PACIFIC NORTHWEST – Driving All Night, Starbucks All Day

By 9:30 pm I was finally on the road, with Sirio (Siri’s British Cousin) giving me directions on how to get to Seattle.

   I was tired. I’d been up past midnight the previous night, and today had started at 5am – and I’d been going full-speed, without a break. Now I was finally sitting down, making a few last phone calls to wrap up a few loose ends, and listening to the radio – all alone with my thoughts.

   The drive north through southwestern Idaho is dark, especially with no moon, and except for LOTS of construction it was pretty barren – with few cities between. That made it tough to keep my attention focused on the road. I cranked up the music for a bit, but decided that I would do better if I had someone to talk to. Fortunately I have some really good friends – even friends that will stay up past their bedtime for a chat. Also fortunately, I am rarely at a loss for something to say – so a few hours on the phone isn’t a problem for me.

   And the best part is that I could catch up with a few people that I don’t get to talk to often. I handle long drives much better when on the phone – hands-free, of course.

   I tried to stop about midnight to catch a few winks, but it isn’t easy to stretch out in a Smart Car.  Between my long legs and my tall torso, there just isn’t enough room to lay the seat back or anything. I tried draping my legs across to the passenger seat, but no amount of effort was really going to improve this. I managed to rest for about 20 minutes, but that was all I could handle the squishy discomfort– so I headed back on the road.

   Instead I just drove all through the night, and finally started perking up at sunrise. I discovered I was in Pendleton, Oregon – and I hadn’t even realized that my route would take me through Oregon. (Apparently I will blindly follow Siri anywhere!)

   It was around 7am, and I’d barely stopped all night – one advantage of a little car that gets great gas mileage. I needed to get out of the car for a bit, and I still had quite a bit of work to do. I saw a McDonald’s sign and decided to follow it to civilation. I had a Conference Call for work, and wifi always makes things go smoother – and every McDonald’s has wifi. But as I was about to pull into McD’s, I noticed a Starbucks across the street – and Starbucks is both quieter AND has better wifi, so I detoured and found a place to park.

   I grabbed something for breakfast and a bottled water, and logged in to my laptop. 5 Conference Calls and about 100 emails later it was 4pm. My butt was asleep from sitting in one place for that long – but I sure got a TON of work done. It had been a busy but incredibly productive day – and I was finally feeling almost ready to be gone for a week. Just a few last minute things, and I’d be ready to unplug for a whole week.