Summer Vacation 2006: Superlatives, Highlights, and Digressions

Okay, this should be the penultimate entry detailing the family trip down to Oregon. Goes to show just how busy I've been.

Here are some superlatives and firsts:
1) The odometer rolled over to 66,666km on I-5, not far from Albany, Oregon.
2) We caught sight of the world's largest wooden building, the Tillamook Air Museum's blimp hangar.
3) We crossed the shortest river in the world, the D River, in Lincoln City.
4) I got a chance to use the car's cruise control feature—neato!—cruising, accelerating, and slowing down at the flick of a stick.
5) We ate at a McDonald's in Kelso, Washington, that offered super-sized kids' meals, the Mega Kid Meal. And people wonder why kids are so big these days...

To the girl who took my order of Chicken McNuggets and then had the gall to get peeved when I went back to the counter to ask for the accompanying dipping sauce: May the highlight of the rough life ahead of you be the night you scored with the backup quarterback, he in a drunken stupor.

6) Some of the restaurants down there include on the meal bill a suggested tip, e.g., 18% Gratuity --- $12.65.

Some highlights:
1) Barnes & Noble, Bellevue. Like Borders, quite a bit better than Canada's Chapters.
2) Borders, downtown Seattle. Excellent selection of CDs. The chain is a strong supporter of Jazz music.
3) The Elliott Bay Book Company. Now here's one independent bookseller with character—rickety wooden floors, brick walls, cedar shelves; and up to the challenge of the big chain stores—lots of quality inventory and book signings galore. I picked up the Taschen art book Men's Adventure Magazines and the E. L. Doctorow novel City Of God pictured below.



I didn't make it to Powell's in Portland. Here's a review of four "quirky" bookstores, including Elliott Bay. BTW, I have been to The Strand in Manhattan, and to the current Shakespeare & Company in Paris, which, to be honest, served only to underscore my ignorance of literature.

From the Too-Much-Information department:
Elliott Bay's rather rustic restrooms are in the basement, adjacent to the Café. At the cleanup stage of a number two, the hinge of the toilet seat I was sitting on failed and I nearly slid off sideways. So gents, you have been forewarned: check the seat first lest it happen to you.

An observation:
A whole different gene pool. Somebody from the studio audience of a Seattle television talk show, years ago, quipped that "Bellevue was as white as snow." I'd have to say that that's still true today. It was comforting to be back home in Vancouver among (and eye-to-eye with) the blacktops.