Entered Oregon (State #47 on this trip; State #47 Total). 155223 miles.
My intention today was to drive north on Idaho's Highway 95 (scenic road) up to the town of Couer d'Alene, then West to the city of Spokane, Washington. I knew I was going to enter the state of Washington today. I was thrilled that I would finally enter State #48!!! What I did not know in the morning were the specific circumstances that although got me to State #48, made me drive to a place far away from my intended destination.
Just before leaving the motel, I turned on the news on television and saw that almost the entire length Highway 95 had traffic jams in both directions because a construction truck had accidentally spilled hot tar on the road! The news reporters were advising travelers NOT to drive on Highway 95 unless absolutely necessary. I opened my maps. I found a shorter and more direct way to get to Washington -- via Oregon, on I-84.
After eating a free breakfast and checking out of the motel, I started driving Oregon-bound on I-84. The car was driving wonderfully, and I did not hear any strange sounds coming from the engine...
Entered Oregon (State #47 on this trip; State #47 Total). 155223 miles.
After driving some more, I crossed the time zone boundary and entered the Pacific Time Zone.
One of the largest towns on I-84 in Oregon is Pendleton. I stopped there for lunch at a Dennys restaurant. After lunch, I asked a waitress at the restaurant the location of the nearest mailbox or post office -- I had already bought and written a postcard a while back. She told me how to get to the Pendleton Post Office, and I started driving on a 1-way road.
After driving a few miles without finding any post office, I made two quick left turns and was headed back towards the freeway. I suddenly saw a AAA office on the left side of the road. I quickly stopped and went inside to get a city map of Richland, WA -- this was the next major town on my way. AAA does not make a map of Richland, and the receptionist gave me a map of Washington state instead. She said there is a small map of Richland in the state map. I already had a Washington state map, but I took theirs anyway and came back out. Just outside the AAA office was a mail box! I mailed the Oregon postcard and continued driving. I went back to the Dennys restaurant.
I was expecting to be in Seattle by this evening, so I made a reservation for a motel in the town of Fife (suburb of Seattle) for one full week. After that, I continued driving Northwest on I-84, and then North on I-82 -- bound for State #48.
One of America's major rivers -- the Columbia River -- goes along most of the Oregon-Washington border. The valley that the river has carved out is known as "Columbia River Gorge National Recreational Area". As I-82 enters Washington, it crosses the river at a 90deg.-angle. I had been to a similar road in Memphis -- I-40 crosses the Mississippi River and enters the state of Tennessee at a 90deg.-angle. The "Welcome to Tennessee" sign there is directly above the road, on the river bridge. At that place, I could not stop the car to take a picture of the sign. I thought the "Welcome to Washington" sign on I-82 here at the Columbia River would be the same. I wanted to photograph the Washington sign and also spend some time there taking pictures of the car with the sign, me with the sign, etc. So I exited the freeway a few miles before it crosses the Columbia River. I wanted to enter Washington state on a local-but-big-enough road where I could stop by the side to take pictures.
This local-but-big-enough-road was U.S. Highway 730. It was small enough that I could pull over next to the road and stop for a while, yet big enough that it would have a sign greeting visitors to the state of Washington. This was also a scenic road -- it ran parallel to the Columbia river.
Unlike most of America's other major rivers, the Columbia River is blue. I remembered the "brown-ness" of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, which made me appreciate the "blueness" of the Columbia River even more! I had never seen a river this blue before!
I had always known throughout this trip that there would be three states in this country that I would be overjoyed upon entering. The first was Maine. The third was supposed to be California -- except that I entered California a lot earlier than expected. The second state -- which turned out to be the third one because I entered California before this one -- was Washington. Before entering Washington, I pulled over on the shoulder and turned the engine off. I took out my box of audio cassettes and started browsing through them for the "perfect song to listen to at the instant I enter the state of Washington". I finally made up my mind -- the song would be "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". I put the audio tape inside the player and positioned it to the start of the song. Then I turned the radio off and started moving.
At 2:31 PM, I crossed a sign that said "Leaving Oregon". On the other side of the sign was a small patch of land next to the road, then another sign that said those three magic words -- "WELCOME TO WASHINGTON". I stopped the car in the patch of land between the two signs and started playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" on the car's radio. I rolled down both windows, turned the volume up to full, then stepped out of the car to take pictures.
Odometer Reading = 155,437
It was a big occasion!
Half hour later, I left the border and continued driving towards Seattle. The next major city on my route would be Richland, WA...
Just before re-entering the freeway at Richland, something else happened.
Three more photographs of the odometer only.
I continued driving towards I-82 in Richland.
To get to I-82, I was driving through the town of Richland, WA on I-182 (local interstate freeway that connects the cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, WA, known collectively as "Tri-cities"). Then the inevitable happened, and the only warning I had lasted a total of two seconds.
3:25 PM I was driving on I-182 at freeway speed (70 Miles Per Hour). I was in the center lane of three lanes. Suddenly, I heard a "TIK TIK" in the engine. A couple seconds later, the engine stopped running! This was while I was moving at 70 Miles Per Hour!!! I felt a sudden jolt that I cannot describe using any words here. I quickly shifted into "Neutral" and pulled over to the side of the road. THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING WHILE THE CAR WAS MOVING AT 70 MILES PER HOUR!!! Obviously, this was a serious problem -- yet, I never considered the full seriousness of this problem until two days later. My first reaction was that I would have to stay in Richland at least one or two days, then continue on to Seattle "after the car is fixed". I could wait a couple of days in this town -- I didn't mind.
Fortunately, the car stopped in a city -- a place where I could get some help. I could see a large shopping plaza off the interstate a mile ahead. I took out a Coke can from the icebox and started walking towards the shopping center. When I got there, I started looking for a phone to call a AAA tow truck.
This shopping center was a newly built one, and THERE WAS NO PHONE THERE! I walked back a mile to the car and decided to wait for a police officer. When I came back to the car, I tried to start the engine again, but it wouldn't start. I raised the trunk and hood and waited for a police officer.
One car (not a police car) stopped behind me. I got out and walked towards the other driver, who was also walking towards me. We met half-way, and I started rambling about what had happened. The other driver probably did not understand a single word of what I said. Instead, he took out a AAA map of Washington and asked me for directions on how to get to some town!!! He did not speak English very well, and I could not understand what language he was speaking. I tried to tell him I am from out-of-state and have no idea how to get to wherever he wanted to go (I couldn't even understand that part -- where he wanted to go)! Finally, he got the idea and left. I went back to my car.
After some more waiting, I left again for the same newly-built shopping plaza with no phone.
Walked a mile.
I went inside a shop that sold kitchen appliances (mainly pots and pans) and asked if I could use their phone to make some toll-free (800) phone calls. The only phone in that shop was next to the cash register. Since the cashier did not want me to go next to the cash register she asked me for the phone number and dialed it herself, then gave the receiver to me. This must have been a comic sight -- I was holding on to the receiver, with the phone wire stretching over and across the counter to the cash register.
The first number I called was Travelers Inn's (800) number and canceled my reservation at their motel in Fife. Next, I called a motel in Richland (also an 800-number) and made a reservation for tonight for an "indefinite stay". Next, I called AAA for a tow truck. Each time, I would give the cashier either the AAA tour book or my AAA membership card, and she would dial the number for me, while I held on to the receiver. Each call I made attracted more onlookers -- even they were interested in what had happened, and were listening intently as I was speaking on the phone.
There were a few families shopping at that store, and there were a lot of small children there. The children would start banging on the pots and pans whenever I started talking on the phone. After all three calls were finally made, I thanked the cashier again and left the plaza. The tow truck would be at my car within fifteen minutes, and that is how long I had to walk back.
Walked a mile.
Tried to start the car again, but again, it would not start.
The tow truck came and towed my car to "Columbia Center Dunes Motel" in Richland, WA. I checked in to the motel. This was at 6:55 PM -- three and half hours after it happened. If it had not happened, I would have been in Seattle by now...
Within one hour today, I had entered state #48, the car finished 25,000 miles on this trip, and it stopped working. If I had not turned on the news this morning at the motel in Boise, I would have driven up Highway 95 in Idaho, and would have been stuck in traffic all day. I would not have entered Washington, the car would not have passed the 25,000-mile mark, and I would have been stuck in the middle of nowhere in Idaho when the car eventually died. That is why I consider this day to be "full of strange coincidences/miracles".
Miscellaneous:
2:31 PM Entered WASHINGTON
(State #48 on this trip and total).
Total miles driven so far on this trip = 24,987
Song playing on the radio = "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (at least ten times, repeatedly).
Total Number of Photographs Taken = 6
Number of bumper stickers put on the car = 1
3:08 PM 25,000 TRIP MILES.
Odometer reading = 155450 miles.
Town:
Perry, OR (not on AAA map: I-84 Exit 257)
Expenses:
$45.96
Chase
Comfort Inn
Boise, ID
$14.26
CB
Gas, Postcard -- CONOCO
Baker City, OR
$4.60
CB
Lunch -- Dennys
Pendleton, OR
The car was in the shop, so I had nowhere to go. I stayed in the motel room for most of the day, talking on the phone with Mom at Bhindi Jewelers -- giving directions on how to do what used to be my job.
In the afternoon, I walked about one mile to "Columbia Center", which is the tri-cities' largest shopping plaza. There is one large mall, a movie theater, several major department stores, gas stations and restaurants. I ate at a Burger King, then walked to a K-Mart nearby for some snacks (but did not buy anything today).
I had rented a VCR from the motel's front desk. I was also watching movies all day, whenever I was not doing any of the above.
At night, I walked to a local fast-food restaurant across the street from the motel and ordered their chicken sandwich for dinner. I knew that there was a good chance that I would spending all of the next day in the motel, and this restaurant was very conveniently located right across the street. If I liked their food, I would go there again the next day.
I did not like their food. It tasted miserable. I did not go their again during the remainder of my stay in Richland.
Expenses:
| $4 | Cash | Bumper sticker & postcard -- Columbia Center Mall | Kennewick, WA |
| $4 | Cash | Lunch -- Burger King | Kennewick, WA |
| $7 | Cash | Video Cassette Player rental -- Columbia Center Dunes Motel | Richland, WA |
| $4 | Cash | Dinner -- "Zip's" | Richland, WA |
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There are some days in every person's life that they never forget for the rest of their life. Days that change their lives forever. Days that they can look back on and say, "I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. This day changed my life forever." This was one of those days.
I was awakened in the morning by a phone call from the auto mechanic.
When I hung up the phone, I was in shock. I couldn't think.
I went to take a shower. That was when I fully understood what had happened. My car had died. As the water from the shower was falling on my face, a different kind of liquid was coming out of my eyes.
"The Trip Must Go On." That sentence was very familiar to me before this day. Now, however: "`The Trip Must Go On.' What does that mean? How can it go on now? The car is dead. I cannot go on without the car."
I had lost all hope of finishing this trip. Finishing the trip did not matter anymore. The car was dead.
For a moment, I considered joining the car by drowning myself in the water.
For a moment.
"The car is dead."
A little while later, I left the motel to get my lunch from the Burger King. Again, for a moment, I considered joining the car by jumping onto the freeway below.
For a moment.
"The car is dead."
I came back to the motel and ate lunch. I called Dad's office and left a message on his machine telling him what had happened. I hung up the phone.
"The car is dead."
I turned on the television. There were some boring soap operas in progress.
"The car is dead."
That afternoon, I spoke to both Parixit and my dad and they suggested some options for me.
"The car is dead."
I called some auto wrecking companies and asked them how much they would pay for a 1988 Toyota Tercel 3-door hatchback that needs a new engine. The prices ranged from $75 (sight unseen) to $200 (they would have to look at the car first). All the people who said they had to look at the car first before committing to a number told me they would call me back later. None of them did.
"The car is dead."
I turned on the television again. Saw "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" that night.
"The car is dead."
Went to sleep.
Expenses:
| $4 | Cash | Stuff -- K-Mart | Kennewick, WA |
| $4 | Cash | More stuff -- K-Mart | Kennewick, WA |
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That was last thought before going to bed the previous night and the first thought when I woke up this morning. I was feeling better now. I called some rental car companies for their rates and whether or not they rent cars to people under 25. There were two companies that did, and one of them (U-Save Auto Rental) was significantly cheaper than the other one. I also called some airline companies and asked them their rates for a one-way fare from Pasco, WA to Orange County, CA. Alaska Airlines was the cheapest ($221 for a one-way ticket bought less than three days before the travel date).
In the afternoon, I went to the Burger King again for lunch, and stopped at the K-Mart for some Coke and potato chips as my dinner that night.
After lunch, I called Simpson of Tricities Toyota dealership and asked them for a ride -- I needed some more things from my car. I had been wearing the same clothes for the last three days -- I had believed that I would be getting the car back the next day, so I left my clothes inside the car. The ride came, and I went to the dealership again to get my clothes and everything else that was in the car.
In the evening, I had decided on a course of action. I would be selling the car to the highest bidder of all the auto-wrecking companies, rent a car from U-Save and finish the Washington portion of this trip in the rental car. In the mean time, dad would take a vacation from work and drive up to Richland in his car, and he would be bringing the pink slip for my car with him. Both of us would be arriving at Richland on the same day. On that day, we would sell the car and return the rental car. The next morning, we would drive to Portland airport; he would fly back to Los Angeles; and I would finish the trip in his car.
After all that was decided, I canceled the reservation I had made for flying back home. I called U-Save Auto Rental and made a reservation for a one week rental with them. The car would be delivered to my motel room at 8:00 AM the next morning.
At night, I took photographs of my motel room, including one timer-picture of myself on the bed. This is the only photograph taken of me on this trip in which I was not smiling -- on purpose. That photograph of me has been dedicated to my car, as has this book.
"My car is dead".
"That's O.K. Life goes on."
Expenses:
| $3 | Cash | Lunch -- Burger King | Kennewick, WA |
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Continue on to August 11