Iron Fist

I took a (very brief) road trip to Montana the other day, and discovered that just like in the Pacific Northwest they are still getting rain as late as July.  I spent about twelve hours total there, which is a whole different story, but for now really I just wanted to show you a few pictures I took while driving home during the day.

And also to tell you this: Montana rest stops have some of the friendliest rodents around.  We pulled over just prior to crossing back through Idaho to stretch our legs, and I noted what looked like thirty or more chipmunks or squirrels running riot all over the lawn near the restrooms.  I wondered aloud whether it was mating season, but soon realized that these rodents had just keyed into a crucial secret of survival: if you hang out near where humans are passing by and are cute and fuzzy, humans will go crazy over you and shower you with food for your time.

I got a little closer to try and get a picture of one, and as I bent down with my phone to get a closer shot, the little bugger turned and ran right at me.  I backed up a step or too, trying to keep my feet away from him while trying to keep my phone close enough for a decent shot.  Thinking that surely I must be holding out some form of foodstuff for him, the little guy sat straight up and looked at me to let me know he was ready to receive his due.

Almost made me wish I had a cracker for him.

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I took this one at a tourist shop on Government Avenue in Victoria, BC.  I believe the name of the store was literally “I Love Canada, Eh?”.  No, I’m serious.  Anyway, I liked the way this photo turned out.

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Seriously, city of San Francisco. It’s been well over a week now.

Or, you know, it was just over a week when I snapped this photo when I was in town for a few brief hours last week.  It could be gone by now, and I probably should have published this sooner, but in my tradition of bringing you last week’s breaking news I am just now getting around to sharing it.

And now?  Well, now I have to go prepare for shenanigans with the Canadians later tonight.

Ciao!

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I got out of town last weekend, dragging myself from the computer and far out of the way of any cell phone antennas, which made me realize how damn often it is that I plug myself into the internet in one form or another.  I twitched a few times from not being able to see what was happening on the twitter, but with the constant calming sound of a waterfall right next to our campsite I soon happily forgot that there was any world beyond what we could see through the trees.

It’s nice to check out every now and again, especially to spend time with some of your best friends.

It reminded me that I haven’t gotten in anywhere near the amount of recreation I’ve been wanting to this year, which is something I’ll have to remedy soon, because this whole showing up to work thing?  Not real rewarding lately.

But you know, I’m happy places like this still exist and that the Pacific Northwest is still as rugged and beautiful as it is. Next summer is going to need far more days like the ones I had this weekend.

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If you’ve only got a handful of hours on either side of a movie to play tourist, you’ve got to move quickly to see as much as you can.  Seattle complicates things by having really confusing streets, although if you’re using sheer volume of things seen as a metric then Seattle helps you out by having far more stuff than is rational or necessary.

For example, they have far more used gum than anyone else.

And while they may not have ALL OF THE CHEESES, those cheeses which are represented are available by the box full.

Like guitars?  They have PLENTY of guitars in Seattle.

Hand written manuscripts?  Piles of them.

Are underground vice dens more your speed?  Because Seattle has those.

And beautiful cloud free days that let you see all the way to the horizon?  Well, actually, those can be rare, so seize the day when they come around.

And despite the presence of the occasional unshaven curly-haired vagrant on the beach, Seattle seems like an amazingly cool city, and I can’t believe I’ve only been there twice in my many years of living in the PacNW.  I hear the summers up there are pretty sweet, so I imagine I’ll have to go back and hunt around some more.

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