |
Before we reached Spokane we made a stop in Sprague, WA. I bought some cheese popcorn and dropped a donation into the bucket next to the register for a local fallen soldier.
The popcorn made my fingers turn nuclear orange and I dropped surprisingly little on myself as I ate and drove. Anyone who has ever been on a movie date with me knows that I'm a ranked popcorn spiller. I'll get up at the end of a movie and there'll be mounds with the equivalent of a small size popcorn surrounding me. Can't worry about that though.
It began to rain hard as we entered the forested Spokane County, but it didn't last very long, so we passed through Spokane and entered a 70 mile stretch of I-90 through Idaho. After passing through the beautiful Coeur d'Alene area, I cut through the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and out of Idaho.
Entering Montana marked the 40th state I've visited and I've been excited to see the Big Sky state. Big clouds is about all I've seen up there so far though. For the final leg to Missoula I needed to get seriously boosted so I put on my Blue Flames playlist, which is mostly my favorite EDM tracks.
We arrived in Missoula around 730 with the sound of M83's epic song Oblivion on blast. We checked into the motel and then went to eat dinner at Dickie's BBQ. I chowed down on a pulled pork sandwich, bbq beans, and fresh cut and fried waffle fries. With a full belly, I went straight to bed because I was exhausted.
In the morning we went to Walmart because I needed a bag strap. I also picked up some University of Montana gear, which has the same colors as Lowell High, and I saw the purrfect 4th of July t shirt for my buddy Collins.
On the drive to Helena today I listened to The Band Perry's album with Chainsaw on it. It was pretty good, but I was unmoved. We stopped at the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass, 6,444 feet.
From there we listened to the playlist I made for Ganno's wedding, and I noticed my mother tapping along to Schoolboy Q's Man of the Year. I rolled into the state capital of Montana pondering one of life's great questions - turn down for what?
We ate lunch at Bert and Ernie's Saloon and Grill and they were setting up for their 40th anniversary block party. I foolishly ordered Irish nachos.
 |
| I wish I knew how to quit you |
Approaching Helena we started to see signs for the Testicle Festival (testyfesty.com). It's a big party - outdoor food and music. Evidently, it has three big contests - wet t shirt, ball eating, and big ball contest. I'd be nuts not to come back for this at the end of July.
So, I've spent the last two days mostly driving to get here. I'm weary from the road, so I'll spend this evening mentally and physically preparing for the jewel of this road trip, Yellowstone National Park.
Here's what it looks like to drive through Montana, part of the road I nicknamed, Miner's Road, because it looks like it was paved in gold, and blood.
 |
| Testicle Festival billboard |
 |
| Miner's Road |
 |
| Fire Walk with Me |
No comments:
Post a Comment