Day #126: Friday, August 11, 1995
0.0 Miles


The rental car was delivered promptly at 8:00 AM, at which time I filled out all their paperwork. The car was a red 1994 4-door Ford Escort with automatic transmission. It was everything Parixit had taught me to despise in a car. It was red -- a favorite for police officers. It was a Ford -- an American car. It had automatic transmission -- no acceleration potential. But it did have an engine, four wheels, and a seat, and that's all I cared about. I reset the trip meter to "0.0" miles. The odometer on this car was at 24,907.3 miles -- less than what I had already driven on this trip in my own car.

I checked out of the motel almost immediately and drove to the dealership. There was a McDonalds restaurant next to the dealership, so I stopped there first for breakfast. I then drove to where my car was parked at the dealership and took out everything else from my car and put it in the Escort.

I noted my car's odometer reading at its death -- 155,465 miles. It had carried me for a total of 25,015 miles on this trip alone! I knew I would never be able to drive it again. When I left the dealership, it was a sad farewell.

Next, I had one last stop at an "Albertsons" grocery store to buy Coke.

10:05 AM On The Road Again. I started driving towards my intended destination on August 7 -- Seattle, WA.

I stopped at a rest area along the way and made a motel reservation at the same Travelers Inn in Fife where I had canceled my reservation a few days back. I wanted to make the reservation for one week, but could only get it for five nights. I would find out why later...

2:36 PM Saw Seattle skyline for the first time. But could not see the Space Needle.

Stuck in Friday evening big city rush hour traffic!!!

3:50 PM Checked in at Travelers Inn, Fife, WA.

Seattle was one of the last major cities on this trip. Coming here meant my trip was almost over. Unfortunately, my car did not come to Seattle. I was starting to miss it already.

License Plates:





















NLIGHTN WA Jeep Cherokee???
SUM FUN WA R.V.
INGLES WA Oldsmobile
KANGS WA Honda Accord
BIG 2 WA Ford Taurus

Expenses:


























$133.68 Chase Columbia Center Dunes Motel -- 4 nights Richland, WA
$2 Cash Breakfast -- McDonalds Pasco, WA
$5 Cash Coke -- Albertsons Pasco, WA
$3 Cash Lunch -- McDonalds Yakima, WA
$6 Cash Dinner -- McDonalds Fife, WA

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Day #127: Saturday, August 12, 1995
274.5 Miles


Seattle (nicknamed "The Emerald City") is a very beautiful city. Although it is a big city complete with its own smog and traffic problems, there are also several spots that are "out of the way" and just plain wonderful! There are several National Parks that are so close to Seattle that I could start from Seattle in the morning, drive to any one of these parks, see the park, and drive back to Seattle in the evening. That was my intention for this week -- to be based at a motel somewhere in the Seattle metropolitan area (close to restaurants and gas stations, etc.), and make "day trips" to various National Parks in Western Washington, and also to the attractions within Seattle's city limits.

My first such day trip was today -- I went to Mount Rainier National Park.

It was raining in the morning. I had always known that rain is a common thing in Seattle, but I had never realized what that really meant until I went there. During the week I would spend in Seattle, there would be only one day when it would NOT rain. But by now, I did not mind the rain anymore. I had understood that it was vital to my enjoyment of such places as Mount Rainier, which were carved out over the past several million years by the rain.

Mount Rainier is the highest peak in Washington state. 14,410 feet tall. I had seen 14000+ feet mountains in Colorado, but Mount Rainier was a special "14-er". In Colorado, there are several mountains that are taller than 14,000 feet, but they are all so close to each other that their height is not realized by someone looking at them from a distance. In the case of Mount Rainier, it is the only mountain within a 1000-mile radius that rises above 14,000 feet. In its immediate vicinity, there is no mountain that rises above 10,000 feet. Because of this, Mount Rainier looks much more majestic than any of the individual mountains in Colorado. My first sight of the giant was at a place within the National Park called "Sunrise Point". I parked at that viewpoint and stepped out of the car. From there, I could see a huge white dome rising high above into the sky. There is no other sight like it. There was a forest ranger at that viewpoint answering tourists' questions. I asked the ranger the same question I had asked at Glacier National Park -- "Above what elevation does the snow here last all year?" He told me that it depends on the snowfall the previous winter. Typically, the snow lasts all year above an elevation of 8000 feet, although there are spots as low as 6000 feet where there is an occasional snow-accumulation that lasts all year.

It was raining off-and-on throughout the day, and that made me give Mount Rainier National Park a rating much lower than it really deserved -- I gave it .

I exited the park at 6:15 PM, and stopped at an enclosed phone booth to call Bhindi Jewelers. I was on the phone for the next one and half hours. Fortunately, they had an (800) number. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time and I could not hear very well, which made the phone call last longer.

After a stop for dinner at Burger King, I was back at the motel at 9:30 PM. It was still raining when I came back.

License Plates:









TREV SOC IL Honda Civic
SAIL4TH WA Mazda

Expenses:































$2 Cash Lunch -- Taco Bell Fife, WA
$80 Discover Cash withdrawal -- SeaFirst Bank Fife, WA
$9.43 CB Gas over-over-fill-up-and-spill -- "Flying J" travel plaza Fife, WA
$2 Cash Muffins -- "Flying J" travel plaza ("to go": ate as lunch later) Fife, WA
$10 Cash Snacks -- 7-11 Fife, WA
$4 Cash Dinner -- Burger King Fife, WA

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Day #128: Sunday, August 13, 1995
496 Miles


IT DID NOT RAIN AT ANY TIME TODAY!!!

Yesterday's National Park was South of Seattle, near the Oregon border. Today's National park was North of Seattle, near the Canadian border. The motel I was staying in was South of Seattle. I had to drive through the city to go to my destination today. This turned out to be a very good thing for later day trips...

I drove North to the town of Burlington, WA, where I filled up on gas. I calculated the car's mileage to be 39 Miles Per Gallon -- PATHETIC compared to my car's WONDERFUL 44 Miles Per Gallon! From Burlington, I drove East.

1:00 PM Entered North Cascades National Park.

This was not worth the trouble. I could have gone somewhere much better on this beautiful sunny day. There are mountains and there are lakes, but they are not very impressive. . I crossed the width of the park, then made a U-turn to go back the same way I came.

5:40 PM Although this was a Sunday, there was still a traffic jam in Seattle, and I was partly to blame, since I was one of the many drivers on the road. However, this traffic jam allowed me to take some pictures from the car. Since this was a clear day, I could see a large white dome rising high into the sky. This was Mount Rainier, and it was more than 100 miles South of where I was. But I could see it very clearly, and I took a few pictures of the lone mountain from my car. I could see the mountain for the rest of the drive from downtown Seattle to my motel in Fife, which took one and half hours (30 miles).

License Plates:









CHAKETA WA Subaru
BOTMOUT WA Ford truck

Expenses:





















$9.60 CB Gas over-over-fill-up-and-spill -- ARCO Burlington, WA
$3 Cash Brunch -- McDonalds Burlington, WA
$2 Cash Dinner -- Burger King Fife, WA
$6 Cash Snacks & postcards -- "Flying J" travel plaza Fife, WA

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Day #129: Monday, August 14, 1995
864 Miles


It was raining when I left the motel in the morning.

After a brunch at a Dennys in Fife, I went to my first of the Seattle city attractions -- I had had enough of nature. I went to the Museum of Flight, which is next to the Boeing Field in the heart of the Emerald City.

The museum contained historic aircraft -- the kind I had already seen before in Washington, DC. I took their guided tour and saw a documentary film about the history of flight. The movie was the best part of the museum. Rating for museum = .

After I was finished with the museum, I went to a Target in the city of Federal Way to drop off my film. When I entered the Target, it was not raining. When I left the store to walk to my car, it was raining very heavily, and I got drenched. But it was fun!

By the time I got back to the motel a half hour later, it had stopped raining...

...temporarily.

Miscellaneous:





Bumper Sticker:
I'LL SHOP, I'LL BUY, IN DEBT I'LL DIE.

License Plates:













4NOT WA Toyota MR2???
HAT-MAN WA Toyota truck
ANMAL WA Honda

Expenses:
















$7 Cash Brunch -- Dennys Fife, WA
$5.50 CB Admission (after AAA discount) -- Museum of Flight Seattle, WA
$10.82 CB Two pilot's flight pins made of pewter -- for Perry -- Museum of Flight gift shop Seattle, WA

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Day #130: Tuesday, August 15, 1995
915 Miles


Today was a very special day, in a sad way.

I had bought my car exactly two years ago today. As a "birthday present", I had originally intended not to drive that car on August 15, 1995. Unfortunately, that is exactly how things turned out!

I left the motel at 11:15 AM, bought gas, bought lunch, and started driving Westward towards Olympic National Park.

1:17 PM 1,000 miles driven in the rental car.

I took the scenic route to the park -- which turned out to be not-so-scenic since it was raining!

2:55 PM Entered Olympic National Park. Still raining.

The first viewpoint within the park was a place called "Hurricane Ridge". It is accessed by a seemingly long drive that goes through and above mountains with spectacular views. When I parked at Hurricane Ridge viewpoint, it stopped raining. So I went for a 1/4-mile hike. It was very nice up there, although slightly cold. The view of the nearby mountaintops was even better with the low clouds. After a while, I could not distinguish between the clouds and the snow on the mountaintops!

Olympic National Park has a lot to offer an interested tourist. I was not too interested, considering it was raining. The same park contains snow-capped mountain ranges, equatorial rain forests and oceanside scenery and beaches! The mountain ranges are visible from the Hurricane Ridge viewpoint. There are two more roads that go off the main highway into the rain forests. I was not interested in seeing rain forests when it was raining, so I did not go there. Instead my next stop was a beach on the Pacific Ocean. On my way to the beach, I stopped in the town of Forks, WA...

On August 16, my dad was supposed to start from Mission Viejo, CA and come to Richland, WA with my car's ownership papers. I was supposed to call him at home tonight to confirm this and to give precise directions to the "Columbia Center Dunes" motel in Richland, where I had stayed last week and where we would meet on August 18. I stopped in the town of Forks because I saw a phone booth along the road. I called home and confirmed my plan -- I would finish seeing everything in Western Washington by the night of August 17. That same night, my dad would arrive in the Portland, OR metropolitan area. On the morning of August 18, I would start driving from Seattle and my dad would start driving from Portland, and we would both get to Richland at approximately the same time in the afternoon -- both Portland and Seattle are exactly 240 miles from Richland!

After the phone call, I left Forks and started driving towards the ocean. It had stopped raining -- temporarily.

7:26 PM First sight of the Pacific Ocean after a long, LONG time!!!

7:40 PM Left Olympic National Park boundary. Rating for park (the part that I saw) = .

9:55 PM Driving through the capital city of Olympia, WA at night and stuck in traffic. Two of three lanes on the road were closed because of an accident.

10:40 PM Back to motel. Raining.

Miscellaneous:




Bumper sticker: (seen on a R.V., which is what makes it funny) BACK OFF -- or I'll flush.

License Plates:





CANUCKS WA Nissan Sentra

Expenses:





















$11 Discover Gas -- "Flying J" travel plaza Fife, WA
$3 Cash Lunch -- Burger King Fife, WA
$9.05 CB Gas -- Chevron Forks, WA
$3 Cash Dinner -- Burger King Fife, WA

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Continue on to August 16