Sunday, December 18th, 2011
I awoke at 0200 PST on the side of the road. I wasn't in a ditch or anything, I parked in a turnout. I really enjoy waking up so early. The world is so peaceful. I stood outside of the truck, making sure that the APU was turned off. The silence washed over me, disturbed only by the wind. Clouds blew over slowly, and the trickle of water accompanying the silent nocturne. It was surprisingly warm for this time of year, almost 40*F. Snow was slowly melting all around me, and I bathed in the primal wonder.
I took some of this snow and wiped the road grime off my headlights, then dried them with a paper towel, ready to roll. a mere 45 minutes later, I was at the border, waiting for a guard to come out and give the green light to take my papers. I handed over my passport and manifest, then waited patiently with my debit card to pay the crossing fee of $10.75. He handed my passport back with no questions asked and sent me on my way. Easiest border crossing ever. This is why it is best to cross under the cover of darkness at 0300. Everyone is tired and nobody gives a shit. Unless you look like a terrorist. Then I believe many shits are given.
Driving through Idaho at way too early in the morning, I realized that I had made and kept a promise to myself. I felt a reward was in order, so I went about hunting for a place to sell me a cup of coffee. The truck stop in Bonner's Ferry was closed, so no dice there. I could only think of how much money they would make if they were open all night. Then I re-thought that they probably tried that already and didn't come out in the black.
The next town is Sandpoint, Idaho. It seems like a pretty cool place. Very pedestrian friendly, bordering a huge lake in the mountains. I was here once before to pick up about 40,000 douche bags. Seriously. Summer's Eve has a facility here. Or Massengil, I forget which brand of douches they made but it still makes for a funny sentence. For as long as I can remember, they've been working on a bridge to bypass the town. As it stands currently, all traffic is routed through the downtown itself, making for lots of turns and chances to stop for a lolly gagging foot goer. At night however, there are no people on the streets. All the lights go your way, and upon exiting town, the bypass bridge is underlit by a large number of blue fluorescent blubs, making for a really neat effect. I suppose if you have this huge bridge running right along a scenic down town with lovely views, one may as well make it fun and enjoyable to look at, which it is.
Sometime down the line I found me some coffee at a gas station that also sold truck diesel. Inside was a police officer just waiting for his shift to end, shooting the breeze with the dude at the counter. I got into a bit of a conversation with them, for I could tell that they were kinda lonely, being on a completely different clock than the rest of decent society. I'm pretty used to that, although I miss the idea of being someplace and feeling grounded time and again. Again I was off into the night.
Sometime after Spokane and Ritzville, the sun started to rise. I was a bit astounded that I had already went some 300 miles before day break (i forget exactly how much but it was a lot) and that I had already come as far as I had. Driving in the dark will do that to you I suppose. One loses all bearings and sense of time when nothing really changes. The lines on the road all look the same after a while.
My next stop saw me in Biggs Junction, Oregon. This is where US 95 and I-84 meet, in the eastern Columbia Gorge, which has not been deemed pretty enough to be included in the National Scenic area, but don't let that fool you. It is still quite grand. I took a free shower here and bought some uncensored internet, at which time I posted the preceding days' blogs and surfed around a while. For a few hours, I hemmed and hawed about moving on with the hours I had left. There were many arguments for each position and I was paralyzed by indecision. Sadly, this is a fairly common occurrence for me. I got an outside opinion (thanks Jen! <3 ) which actually helped me sort out the situation. In the end though, I felt that I would not be living up to who I wanted to be if I stayed there and tried to manipulate the circumstances. It is my intention to be excellent in all things that I do, but work comes the easiest for me. I just need to translate that into other areas of my life.
So I find my way to the Clackamas terminal. I put my truck in for a warranty inspection, which they missed at my last service. I wait for it to go in at 1800. Played some banjo, surfed the limited internet (no blogs, videos, downloads or games, or social networking sites... found a work around for FB though) and ate some boxed Indian food for dinner. Hooray for microwaves! Seeing as I've been up since 0200 this morning, I went in to check on my truck. I was pretty tired by 2200, and the truck was still being worked on. So back inside I go. Laundry has been done, not much else to do and fingers are starting to hurt. 2300 rolls around. Another 15 minutes and they'll be done. I go back inside and proceed to nap on the floor of the exercise room. 0000 comes. I'm almost deliriously tired at this point when I learn that my truck will need to go into a Freightliner dealership to get the computer updated. They say another 15 minutes. Knowing better, I go back inside and half sleep on one of the two recliners in the lounge.
Finally! the truck is finished. I climb in, park in the lot, and I'm out in a matter of seconds.
<3 :)
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