Ahh, November in the northwest. How I will not miss thee. I am in Vancouver Washington at my cousin Ryan’s house. He’s been kind enough to give me a couple days of R&R before I head down to my sister’s place in Corvalis for Turkey Day.

The first few days of my trip have been comically wet. At times I wondered if a firetruck with a malfunctioning hose was following me around. Storm drains overflowed, culverts geysered by the roadside, and me with a huge smile on my face; laughing at the absurdity of it all. When the temperature did drop enough to make me uncomfortable I reminded myself that I was not sitting at a desk and all was well again. The irony is that some of you back in Seattle may have been saying “I’m sure glad I’m not where Dave is right now” as the rain beat down. Good times.

 

The route I chose took me from West Seattle, through Auburn; Puyallup; Spanaway; Roy; Yelm; Tenino; Centralia; Vader; Kelso; and Woodland. With the low clouds and decaying vegetation there wasn’t too much to see. I did at three distinct occasions have, what I assume must have been kids, come up behind me in a truck, honk, then speed off. I remember kids who used to do this on Whidbey Island where I grew up. Apparently they think it will scare the rider and cause them to crash. It does not. I saw roadside sign for a video store that read: “If John Wayne saw Brokeback Mountain he would put a patch over the other eye”. I had identified what the honking really was. Rednecks. Their standard to bear is that of ignorance and intolerance. How disgusting.

 

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