the vacation of tomorrow- today!

Got back from Seattle late last night. I feel rough and am recovering today. Hope to start blogging again on a more regular basis after this.

Thursday was a travel day. Got down to Phoenix, Arizona for a connection just in time for a thunderstorm. And the place has a reputation as arid. Things got slowed down and delayed as all take-offs were shuffled and squeezed to one runway. Just think, I was in Centuri City, but 30 years too late. Got to the Seattle airport about an hour and a half late. Pat and Jack picked me up and then we were all bogged in I-5 traffic all the way down to Port Orchid. Did unwind to see the Navy ships on the far side of the bay and a wonderful sunset.

Friday morning, Pat introduced me to comix writer Dennis Eichhorn and gay Country musician Pat Hagerty. Pat, Jack, and I the little ferry to Bremerton and the big ferry to Seattle. We all ate at Ivar's Pier 54. The late Mr. Ivar was apparently a real colorful local character that liked gimmicks like waffle fries when a train full of syrup wrecked and punny mottos like "Stay Calm". Pat showed me downtown and a lot of its wonderful 19th century buildings. Even saw the street that gave us the term Skid Row back in Seattle's early days as a mud road logging town. Then strolled over to the wonderfully labyrinthine Farmer's Market, which reminded me a lot of those odd places with a lot of odd little shops full of exotic and arcane stuff that you see in dreams. Then back to the ferries and Port Orchard.

Pat pulled strings with an old friend of his and got him, Lori, Jack, and me on a whale spotting boat. This pretty much took up most of Saturday. Sailed up to San Juan and saw a sea lion, a porpoise, and various baby and old orcas from the J, K, and L pods. There seemed to be as many tourist boats out there as whales along with two pontoon planes spotting them for everybody. The rest of the day was sent recuperating from the sea and Dramamine and just winding down.

Sunday, Pat was working on some paying projects, so I took the ferry and then bus trip to the Seattle Center alone. Saw the exterior of the Space Needle, but somehow didn't pay the $14 to ride to the top of the "Eiffel Tower of Googie". Did spend most of the time at the Science Museum. Of course, if you've ever been eight years old, you'll find that the animated Dinosaur display was a standout. Also caught an outside show of "Danger Science" and the Planetarium Show on the inside. I don't think that I've been in a planetarium since I was 10. A big topic of conversation there was the recent defrocking of Pluto. One kindergarten prodigy knew his Plutoian Dwarf Planets down to their astronomical catalog numbers.

After the Museum, I met up with Vicky Lee, who was a friend of the family since way back when. I gave her an Alpha DVD-R of "Tube Punk" and explained the difference and connection between Mr. Fan and Fanboy. She drove me to a couple of her favorite scenic points. One of these had a semi-circular concrete bench which gave great bathtub-like resonant echo. "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" The she gave me a before hours tour of the palatial Paramount Theater. I even got to play air guitar on stage in the empty auditorium. Vicky and me then ate supper down by the dock. After that I ferried back down to Port Orchard.

Monday was my last full day in Washington. Pat, Jack, and I went to the Seattle Center. First was lunch in this WPA Deco building that was like a community center and a like a mall food court. Then we went to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Lots of old magazine covers and articles or xeroxes of the same, plus movie props or fan recreations of the same. H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds got both sides of one wall plus one stand a lone display case. The general, but not detailed, description of the Martian war walkers give for a lot of varied interpretations. It's amazing how rough some if the movie and TV props were. You could see the painted over globs of glue holding the buttons down on a contol panel from the Enterprise from the original Star Trek.

Then the three of us saw the free section of the Experience Music Exhibit at the EMP building, which was mostly various performers costumes, including George Reeves' padded deltoid Super Suit. How can anyone look at the KISS costumes and not have a nostalgic smile? Some people say that the lumpy EMP building is suppose to evoke a guitar. Maybe one of those toddler guitars with the little crank which the toddler had left in the rear window of the family car for a little too long.

My trio walked to the piers and then ran then last mile to catch the ferry to Bremmerton in time to catch the last ferry to Port Orchard.

Tuesday was the other traveling day. Pat dropped me off to catch the Katsip Airporter bus. Then it was taking Dramamine naps on the planes back to Omaha.

Today is my last day before going back to work. It sort of reminds me of the last day of Summer Vacation as a kid, when you had your last melancholy dwindling hours to catch some fun before school starts.