Last Day Seattle Day 6/7!!

 Driving from Olympia back to Seattle is a drive thru "Real America". You know, rural America. Thus, the above Leave Trump Alone sign. Hilarious. Reminds me of Nebraska. And not in a good way. 

Back into Seattle to use up the City Pass. Parking? $36. Total so far now $372 just to park. Christ.

The Argosy Cruise was a "racetrack tour" of the Puget Sound. Mostly you see the Seattle skyline, the Coast Guard stations, the Edgemont Hotel, Bainbridge Island, the stadiums, and back to the dock. Nice and relaxing. Back to the waterfront for more lunches of clam chowder and fish and chips.

Chihuly Gardens and Glass was the final Seattle City Pass activity. Parking? $25. 

The glass blowing and the gardens are really cool to see. The glass sculptures are incredible, and an actual demonstration of glass blowing is done every 15 minutes. The place was small, but the sights were worth it.

Killing time in a strange city because you have a red eye not leaving till 11pm isn't easy. Getting to the airport area to turn in the rental also not easy. But once we figured it out it was a quick meal at Jack in the Box and a fill up of gas ($5.59) before turning the car back in, scrapes and all. Nobody noticed the scratches (pfew).

Then comes a 4 hour wait at SeaTac Airport. A redeye flight to Chicago overnight and no sleep. Arrival at 5am and now killing 3 1/2 hours before the Omaha flight takes place. 

Total Parking carnage....$397. Jesus. Add in the Omaha airport parking and it becomes $425. Just to park?

Yep! It is what it is. They didn't seem to want my Monopoly free parking card.

Bastards.

Multnomah Falls Day 5!

 Sunday morning in Eugene and this old hippie goes full new hippie. Avocado Toast and a hot cocoa at a little local diner. Then we notice that somebody had scraped the rental car on the back panel. Great, hit and runs happen up here too. Bummer man.

Off we go to Multnomah Falls, a short 30-minute drive from Portland. The falls are free to see. The parking is free. The beauty is free.

The falls are right there. You walk up and there it is. It wasn't too crowded so moving around was easy. A wedding party too photos in front of it, A quinceanera celebration took place there. Walking up to the bridge was about a quarter of a mile uphill. Max did the trek. Then I did the trek. The A Fib be damned. The falls from the bridge are even more stunning. Now why people ignore signs and carry on down a dirt hill to get wet and muddy is beyond me but they did. The hour or two was well worth it. Even the Willamette River is stunningly pretty. I haven't seen this much nature being so beautiful maybe ever. Trees and rivers and falls and mountains and Puget Sound. Wow.

Olympia/Lacey, Washington was as far as we could get to Seattle. A Comfort Inn or something similar. No parking fees.  The hotel was fine, but what happened there was not. Waiting for the elevator we heard a thump. The elevator door opened and a young man was sitting on the ground with a knee brace and crutches. He had fallen. Max and Max's Mom helped the kid up and off he waddled on the crutches to his room. Never fails with us.

The Falls and picking a kid up made the day.

Plus, free parking. Total damage in parking fees still $336.

Eugene Day 4! Huskers True To Form!

Thius will more of a football post. I have been to well over a hundred of Husker games over the years. They won 5 national titles, won 9 games a year at least and then came 2003. An egomaniac named Steve Pederson became AD and wanted his own stamp on the program. So he fired a coach with a 58-17 record over 6 years and hired a fired NFL coach. Look, the rest is the last 23 years. Disappointment, crushing defeats and my eventual descent into indifference. Yeah, I go but when they lose I move on. It's pure entertainment now. 

Road trips are what I actually enjoy. Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Illinois, Oregon. Getting out of Nebraska. The games are irrelevant anymore.

Eugene, Oregon is a quintessential college town. Animal House showed Eugene in its glory. It hasnt changed much. It is a beautiful town scenery wise and racked up zero parking fees. However, due to capitalism, and the fact Husker fans travel like lemmings, a $295 hotel, no a motel, a drive up to the door motel. Yeah, $295 cuz the damn game started at 8pm local time, 10pm my time, and didn't end till 11:30 or so traveling back to Portland was out of the question.

Nebraska football is a joke. They can beat the shit out of bad teams, but when they face adversity, they fold up in a fetal position and hold on for dear life and lose. This has happened for years. Nebraska has blown 18 games in the last 7 years while leading in the 4th quarter. This is unprecedented. It's a streak of choking that puts Nebraska #1 by far in losing like that. In fact, Nebraska has not beaten a ranked team in 10 years. That also is tops for mediocrity.

Oregon was ranked 25th in one poll so the opportunity to break this streak was right there. Oregon was playing a walk on quarterback who was as incompetent as they come. Former Husker Dylan Raiola had stunk the place up the week before and was benched.

Yeah, we've all seen enough Disney flicks to know what was coming. Nebraska led 14-9 with about 6 minutes to go. Oregon had the ball and had done nothing offensively the entire game. In comes Dylan Raiola, ex Husker quarterback. Max exclaims to Ducks fans, Dylan Raiola game winning drive coming up. Not sure if he bought it but I did. We all knew what was going to happen. At least us Husker fans did. 

Game winning drive by ex-Husker Dylan Raiola. Less than a minute to go? Oregon TD. 17-14 Ducks. Max storms off down the steps as we say bye to our very cool Oregon fan neighbors. What's the point? It's entertainment, right? Right?

Another choke job, two weeks in a row. Blowing a two-score lead against Indiana the week before. I saw it live. Now blowing another lead in Eugene in the fourth was under our belts. Leaving the stadium back to the shuttle bus was a sobering affair. Like I said, we are so used to this it's expected. 

The Oregon stadium is unique. Weirdly shaped, holds 54,000 and really not a bad seat in the house. It's also modernized a bit with handrails for us olds to climb steps. It was a pleasant experience as Oregon fans are so cool. The loss of the game? Yeah, who cares. The way it was lost? Right out of a feel-good movie about redemption. All that was needed was a PA announcer calling play by play (Oregon has a guy who's been there since 1967 and won't retire per Ducks fans. He has the energy of a sloth). 

The game was a great story. I don't care who won, this was a tremendous story of a kid who stunk up the place the week before who came off bench to beat his former team. Cmon man, win or lose, this was legendary.

Again, no parking fees. Parking carnage holding steady at $336. 

Go Big Red always!

Portland Day 3!

 Off to the mean streets of Portland. Ya know, the city MAGA can't stop saying is burning down because ANTIFA HQ is there. I still couldn't find the actual HQ to pay my dues after dodging all the "fires" and "looting" going on 24/7. For real, it was peaceful AF because of course it is.

Portland is a nice calm city. People walk around at night, they sit in parks, they go to bars and convenience stores. No problems. Conservatives are such scaredy cats.

The Oregon Historical Society is a museum in which you will find out EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about the state of Oregon. Its sordid past is highlighted. Oregon after it was admitted to the Union, passed a law outlawing blacks from living there. Yep. And if they catch you, you get 39 lashes as an "incentive" to leave Oregon. The Asians weren't liked much either. So yeah, Oregon is kind of like every other state but at least they "woke" up and learned a lesson. Unlike some other states that have never learned much of anything. I'm lookin at you Nebraska. Some would say the place was "woke". I say it was truthful.

Saturday was No Kings Day. We saw very nice protesters and joined them for a bit. Lots of honks, lots of support, and lots of activists trying to save the country. Then we went and ate and then they were gone. No Kings!

Off to Eugene for the Husker Duck game. Parking at hotel was $45. Total so far, $336 to park.

Seattle Day Two!

Day Two was going to be epic. Whale watching. After visiting a sculpture garden near the docks, we made our way to Pier 69 for boarding a whale watching boat for a 4 hour tour. Goddam it was freaking freezing when we left the dock. I don't really get cold, but this excursion was COLD. I had to flee the outside for the inside and listened to the naturalist tell me all about whales we may or may not see. She was THE most informed person on sea life maybe ever. I couldn't wait to get out there into the open seas. The Salis Sea to be exact. We sailed around and then our naturalist said look to the left and a collective gasp was audible from the tourists. A family of orcas, killer whales, were swimming around, surfacing with blowholes going full blast. It was breathtaking to see a whale in the wild. 

The 4 hour tour included seeing eagles, sea lions resting on buoys, islands, birds diving underwater to catch fish, killer whales and then, voila, Little Patch, a grey whale who should have been south by now but decided to hang around the Salis Sea. The grey whale, Little Patch (yeah he had a name) was covered in barnacles and looked kind of rough. But it was epic to see two different types of whales. It was kind of pricey but hell YOLO right? Ive seen whales in the wild where they belong. Cool.

The trip ended unfortunately and we were released from sea to wander the waterfront. The Pike Place Fish Market is overwhelming. There are 5 levels of shops and restaurants and fresh fish. We did not see them tossing the tuna around, but it was still a sight to see. Parking $36.  Total so far $256. To park.

Dicks Drive In. A simple non nonsense burger joint. You can get burgers, fries, shakes and drinks. That's it. Not to mention it wasn't that expensive. Parking free.

The City Pass sent us to the Space Needle. Parking $35. There was a Doja Cat concert going on nearby, so the fans were dressed to fit the Doja Cat crowd. Short dresses, pink hair, 80% females and they were having the time of their lives. Good for them.

The Space Needle. You go up on an outside elevator. You get off on the top and walk around with all the others. It was crowded at sunset because why wouldn't it be? It's Seattle's claim to fame. And again, the City Pass is worth it all. Beautiful views from atop the Needle.

Finally, back to the hotel.

Parking damage so far, $291.

Seattle Day One!

Never been. The Pacific Northwest. Well, I was there when I was a kid since my grandma lived in The Dalles, Oregon but I was 10. I don't remember a whole lot of it except maybe being on the Columbia River dam with my brother and Dad and him driving across the border into Washington so I could say I was there. Hell, it's been 60 years.

We flew into Seattle on Tuesday night. We found a fleabag near the airport to crash for the night. Damn, who pays for parking at a Red Roof Inn? We did. $14? Seriously? Hey man by the time this trip ended, $14 was cheap to park.

Downtown Seattle is compact. Everything is right there within a few blocks. Stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott. $81 a night to park. Spit take. See what I mean? $14 was cheap.

MOPOP. The museum of pop culture. Close to the Space Needle, the Climate Arena, and a convenient parking lot right across the street. It was fairly empty. WARNING!!! Max paid the parking fee, $70??? $70 bucks to park? The rubes from Nebraska have arrived ready to be fleeced.

The museum itself is very interesting. they have Hendrix's guitar. Costumes from Wicked and the Wizard of Oz. Interactive exhibits, More guitars. Huge pile of guitars. Buy a Seattle City Pass and save a bunch of cash on admittance fees. Too bad they don't have a Seattle Parking Pass.

Then it was off to Easy Street record shop. Tons of used vinyl, CD's and clothing. The place was everything Seattle is. They gave out whistles to use if ICE showed up. There were NO ICE signs in many businesses. It was epic to see. Recommended. Hey and the parking was $12 or so. Parking fees so far? $256 and it's only Day One.

We checked out the Seattle waterfront, the stadiums, and Buddha pigeon, a fat happy pigeon sitting on a ledge outside our hotel room. Yes, I am easily entertained. Buddha Pigeon was a hoot.

It was Day One in the books. A little Detroit style pizza at Moto Pizza in downtown and get ready for another day of touristy stuff and avoiding the mental cases wandering the streets ranting about something or other. Yeah, we have those back home too. Mental health is a crisis in this nation but that's another story.

Wynton Marsalis!

 My Uncle Dick was hardly a hip dude. In fact, he may be the squarest person I've ever known. But one time, even though being mean to rock music (the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to be specific) he exclaimed that jazz was "better than that rock n roll". And to be honest I do not disagree with his opinion though I'd be more like jazz and rock are the best equally. Jazz has always been my go-to. When I'm hearing Miles or Coltrane or Basie or Roach or Dizzy I go into a different world without the artificial means. Jazz is something totally surprising and even the musicians can't tell you what's going to happen.

Now most music freaks will tell you they saw the Dead 66 times (me never) or Springsteen 46 times (me 5 times) or Phish 33 times (me once) or Pearl Jam 25 times (me 4 times) but my most seen act is Wynton Marsalis and a quartet or his Lincoln Center Orchestra at 9 times. His demeanor is humble, yet you can see he is THE leader of this orchestra consisting of a stable lineup of the best jazz musicians out there.

Wynton is retiring next year so his appearance at the Lied Center in Lincoln was his last. I do not know if the orchestra goes on but if it does, trombonist Chris Crenshaw, or saxophonist Sherman Isby, or trumpet player, Marcus Pointer, seem like successors to the best leader you can have, Wynton Marsalis.

Marsalis' band played two sets of about 45 minutes each, playing standards and originals and every second was every bit of jubilance that the packed house made it.  Constant applause for the solos, the cohesion and the atmosphere. 

Among the local references was a Chris Crenshaw original dedicated to ex Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier (complete with a Go Big Red chant) and the presentation to Marsalis of a distinguished fellow of the Lied and a Husker jersey with his name on it. He seemed genuinely moved by it.

Shout outs to sax player Alexa Tarantino who plowed through solos though visibly pregnant. To pianist Dan Nimmer for keeping the groove. To bassist Carlos Henriquez and drummer Oben Calviere for keeping the train moving. This is great stuff and you either get it or you don't. 

So Long Wynton Marsalis. Thanks for the memories.