Day 3 is about Waiting, Washing, and Writing

Many of the Day 2 posts were written during the three hours I sat in King Street Station waiting for the Empire Builder to board. They did not get posted till the morning of day four while waiting for the great in and out flow of tourists to ebb at Whitefish Montana. That’s the west gateway to Glacier National Park that itself was formed to promote the railroad rather than green causes.

I digress.

My first night off the train is actually my second free stay in a hotel on this journey. It’s free from the prospective that I used hotel frequent traveller points to book the hotel. In reality it is far from free considering all the hours, days, and weeks working on the road that it took to accumulate those points. Let’s just say it was not out of pocket now.

Proximity to the bus terminus, a moderate point charge, and a quest laundry were the primary selection criteria. As with the Burbank Residence Inn, it was an excellent choice. They both offered new immaculate modern and well appointed rooms complete with wired & wireless internet, more than half a dozen unused power outlets, and a refrigerator. Did I mention the great pillows? The Residence Inn wins points for being a one bedroom suite while losing for directly facing busy Interstate 5 and the main train trunk line. In all, a wash.

I am glad I chose Bellevue for the night. I got to see Lake Washington and Mercer Island again but the main inducement was traveling over the I-90 floating bridge. For the locals it is just a part of daily life. For the rest of us, it is a marvel. Remember when I said the deep waters created challenges for bridge makers? Well, this was the biggest.

The distance is too wide for cantilevered and suspension bridges and the water is too deep for pillars or towers. So the middle section floats on the water. From the east, the freeway bores through the headlands of Mercer Island emerging on a descent down to the lake surface. Passage need not be provided for ocean going vessels so the eastern and western spans afford adequate access for watercraft. Nowhere else will you ride so close to the water vertically. The western rise enters another tunnel through the cliffs that separate downtown Seattle from Lake Washington.

Today I get to take the pictures of the train stations I was not able to get the day before upon arrival. Then I sit down to wait and write.

I’m in Bellevue

The generational divide is sometimes a subtle thing. Language, fashion, aspirations, and concerns are often discussed in insurmountable terms. I think it is the little things that hinder communication more. Our points of reference change to create contextual barriers. My first son was born after “pushbuttons” replaced “dials” on phones leaving the context free term “dial tone” to explain. As pushbuttons became less mechanical and tactile, they became simply buttons not to be confused with clothing fasteners.

My second son came into the world when small, shiny coated aluminum CDs had already fully replaced “records” and “LPs” and “albums” the size of frisbees made of black plastic called “vinyl”. The record companies used this technological advance to sell us music we already owned setting themselves up for rebellion by the next younger group when the now digital music on CDs were freed from the physical platter entirely by personal computers followed by the internet. Some members of the WWII “greatest” generation think that iPods are radios

Technology is a tangible reference point that allows more adaptable people to keep up with changes. How our shared experiences are harder to disentangle. Case in point: I call up my two sons and say: “I’m in Bellevue”. One says “Ehh?” and the other says “Hmm”. They rarely use vowels except in acronyms like “OMG” and “LOL”. If you don’t know what those mean, you get my point. They do not know that Bellevue is across Lake Washington from Seattle though they should know I am somewhere in that vacinity.

When I say the same thing to my brother (“I’m in Bellevue”), his reaction is completely different. “You don’t want to tell that anyone else.” I immediately know what he means. For our generation, Bellevue is synonymous with incarceration in a mental institution. I don’t even know why. It has something to do with 1960’s or 70’s television. He also does not know where Bellevue Washington is on a map but the visceral reaction is completely different.

Bellevue is not as hip as Seattle to the west and not as famous as Redmond (Microsoft) to the north. The town is luckier than the stretch to the south towards Tacoma that was decimated by the decline of Boeing employment over the years that culminated in the move of their headquarters to Chicago. You would not know we are in a recession given the full city block of construction across from my brand new Courtyard hotel and the recently completed transit hub uphill from the upgraded freeway interchange.