A girls' weekend - tumbling tumbleweeds
Sophia and I went on an overnight trip this last weekend. We attended the "May Madness" Iggy Meetup of IGGY Ambassadors-Inland Empire in Spokane, WA, near the Washington border with Idaho. This is a sister chapter organized by Washington's IG rescue rep, Alice Espey. There were 4 of us who traveled from Seattle to attend the meetup/picnic season kick-off.
It was 290 miles to our destination and I knew I was not going to be able to drive both directions in one day. So I booked a room at a dog-friendly Motel 6 close to the freeway (I-90). Not an easy feat considering it was Bloomsday weekend in Spokane. Over 50,000 participated in the annual run this year, I guess I was lucky to get a room and not pay thru the nose for it.
I packed magazines and a movie and the little dvd player. We left around 9 Saturday morning, after a visit to the vet for a nail trim. We didn't get there until almost 2 pm because I did stop to eat and Sophia requires occasional stops to stretch her legs and do her business. I thought it was from 1-4 pm, but when I got there I found out it had started at noon. Oh well!
It is a long and boring drive, even at 90 mph. I hauled butt over, occasionally slapping myself to stay awake, and one time got off the interstate onto some farm road thinking about taking a nap but after walking around a bit and marveling at the birds in that region, we got back in the car refreshed and awake once again. I barely made it, the last 15 miles there I was sleepy again and had the window down, music going, etc. Obviously I was tired (I had gotten up at 6 am to get ready for the trip).
So the dynamics of the group in Spokane is different than the folks here in Seattle. I think part of the difference is that they do not know each other very well since they did not have an indoor meeting place over the winter. So they really are just getting organized and getting to know each other. I stayed until 5 pm, when it started getting too cold, and we headed off to our motel. We checked in around 5:30 pm. First order of business was dinner - I asked about a Chinese restaurant that would deliver and was given a menu. I ordered my favorites and it arrived in short order.
After eating, I settled in to watch the movie I had brought, Hollywoodland, a newer release with a good cast. It was a little slow and I dozed off shortly, until my cell phone rang and it was my friend Colette, who had come by the house and saw no one was home and wanted to see how things were going. She of course told me to go to bed since obviously I was tired ~ I told her I would think about it but had trouble with it since it was still light out!! After talking with her awhile I was awake again and tried the movie again. As I started feeling sleepy I decided what I *really* needed was dessert! I had a hankering for a Peanut Buster Parfait - which meant I had to get lucky and find a Dairy Queen around here without getting lost.
We went for another walk outside before getting in the car and driving down the strip leading from the freeway. Tons of fast food restaurants, no DQ. I came to a stop light and things looked a little dead beyond it, so took a left since a lot of other cars were, too. And there it was! A DQ! What a score. We went thru the drive-thru, brought it back to the room, and Sophia licked ice cream out of the lid while I enjoyed the chocolate sauce and peanuts on the vanilla soft serve. Of course, now I am disgusted that I ate that, since I just looked up the nutrition (haha) information and read I ate 730 calories and 31 g of fat in that (less the part Sophia ate). This is after take-out Chinese food. Good thing I don't travel alone very often!
It ultimately took 4 hours to get thru a 2 hour movie. I went to bed with no alarm. I took Sophia out at 2:30 and 6:30 am (that's the only problem with a small dog - small bladder). I had a new sleep outfit that was ok to be seen in public and I was wearing a coat over it anyway since it got down to about 35 degrees overnight. Brrr!
I kept turning over and managing to go back to sleep, finally getting up at 8:30. It took me an hour to get ready and pack up, and we hit the McDonald's drive-thru down the street at 9:45 am. I made a stop for gas and bug-scraping off the windshield in a "small town with a big heart" named Sprague. I drove around looking for a tumbleweed in person since I had seen a ton in the middle of the freeway caught on the fences. Couldn't find one in town, but did find this neat stone arch marker, and also a neat church (These pictures on this page). We then didn't stop again until Ellensburg, where I had lunch at the Palace Cafe. It's been open since 1892. I sat at the bar and had a Screamin' Jack burger with salad. I saved bacon and burger bits for Sophia, anxiously awaiting me in the car.
We got back on the road and made it to Steve's office in Redmond at 3:30. (Yes, he worked ALL weekend). I said hi, and left him my pocket pc/phone to work on since it's been hanging and giving me problems for some time. I came home and relaxed, unpacked, and waited for Steve to come home. The whole weekend was over, gone in a flash - or should I say, blur at 90 mph. (Well, I tried to stay closer to 80 on the way home). We missed Steve-daddy!
Snoqualmie Pass still has snow in the mountains above it.
Labels: dog
posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen @ 4:08 PM
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