Let's just call this take 2. Urgh. Had a lot written and lost it since I'd not saved it. Grump.
Mostly I have just been trying to wrap my mind around the changes that have already happened and are continuing to happen around this huge transition in my life, on this, my 2nd full day in Seattle.
I feel like so many blessings are flowing my way right now... this amazing new job opportunity, my friends so kindly giving me a place to stay until my apartment is ready on the 26th, the smoothness of the trip... it has been an amazing process so far.
My first day in Seattle, yesterday, found me venturing out to IKEA, Trader Joe's, QFC (which is one of the incarnations of Kroger out here), and a park to go for a run in. Today I'm just kind of staying in, not doing much, but considering a trial walk to the transit station just so I am sure I'm in the right place in the morning... also for timings.
There are certain times in life when it just feels like things are "meant to be"... I tend to be a skeptic most of the time, but there are other times when I'm not and that non-skeptic side kind of comes out when I look at this whole process and how fast the changes have happened.
When I first found the job listing for Hillsboro, Oregon and put in the application, I had a feeling rather like getting on a moving train. There was no rhyme or reason for it, it just was. My gut also said that putting all my eggs in one basket wasn’t a good idea and I’m so glad that I listened to it. Because though I was an excellent candidate for the Oregon job, there wasn’t any evidence that I would get that job. So I looked at Seattle/King County and found several public health nursing positions open that I felt I could do. The funny thing is that the job I got wasn’t yet listed on their site… and yet they called me the very next day to verify some info and timetable kind of stuff with me.
Throughout it all, Seattle/King County has been wonderful and responsive, whereas the Oregon people were mostly meh… even to the point of them not responding to my e-mail to inform them that I had found another job and getting my “thanks, but no thanks” e-mail from them on my last day at Callaway County. I think the rapport that I felt after the Seattle interview was genuine and the “meh” I felt after the Oregon interview was equally genuine. I am coming to a great place, I just feel that in my gut… but they will have some mighty big shoes to fill after my family at Callaway.
I am also glad to be out of the living situation in Columbia, I was really getting to the end of my rope living with my daughter and her husband, and they were probably getting there with me, to be fair. Ever since I came back from Texas last year, it has felt like I have had to squeeze my feet into shoes that fit when I was 12 and have had to walk on eggshells at the same time. I was going to go crazy and take someone with me. I love them, but I really can’t live with them. I do regret leaving my husband and son… especially since it is my son’s senior year. But I plan to fly back for his graduation and departure for the Air Force in May. The good news is that they will be coming out to visit me at Christmas and Spring Break… I am already looking forward to that.
The drive out was an interesting test of endurance… covering nearly 500 miles on 3 of the 4 days and almost 600 on one of them. This was with my hip bursitis deciding to really flare up and be lots of fun. So after the first days, I just slowed down and took more breaks, even to the point that my 577 mile day between Gillette, Wyoming and Missoula, Montana was almost the easiest of the 4.
Driving across country like that brought back distant memories of a family vacation to points as far west as Yellowstone when I was maybe 6 or 7. It also gave me a lot of quiet time to just go with the flow and let my mind wander. I also saw some interesting things just from the interstate and beautiful things too. I-90 isn’t quite your average interstate going through the Rockies…. it is amazingly beautiful.
Northern MO on I-29 was pretty boring… I had lunch in St Joseph and took off. I was kind of surprised by some big hills up there, though. IIRC, I crossed over into Iowa about 1330 on day one… about the most interesting thing in Iowa was a sign for “Stoner Drug”... apparently it’s a small chain of drug stores in NW Missouri and Iowa. I’m not sure I’d want to buy my drugs from a stoner. I slipped into South Dakota few hours later without even noticing… until I saw that the mile markers had changed. I stopped for the night in Sioux Falls SD.
So, most of Wednesday was spent in South Dakota. I have to say that South Dakota is proud of a few big things… Wall Drug!!!... or at least the owners of the place want you to know all about it, over and over and over and over… I didn’t stop there in protest, but then wished I had since SD decided to close both of the last rest stops in the state. They also are big on Mt Rushmore… and a little bit big on Sturgis and Laura Ingalls Wilder. I REALLY wanted to go to DeSmet to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder stuff, but due to time constraints, I really didn’t have the time to do a 55 mile side jaunt EACH WAY. Why Pa had to settle so far from the interstate is beyond me. South Dakota was truly high plains and I think I saw some sloughs like L.I.W. mentions in her books. The west side of the state had also been hit with blizzards and snow accumulations of 3-4 feet the previous Friday (4th October), so I got to see dead cows by the side of the interstate… creepy. But you could still see where the snow had drifted over the fences and the cows had just walked right on over… you could also see where the drifts had been across the highway but had the middle of the drift plowed away. My relief stop finally came once I got into Wyoming at their beautiful welcome center, which I think was placed strategically for scenic impact. They were lovely folks and gave me a place to finally stretch and empty my tanks. That night ended in Gillette, Wyoming… a little town of no consequence, so far as I could see. Natives would prolly disagree, but what I saw just passing through wasn’t particularly impressive.
Thursday was Wyoming/Montana day… my longest with a drive of nearly 600 miles. Since the bursitis in my hips had really been bothering me (as in shooting pains down my legs), I was determined to stop as much as I needed to and take my time. It was, ironically, my easiest day’s driving. Just the beauty of the Rockies made me just want to stop and take pictures about every 2-3 miles, but I kept on trucking until I made it safely to Missoula, Montana… which is apparently the Columbia/Austin of Montana. Funny that… you don’t picture a liberal/crunchy/funky place in Montana.
Friday started in Missoula and ended in Seattle at long last. I was ready to be off the road by the time I got here… oy. The changing of scenery and climates crossing Washington was fascinating… there were at times: Texas scrub, South Dakota plains, Arizona desert, more mountains, Missouri farmland… and it goes rather quickly from one to the next as you buzz by. Really interesting state… of course I’m living in the rain forest on the west side of the Cascades… and I’m okay with that.
I stopped by the apartment complex where I will be living and got some needed information and then trucked up to James & Liz’ place… fed the cats and got settled in a little, then collapsed, exhausted and muddy in the guest bed… well, maybe not muddy, but exhausted.
Today I took my dry run down to the bus station so I know where I’m going in the morning. I have Maxine’s back seat unloaded… impressive pile of stuff Markle got in there. The trunk will not be unloaded until I get into my apartment next week. I have my clothes laid out for morning. I will miss my afternoon nap. I think I'm going to prepack my lunch, so I can just grab it and go in the morning. I did buy myself a lunch box and containers for it for work at IKEA… it was a good thing I went or else I’d have been lost for what to eat. I also got groceries.
But that is the synopsis of my great Seattle or Bust trek...
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