washington

June 30, 2019

Apparently, when dealing with me, people easily make mistakes or forget to do things and I have to be the one paying for it. Interesting. I wonder how this happens but I do not want to jump to conclusions and say that I always interface with incompetence as, most of the times, the very same people were nice and accommodating, so it must be me. I create chaos, and the storm last night should have reminded me of that.

Briefly, my pitstop at another Pep Boys in Delaware turned out to be a correction of what someone else has previously done. It could be people in Omaha, NE where they thought I was crazy because they could hear no weird noise, or it could have been back in Colorado Springs, CO. Whatever it was, in here they heard it, they fixed it, and apart for those other few issues we already know about I am good to go back on the road. Most importantly, Steve managed to make me pay zero dollars as, his words “if they didn’t do anything wrong before, she wouldn’t be here to fix it so… you’re good to go”. Thank you! Thank you! Thanks so much.

On my way to the Old Wide West I start to see colors that are dear to me, finally. Golden fields alternate to green flat lands and Maryland offers some cute spectacles around me, while crossing bridges approaching Washington D.C. I already know I am not going to spend the night in the District Capital of the U.S. of A. because, I don’t know, I just don’t feel like it, I just need to figure out where to go to next, as –like it says, my destination is unknown. I just take a quick stroll downtown, I see the White House, the ridiculous amount of security all around it which makes me think “is it just me, or this is insane? Like, for real, stop this madness and send these people home. Standing under a toasting sun in June, for what? For whom? Go home.” I am impressed at the beauty of the architecture in Washington. White buildings replicating the ancient Greek and Roman styles make it look fancy and majestic. You can tell that this kind of buildings show some importance, but I guess it is just a reflection of what these creations can inspire in people watching from below. Quick visit at the Pentagon, just out of curiosity, and of course pictures do not show the typical shape of the building, but what I can say is that it is not a majestic as, for whatever reason, I thought it could be. So off to the West, and I find myself driving through Virginia.

Once again, the landscape helps not falling asleep as it did before instead. More green, more of a mountain like environment, National Forests, losing network coverage, and I decide to spend the night in Roanoke, VA as I could see a massive star from the highway which made me think it was time to rest, until tomorrow. I find out that Roanoke is called the lost colony, because in 1590, at his return to America after fighting for the queen of England, Mr. White found no trace of the colony or its inhabitants, his whole family and friends were all gone. Investigations of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke have continued for centuries but there is still no answer, only assumptions up to today. Curious story. I wonder why, out of all the other towns I could go to, I felt drawn to this. Mystery. Once again I don’t stay long. The time for a quick coffee at Starbucks, a few lines written down and off I go again. I don’t feel like socializing lately and even the stupidest encounter is annoying.

I have to say though that this last drive has offered some breathtaking moments. The sunset was like one of those you do not see very often, with the sun hiding behind the clouds but still spreading out its colors. In addition to this, fireflies. Just like the night before at Ida’s house I could see the lightning bugs after what seems like forever, this time I could see them lighting the path for me on both sides of the highway, filling up the hills surrounding me and the other travelers. Nature is beautiful, no doubts about it. I’m just so terribly sorry for all the bugs, moths, butterfly that committed suicide hitting the front of my car, and for those animals resting in peace on the side of the road, and it enrages me to think people simply could not hit the breaks harder to avoid killing them. Hopefully it does not happen to me anytime soon. Let them live.

June 17, 2019

After driving for hours and hours yesterday, I eventually decided to stop in Spokane, Washington State. Why? Go figure. It’s one of those cities I’ve always known it existed because I could hear it mentioned in a song or read it somewhere, and I also realized that, the way it is pronounced in one of the songs I know, it is actually the wrong pronunciation. Jolene by Ray LaMontagne sings “Cocaine flame in my bloodstream, sold my coat when I hit Spokane” making it rhyme like cocaine, instead… it’s Spo-KEN. Whatever. Right now I am dead tired and I need to sleep. I drove for around 8 to 9 hours, I took a few rest breaks, but they were not enough to stretch my legs properly, so I often had to change position to let the blood flow again on my poor little toes. Plus, all those hours I missed sleeping (or better, not sleeping) here and there before, until today, are weighing me down. Deep down. I decide to find a motel room and as soon as I hit the bed, my eyes couldn’t stay open, and I fell asleep.

When I woke up this morning I had a brand new day in front of me, until I realized there is not really much to see in Spokane. Or so they say. My friend Jordan was kind of right when last night, before falling asleep, he called me and told me “there is nothing to do or to see in Spokane, go somewhere else”; but I stayed anyway. I took advantage of a “rest day” to journal and to keep up with the things I had to do, teaching on line included, which eventually ended right before I started driving towards my last stop of the day. I spent the morning at a Starbucks, by now my go-to place where I honestly just feel safe and inspired to write. Mr. Starbucks, I am addressing you once again: in case you wanted to sponsor me, considering also all the money I spend on drinks to have an excuse to stay and use your wifi and restroom, I am here. I would also come all the way back to Seattle, if that’s the case. Pick me, choose me, love me, as Meredith said to Derek (come on, everybody knows this quote!). I then found a cute place where a nice man sold me a bottle of CBD oil (no, not the one with THC, I am not planning on getting high and dry; CBD oil as pure hemp oil, is just like any other herbal supplement you could get, just google it and stop judging. Get informed, you fools!) because I find it useful to get some relief from joint pain and whatsoever. If you want to check it out, they have an online shop too (just click on _shop_). Worth a shot.

I finally walked along the river front, where I saw the waterfalls right at the center of the city. See? There is definitely something to see in Spokane as the weather was perfect, the light was just right, the sky and the clouds reflected in the water and the whole picture looked like a painting. I enjoyed it for a bit while walking and ended up spending a whole afternoon doing nothing special, just enjoying the “free time” before two hours of teaching on line, parked behind a Starbucks (again) with people passing by thinking who knows what; maybe that I may have been a criminal or something. Right at sunset I could finally hit the road again, and I’ve decided to reach Missoula, in Montana, always without a clue of why I picked that city but, as I keep on playing by ear, I want to believe there’s some sort of good instinct behind my decisions, and to me, this is more than enough. On the way, beside the splendid sunset I could witness, thanks to a storm coming from the opposite direction, I stumbled across road works, which seemed to never end, angry truck drivers speeding way more than cars while chasing you with those big bright headlights, and a thunderstorm. Yes, lightning and all, while swishing and slaloming from Washington, through Idaho up to Montana. But I wanted to get there as I feel this need to have network coverage or mobile connection whenever I stop to sleep somewhere, because you know? You will never know. Better safe than sorry. So instead of opting for a rest area in the middle of nowhere, this time I chose a spot in the city. Missoula is more of a big town than an actual city, so I haven’t even felt in danger; I just fixed everything for the night (which came sooner than expected because I am now in another time zone), uploaded a few photos on Instagram, and fell asleep in a very uncomfortable position, which eventually had its side effects the following morning on my poor old neck and back. I know, I’m too old for this sh*t. Just shush.