I've always wanted to visit a Titanic exhibit and the closest one to me at the time was the permanent one in Las Vegas, Nevada inside the Luxor Hotel. I didn't have the time or money to go down there to see it. I was browsing the internet one day and came across this ad from a Spokane radio station about a Titanic exhibit coming to town from the fall to the late spring. I needed to go. Since my birthday always falls near Veteran's Day near a weekend I could take four days off to head over there with whomever wanted to go with me.
That birthday weekend was ruined for me so I had to plan for it another time before the exhibit closed in May. I chose the middle of April because most of the snow would be gone on the mountain pass, it was warmer and less likely for rain. I didn't realize at the time when we came over to see the exhibit it was literally the same two days the Titanic hit the iceberg and sank over 100 years ago.
We finalized the weekend and asked my mom and Trish if they wanted to go with us. Ben would have to take some time off and I took half of Friday off so we could get over to Spokane. It was really hard orchestrating everything so it would work out but I think it just might. I packed whatever I could the night before. Ben was responsible for packing his stuff. I finished what I was doing at work and I left as soon as the clock hit 11:30. I was really hoping Ben had eaten, gotten cleaned up, packed and was ready to go as soon as I got home. When I got through the door he was ready to go. I just had to change my clothes, grab a snack and pack the Escape really quickly. Mom was also here, dad had dropped her off so we crammed her stuff in the Escape as well. We left at noon to head towards Puyallup to pick up Trish.
She told us that they were having a company picnic and they were serving hotdogs and burgers and that when we got there we could help ourselves. I still felt bad coming, eating, leaving and not contributing. Trish had to finish up what she was doing...in the meantime she gave us her keys to move her stuff into the Escape. Afterwards we ended up eating a burger because they wouldn't take no thank you for an answer. We used the bathrooms, left Puyallup around 2 and headed for Hwy 18.
We got onto I-90 and hoped for a quick drive over the pass. I should have known what we were in for since it was Friday afternoon but I still hoped. We got past North Bend and was well on our way until I saw the sign of how many minutes it took to get to Ellensburg (316) and I thought it was a typo? I was very confused because there were no indicators that something had happened. I got onto the WSDOT app and checked out the chaos. A few semi trucks got into an accident near Easton and they closed the freeway. It's backed up for at least 12 miles. Ugh...…
When we got to the end of the back-up (near the Denny Creek exit) we hunkered down because we were going to be here for a while and I was pissed. I hated that this back up had to happen today. This is why we left early to avoid traffic and to get to Coeur d'Alene at a decent time. Now I wasn't going to be able to stop where I wanted to stop. I was so annoyed! I knew complaining about it wouldn't get us there faster but it made me feel better about it. About a half hour in we watched a guy back up his car into someone else. So dumb!
Around 5ish is when we started moving for real. Ugh! So much time wasted! We stopped at Indian John Hill rest area because after sitting in the Escape for so long everyone had to pee. We did some walking around and Ben got some cheap coffee. We all got back in the Escape and hurried to the Vantage Horses.
Just after Ellensburg, we stopped at the other rest stop, Rygrass, because I wanted to get the cache there and we welcomed a few pit stops after the afternoon we just had. Ryegrass Corner Cache (GC6WPQQ) was hidden near the pet area so we had to watch out for poopies. Of course it was a magnetic cache on the fence. It was basically the only place it could be hidden. I noticed that they added a lot more windmills to the area since we were here last. We signed the log, put it back and carefully tiptoed to the Escape avoiding the "land mines."
We were probably up there for at least a half hour to 40 minutes. It was nice just to sit up there and look at the surroundings. Unfortunately, it was late and we had to start making out way towards Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. We were going to get there late as it was. I was disappointed that we couldn't make some of the other stops because it would have been too late and dark by the time we got to them.
We made a stop in Moses Lake for some food. Mom, Trish and I had Subway and Ben had Taco Del Mar because he didn't think Subway would be enough food. We ate our food and then used the restroom before we left Moses Lake. We got back on the freeway after our food and headed east as far as my gas tank would go. Ugh, we had to stop again. I found a quick easy gas station off the freeway in Ritzville. It was one of those Love's truck stops and the gas was cheaper than the surrounding ones.
I was getting tired and I could not wait until we got to the hotel in Coeur d'Alene. As we got closer and closer to Spokane, I started sharing stories of the last few times I was here and the time we came up here in college. We finally go to the state line and crossed over into Idaho. Of course there were some "ho" jokes. We got off of I-90 and found our hotel just off the main drag. I booked this hotel because it was basically the last one. There weren't any hotels available in Spokane and I wondered why that weekend was so busy. I still don't know...anyway, I found a Motel 6 for super cheap, like, $55 a night cheap and I couldn't pass that up. I booked it as soon as I had confirmation that enough people were going to come. I hope it wasn't a gross hotel but we will see when we got there.
We got to the hotel around 10-10:30ish and I got out of the Escape and went inside to check-in. There was a guy behind the desk and I told him good evening and I was here to check-in. I handed him my paper and my license and he started putting stuff into the computer. He mentioned that I got a great deal on the internet and because I booked on the internet I got two free days of internet. In my head I was like, why doesn't this hotel have free Wi-Fi? Seems pretty weird this day and age to not. He got us checked-in, handed me the Wi-Fi codes, two key cards and my receipt for the two nights. For some reason he added, oh there is a free continental breakfast in the morning, do you like bacon because I like bacon. Have a great stay!
I went back to the Escape and we drove closer to our room. We were going to have to go up a flight of stairs with our stuff. We took a couple loads up while I made sure there really wasn't anything left in the Escape that someone could steal from us. We got into the room and this Motel 6 was probably the worst one I've ever stayed at. The bathroom was shaped weird, there weren't enough towels, no Kleenex and the whole place was just weird. We all got ready for bed because tomorrow was going to be a very busy day. I was so glad I brought my earplugs because my mom and Trish snored.
Around 3:30 that morning, I woke up to the light thumping of the wall next to my head. I pulled out my earplugs and everyone else had been woken up to the same sensation but they also heard the sound. The neighbors next door were having aggressive adult relations and did not care who heard it. Come on man! It's 3:30 in the morning! We have to be up somewhat early! I put my earplugs back in, tried to ignore the wall and went back to sleep.
Next Adventure: Titanic Artifact Exhibit, White Elephant Store, Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties and some Geocaching
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