[Rhodes22-list] Seattle or Bust

[Rik Sandberg]

Slim,

Unless or until we change our minds, she will be known as Happy Little 
Girls 2. Flicka means Happy (actually vivacious) little girl in Swedish. 
The other happy little girl is Sandy, who I have received numerous very 
warm hugs and kisses from since she first saw this boat. So, just guessing 
now, I think she's happy too (or 2?)

Rik


On Sun, 23 Mar 2003 16:32:53 -0600, Steve Alm <salm@mn.rr.com> wrote:

> 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
>
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