Return to Washington

With the revelation that I did not have to work on President's Day, I took advantage of this and decided to take the train up to greater Seattle this weekend.  The plan was to see Shim with my friends on Saturday night, and then drive back to Camano to take in the scenery and honky tonks around that area.

I enjoyed the train ride quite a bit.  Well, at least on the way up.  The young lady sitting next to me on the way back seemed to have no problem whatsoever elbowing me and draping her blanket over my arm.  I got lots of reading done though.  I finished "The Summer That Fletcher Greel Loved Me" by Suzanne Kingsbury.  It seems like a teen romance book on the surface, but it goes deeper than that, analyzing inter-racial relationships in the South during the 80s. I got pretty far in to the Percy Jackson book that Ty got me as well.  I'm hope to finish it before seeing the movie. I mean, I have to now that I've started it.

First it was the Smokeshop.  Drinks were had.  Then onto dinner at Oaxaca.  I had the quesadillas.  They were deep fried and pretty much had the consistently of mozzarella cheese sticks.  Then back to the Smokeshop.  Shim was alright.  The first band was all-out grunge.  I don't remember what they were called, but they weren't bad.  The second, I remember what they were called, and well, they were just no good.  Try grunge with keyboard and backup vocals/tambourine.  Seriously, if you don't know how to use a tambourine, don't even bother.  I think maybe that Carol just set the standard too high for me for all future tambourine players that stand on a stage before me.  Shim came on, and well, it was loud and crowded.  They're an interesing bunch, drawing on many different influences, but in the end, to me they are power pop band, maybe slightly stuck in the 70s.  They played a lot of new songs I had not heard.

From there, it was on to one of Ballard's classic dive bars... GOLDEN CITY.  A lot of the Maldives were hanging out, as it was apparently the long-bearded banjo player's birthday.  I didn't really talk to any of them. I think I mostly ended up chatting Yates' assistant over the merits of Willie Nelson, crooners, and Central Ohio.  It's nice to know that someone that young can still appreciate the classics.  I mean, it got me at that age, but when you get older, you figure those things don't happen anymore.  Soon it was last call, and the bartender began snatching drinks from everyone.  I quickly downed my Diet Coke before she got to me.

It was raining quite a bit at this point, and since I don't really drink, I drove Don & Deb back to Camano.  Having Mr. Yates as the drunken back seat driver is entirely entertaining and annoying all at the same time.  I actually didn't mind because his voice actually helped to keep me more alert.  I mean, I'm not even sure of half the things he said... something about one time when he got approached by sheriffs at a gas station.  I'm sure it was a great story, but I had to focus on the driving.  Many times he kept yelling to me that I was driving too slow, and was going to call attention to myself and get us pulled over.  I kept reminding him that I didn't care because you know, I was sober.  Even after we hydro-planed on the highway doing 60 in a 70 mph zone, he still kept yelling at me to drive faster.  Deb laid into him after that, and he decided to finally pass out.  He decided to remain there after we got home.

The views from Camano Island are gorgeous.  Unfortunately, it was too foggy for me to get the full experience, but the house overlooks the Saratoga Passage which is part of the Puget Sound... or thereabouts.  Bald eagles and grey whales are seen here frequently.  However, there were big plans for the day.  These were to drive to Edison to see the bald eagles, and then go to the Old Edison Inn for Honky Tonk Music.  These pictures pretty much sum up the day:



It was a long haul, and I was pretty beat at the end of the day.  I retired early so I'd be fresh for my train ride home out of Stanwood on Monday.  We got there in plenty of time, but the stupid thing was about 50 minutes late.  Ah, well.  I do like the train though.  I think maybe I want to take it to California sometime.  And Vancouver, BC.

zzzzzz