[Rhodes22-list] Seattle or Bust

[Steve Alm]

Rik,
Sounds like a great trip.  Does your Flicka have a name?
Slim

On 3/23/03 11:44 AM, "Rik Sandberg" <sanderico@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hello All,
> 
> Well, the official sensus of the sailboat population in Long Prairie, MN
> shows that it has doubled, as recently as yesterday. No, there aren't any
> more sailors than there were 2 days ago, but there are twice as many boats.
> :-)
> 
> Sandy and I left a week ago Friday, bound for Seattle to pick up our new
> (old) Pacific Seacraft, Flicka. Arrived in Seattle about noon (Seattle
> time) on Sunday. The weather on the trip out was mostly beautiful and the
> scenery, once you get about 3/4 of the way across North Dakota, was mostly
> awe inspiring. Sandy's eyes were like saucers for most of the trip as she
> tried to take it all in. She'd never been further west than Butte, Montana
> before and was pretty much spellbound by the beauty and just plain hugeness
> (new word here?) of it all. For those who have never been there, I would
> certainly recommend a road trip through the upper Northwest. You will get a
> whole new perspective on your size versus the size of the world around you.
> It's true, they don't call Montana "Big Sky Country" for nothing. This
> pretty much fits Idaho and Washington as well.
> 
> Anyway, We saw the folks at Seacraft Yacht Sales on Sunday afternoon and
> got the keys for the boat. They were very nice and told us to make our self
> at home and use their facilities for as long as it took to make the
> arrangement for our haulout and to get ready for the trip back to
> Minnesota. They made us the loan of an electric heater and offered the use
> of shorepower so that we could stay aboard during our stay there. We were
> very pleased to accept this hospitality, since we were to learn that, while
> the food and especially the coffee are excellent and plentiful in Seattle
> and the choices of national origins are almost limitless, inexpensive is
> not a word that seems to be part of their vocabulary. Having to pay for
> motel rooms as well would have rubbed this old cheapskate, quite harshly,
> the wrong way. :-) Besides, there are not really many places to stay right
> along the waterfront in that area and commuting back and forth would have
> been a real PITA. You can't believe the traffic out there. Makes Chicago
> seem quite tame.
> 
> We hiked down, a couple miles around the point, to CSR Yacht Services on
> Monday morning to make arrangement with them for taking down our mast and
> lifting our new child onto her newly built (built it mysef) cradle/trailer.
> We found that it would be Thusday morning before this would happen. We
> didn't mind, as neither of us had ever been to Seattle before and we sorta
> wanted to take a couple days to look around a little. So, on Tuesday we
> made arrangements to take a bus tour of the city. We had an excellent time
> on this tour and saw Seattle from almost every angle and height. We also
> saw that we will not be able to afford to live there soon, if ever. :-) But
> the tour guide was very nice and very knowledgable and he showed us some
> things we could do and even explained how we could get around quite easily
> on the city buses. Believe me, you don't want to drive your car there if
> you don't have to. The traffic is just crazy and the parking is even worse.
> And, with all the hills and water, nothing is layed out straight, so it's
> kinda hard to get a feel for the "lay of the land". The tour got done about
> 1 pm so we spent the afternoon walking around a thing called Pike's Place
> Market which is just chock full of restaurants, an open fish market and
> different artsy and craftsy type places. Had lunch there in a tiny little
> bistro named Matt's. Matt is a pretty good chef, by the way. He was able to
> turn a turkey sandwich into a culinary event. Then we wandered around a
> little more and bought an extra blanket (it was cold at night), then used
> our new found knowledge to ride the bus back to our marina on the other
> side of town. Then, on Wednesday, it rained, and rained and just about the
> time the sky would lighten and we thought it might stop. You guessed it, it
> rained some more. It wasn't a hard rain, just that kind of rain that is
> enough to keep you soaked and shivering, if you're out in it. So we just
> pretty much stayed in the boat and listened to a "book on tape". We did go
> out to a restaurant in the evening called Chinook's. This is located next
> to the commercial fishing wharfs and while you are eating you can sit and
> look over the hundreds of fishing vessels that are docked there. We both
> had Dungeness Crab. Sandy had a whole crab, and I had crab cakes. Lord, it
> was good, not inexpensive, but way good. I would recommend a visit to this
> place if you are ever in Seattle.
> 
> So, to get to the end of this thing. We drove the pickup and trailer over
> to CSR on Thursday morning and walked back to the marina to get the boat.
> We then drove the boat over to CSR and were just a tick early for our 10 am
> appointment. The guys at CSR were quite efficient and had the boat ready to
> pull, lifted by crane and set on the trailer in about an hour. Then we
> spent another couple hours tying her down and trussing her up for the 1600
> mile jaunt back to Minnesota. By 3 pm (Seattle time) we were ready to go,
> just in time to beat rush hour.
> 
> The trip back went very well and I am happy to report no shortage of tongue
> weight, so the trailer towed amazingly well at any speed I chose to tow (up
> to 80 mph a couple of times when I wasn't watching close enough). I was a
> little nervous about the snowstorms that had hit Colorado so hard, but it
> seemed to have all stayed to the south of our route and all the passes were
> clear and ice free. The only weather we encountered in the high country was
> a little bit of rain and fog as we went up the west side of Snoqualmie
> Pass. Again, we ooo'd and aaahhh'd as we rolled though this breathtaking
> terrain. It is truly hard to describe the beauty and ruggedness of this
> area. It inspired a much greater respect for the bravery and tenacity of
> the folks who first settled these areas with nothing but a horse and wagon.
> It is just hard to imagine how they ever did it. Tough people, to put it
> mildly.
> 
> Drove pretty much straight through until I got to Jametown, North Dakota
> and decided I wanted a nice hot shower and a good nights sleep. Got up on
> Saturday morning, partook of the "continental" breakfast (I think we are
> becoming fans of Holiday Inn Express) and ran the last couple hundred miles
> in to the house. Got home about 12:30 pm. It was a really fun trip, but
> it's good to be back home again. The round trip was 3217 miles.
> 
> Rik