Hafa Adai everyone. Today, I am writing to you from home, not on Ifalik nor Uman in Micronesia, but Seattle in the awesome state of Washington. Made it home safe from that 2 day, 14 hours drive Spring Break trek. On that road trip, there are a few things that came to mind worth sharing with my readers.
Spokane, Washington was chosen out of thin air. It’s on the opposite side of Sequim so I decided to haul the kids and make the long drive over. Another reason is to feed my curiosity as to why many of us, islanders, chose to immigrate from the dots of the Pacific, skipping the beautiful city of Seattle and Portland, and head straight for a city in the middle of nowhere. To my surprise, Spokane is a good size city and has lots of the same amenities found in Seattle or Portland. Oh, and yes, they have an awesome River Front that has a Gondola and a train that can take you on a tour of the falls. Life on the River Front reminds me of Yokohama, Japan. The restaurants were packed in the evening hours and mall sidewalks were littered with patrons taking in the awesome evening breeze and the smell of BBQ scallops. lol.
Parking is not free and there is no privilege of going in and out. Once your out, your day pass is expired and you have to buy another pass if you have to return. There were lots of One Way streets, so be very careful. I made a mistake of driving against traffic. I am sure the other drivers were laughing their faces off or probably cussing out loud, Freaking M..can, illegal bastard, don’t know how to drive, no driver’s license, no insurance, cash paid employee, and on and on. I am sure the rant was long and harsh. Little they know, I am no freaking Mcan but just a Yapese boy. Wahahahaha. But no kidding, I can read their lips yapping at me for driving the wrong direction. I am sure they wanted to call up the Homeland Security on me!
This reminds me of the importance of having a Driver’s License, Auto Insurance Card, and the Registration with you at all times. I was lucky, there were no cops around and even if they do, all I have to do is to provide them with my papers and hoping that they give me a chance and not ticket me right away. Washington State police are good at what they do, which means, they will ticket you no matter what. The only way to get that off your record is to contest it in the court of law.
Did I say, there is a body of water in Spokane? I was thinking, the islanders found Spokane attractive, not only because it’s really is beautiful, but because when they are longing for the ocean, all they have to do is to walk down to the River Front.