Missoula > Seattle

I stayed at the only hostel in Missoula, Hutchins Hostel, where I met Michael from London who is biking across America (his blog)! I also met a couple from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn (the neighborhood I lived in for close to 7 years) and they were biking from Missoula to Glacier then over to Washington and down to Portland. I had no idea Missoula was such a biking destination! Michael and I went to a pub trivia night (team name Mustard), we did alright in the first two rounds but not so hot in the end. It was fun though, I will totally do another trivia night!

Thursday morning I started driving, heading to Seattle. I was super tired so pulled off the road somewhere in that sliver of Idaho and took a nap. I think I only napped for 15 minutes but it was like a quick recharge for my batteries and I continued on feeling much better!

BB up on the lift

I stopped to get gas in Eastern Washington and when I got back on the road, I noticed the Check Engine light was on. I pulled off I-90 to Moses Lake and did a quick google search for car repair shops. I found Woodward Auto & Truck and called to see fi they were open because my clock said 6:17. The guy who answered said, of course we're open, where are you? You are calling from New York? I explained that I'm on a road trip and my check engine light just came on and I just got off the freeway in this town. I headed over to their shop and the mechanic (whose name I didn't catch, I'm terrible at remembering to catch people's names!) plugged in the digital diagnostic machine. It was an o2 sensor that needed to be replaced (he showed me on the diagnostic). I asked if I could make it to Seattle and was told yes, but it will burn more fuel so you should get it replaced asap... and you'll pay more in Seattle! So I asked how long it would take them to fix it. Bill, the guy in the office, said it was more about hte part and then about 30 minutes of labor. So Bill called up some place with parts, they had it in stock, drove it over, the mechanic (who I had a nice conversation with about design, he's an aspiring Industrial Designer) replaced the part, cleared the warning, test drove it to make sure it was still good and I was done! I was in, diagnosed, fixed and out within an hour! I arrived in Seattle at 9pm! As far as car trouble go, that was a pretty lucky situation!

I'll be spending today in Seattle, hopefully catching up with one of my old roommates from Brooklyn who lives here now, and tomorrow heading to my Unitarian church camp at Seabeck, WA... arriving in time for the 2pm all staff meeting. This means taking the ferry to Bremerton! Yay ferries! I think today I'll go for a bike ride, my friend lent me her awesome bike map of Seattle and there are a few paths nearby, she lives on the West side of Green Lake for those of you familiar with Seattle.


Oh, I forgot to post a final picture of the finished root cellar! (Well, it needs a little paint and more soil on top and around it, but I had to go West, so hopefully my uncle can sort that out!)

Isn't she lovely :)