Daniel's Back, and living in WA

booting this up, up, up

 

Hi Bookrats. (And everyone else.)

Well, I guess I got out of the habit of posting here after a trip... you get behind and then it takes too long to catch up... and I was spending too much time on the computer.

Anyhoo, years ago, long before the Prius was ink on a drawing board, I lived out on the prairie, 30 miles outside of Fargo, and was content to endure the harsh weather in return for the peace and quiet of the countryside. Then I sold my house and went to Mexico to learn Spanish, and then to Spain. When I came home I rented an apartment in Fargo. I no longer wanted the total isolation of the country. But either the winter was harder in town (it was harder to avoid going out in it) or I had become soft after 6 years of beautiful hot climates. I could no longer stand the winters. But I had no idea where to go instead. I hate big cities. (I'm even wondering if Spokane is too big!)

Then last October (2004) and again this summer I visited Mountain Trek in British Columbia, at Ainsworth, North of Nelson, on Lake Kootenay. (hiking.com if anyone is interested.) That settled it. Spokane was my choice for its nearness to that region. From Fargo, a trip to BC is a production, a once-a-year thing at most. But from Spokane I can go up there for a week any time I like durig the summer, just a 4-hour drive. Shortly after returning from that trip I went on the internet and found a realtor (Jeff Christopher, of Windermere Manito - - great guy!) and made a trip to Spokane. Jeff showed me a bunch of houses and condos, and on my own I checked out some apartments. Then a second trip and I picked this house and bought it, and moved just as quick as I could, before the snow flew.

I was getting the lowest mpg on all of Prius Chat, due to the combination of Fargo's bitterly-cold winters, and an extremely short commute, because in Fargo nothing is very far from anything else. I was in the low 30's in winter and up to around 46 in summer. (BUT I WAS BURNING LESS TOTAL GAS THAN ANYONE, as I was driving so few miles!)

So now I'm living in Spokane Valley and finding I'm far from most of the places I want to go. And the freeway has long stretches so rough it feels like driving on washboard. So I've been taking the surface streets and seeing mpg's above 50! And that's with temps currently around and below freezing.

What else is there to say? Am I here for good? Who knows? I'll be in New Zealand and Australia for a month in January and part of February. And still looking for my dream girl.

P.S. If anyone is familiar with Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, I climbed the keyhole route to the glacier, with plenty of help from the guide getting over the boulders. I suspect I am the most skittish and least sure-footed climber ever to complete that climb, as if I'd been any worse I could not have made it. So I have to brag about it at every opportunity. It was a great climb and an accomplishment I was very proud of. - - For anyone not familiar with it, it's about a 3700-foot elevation gain, and I'm going to guess 10 or 12 miles round trip, but the last 300 feet is over a very steep boulder field, easy for an experienced climber, and not a technical climb at all, but very difficult for an inexperienced scaredy-cat like me.

I was also in Scotland this summer, hiking a goodly part of the West Highland Way, plus Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK. That one's about 4400 feet of elevation gain and a 12-mile round trip, on a foot-killing hard stone path all the way. Hundreds of people climb it every day, including children and old ladies, but it's still a hard hike, due to the vertical gain. Neither Ben Nevis nor Kokanee Glacier is high enough to notice any lack of oxygen.

 

daniel (I wasn't here before when you were---but "hi")

Don't want to deal with the Seattle area's rain? How about Coeur d'Alene? Or, a little farther from B.C., Bend, OR? (growing REALLY fast...) Missoula's nice, too. Or is your job a factor in Spokane?

Port Angeles, WA, across from Victoria, is nice, too---dull gray chilly/boring in winter months, but surprisingly little actual rain (15 in./yr), with the Olympics (including some glacier remnants) at your back.

The girl of your dreams may now be in your computer, too---sounds like a good winter project---

 

Hold out for a month and a half. Don’t settle on some Spokane skank. Believe me, your dream girl will be in Australia.

Australian guys are known for being jerks in relationships, so when the gals hear your American accent, they will be very attentive . . . unless you prove to be a jerk too.

I’m a happily married man, but if I had to go hunt down another dream girl, I’d be booking a flight to Australia.

(I still have a smile on my face from my trip to Perth in 1981 )

 

Well, first off, no, being retired, I could live just about anywhere I wanted to. But Seattle is much too big for me. I'm afraid even Spokane is going to end up being too big for me and force me to move again in a year or two. And, yes, the rain is a factor. I visited Seattle once and I enjoyed it. Bit I cannot see living there. (Unless for a woman. The right woman could change everything.)

What really clinched it for Spokane was its proximity to Lake Kootenay, in British Columbia. Anyone ever hiked in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park? That's what Eden would have been like, if there ever had been such a place. Coeur D'Alene might have been a better choice. But how is one to know before living in an area for a while? However, I could always move again. Nothing's permanent but death.

Unfortunately, I don't expect to meet many locals down under. I'll be on a pair of guided hiking trips (one in N.Z. and one in Australia). And when it comes to meeting girls, I am pathologically shy. But if it happens, great. I'd really love to marry a Madrileña, though. The folks in Madrid have the most wonderful accent. (In Spanish, I mean -- it's the most beautiful Spanish in the world.) Or a harpsichordist. Or a baroque violinist.

 

welcome back daniel!!

wondered where you wandered off too. now that you are a Washingtonian we will have to set up a meeting. the Kokanee Park sounds like a very viable option. we also have Engunneer who is into hiking.

ALSO... its scary when one moves to Spokane for the warm weather!

 

Top of the World with a soak in Ram Creek Hot Springs on the way down.

 

Dave: in the WA forum, Henry suggested a meeting in Moses Lake. Dividing the distance. Might be practical for anyone in the state or nearby. Check out that thread.

For a meeting I'm not sure I'd want to drive all the way up to B.C. When I go up there it's going to be for a solid week of hiking, either at Mountain Trek (a very upscale health spa - - hiking.com - -) or with a private guide. Now, if folks wanted to take a group hiking trip, that'd be a possibility but since a random collection of Prius enthusiasts is not likely to be all at the same fitness level, and since it's no fun hiking too far above or below your capabilities, I'm not sure how well it would work out. (Advantages of hiking with a private guide: I get to go at exactly my pace; I carry my water and rain gear, but the guide carries the emergency equipment; the guide knows the trails; and the guide knows (better than I) how to avoid bear encounters (E.g. where they are feeding this week.)

Tony: I took the quiz. A few of their suggested places might have been contenders, mostly in New Mexico, which I like because of the strong hispanic community, which has preserved its culture and language better than most parts of the U.S. But Spokane is close to B.C., and that is what clinched it for me.

Hi Frank.

 

a week??

ah the retired life... must be nice

 

1 year 6 months 30 days and I'll probably drive over to Spokane and buy you a coffee and we can bs about the Prius.

 

Nice!... at least your not picky!!!

 

Frank: Or you could join us in Moses Lake when(ever) we manage to set a date for that.

Danny: There was a radio play on the CBC years ago, about a radio operator in the far north who fell in love with his contact back in civilization. She insisted he not try to meet her, but he searched her out while he was on leave. Turned out she was about 75 years old. (He was a young man in his 20's.) Destroyed all his illusions.

 

Daniel! Welcome back!

I'm happy to learn you're doing well and have made what appears to be a good change, location-wise. Also, I hope you find that girl!

 

Good to have you back, Daniel. I'm glad you're doing well. I've missed your input.