Taking Kate to College
August 15 - September 1, 1996
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Taking Kate to her freshman year at UPS, the University of Puget Sound, was also a family vacation. Mary arranged the details of this two week journey using a CD-ROM trip planning program (AAA Map'n'Go by DeLorme.) We had never planned like this before. What a joy! Not only did we have good map of the route every mile along the way, but we also had each day's leg planned out and reservations at a motel for each night's stop. No more "let's look for a motel before it get too dark" hassle! We also took along a half dozen Books on Tape which we listened to as we rode in the car. One book, Dead by Sunset by Ann Rule, told a suspenseful true crime story. The story was so compelling that Mary and I found it hard to stop listening to the book and get out of the car when we stopped for the night. |
The scenery on first day's leg, from St. Louis, Missouri to Kearney, Nebraska, was what we were used to seeing in the midwest. But as we drove further west on I-80 the landscape became increasingly sere. By the time we arrived in Rawlins, Wyoming, the destination of our second day's leg, we were impressed by the long stretches of isolation and the dry landscape.
Rawlins, Wyoming and landscape nearby
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The motel we stayed at was on top of a hill, probably the hill in the picture on the left. As we looked across the valley to the distant brown hills, we saw a large white "R". Above and to the left of the "R", in about the same brown as the hillside, you can just make out the word "RAWLINS". The continental divide marker is about ten miles west of Rawlins at I-80's milepost 206. The photo on the left contains a large fence which we decided probably serves lessen the amount of snow drifts on the interstate highway.
The third day's leg stopped at Boise, Idaho. The fourth day's leg brought us to Snoqualmie, Washington on August 18th. (We could have driven 25 miles further and finished at Seattle, but we did not want to drive though that city when we were tired from driving all day.) Much of the fourth leg was driven on roads which, although part of the interstate highway system, wound across rural areas like a state route would and made you feel in intimate contact with the land passed across. Unfortunately we did not take any photographs as we drove these scenic miles. I wish that we could show examples some of the sights we passed. Time and again we saw broad farm fields irrigated end to end by segments of pipe connected to axles of huge wheels. The long descent down into Pendleton, Oregon was at times as exhilarating as a roller coaster ride. Driving through the city of Yakima, Washington let us experience what previously had been just an interesting place name.
August 23, 1996 was to be Kate's first day as a student at the UPS. So we had four days to enjoy with her before she began her four UPS years. We spent the first day on Whidbey Island.
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| Deception Pass, at the north end of Widbey Island, is an 80 mile drive from Seattle. A graceful bridge spans Deception Pass. The area was a perfect place to pause for a while and enjoy being outdoors. Kate hiked down a steep trail to walk along the beach. |
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| Driving another 46 miles south along Whidbey Island roads brought us to the town of Langley. It was pleasant strolling along streets lined with small shops. Here we slept overnight at the most luxurious place that we had ever stayed at before: The Inn at Langley. At Langley Freeman used for the first time the digital camera which Mary had given to him. It was a Kodac camera, the KDC-40, which had a fixed focus lens. The camera stored 40 photographs, 756x504 pixels each, 16 million colors. A serial cable transferred the photographs to a computer. | ||||
| For the next three days we went sight seeing around Seattle. In Pioneer Square we browsed in the Elliott Bay Bookstore. We went on the Underground Tour. (To improve the sewer system, Seattle raised the level of the streets, leaving lowest floors and original entrances of buildings completely below street level. What were sidewalks became tunnels, and the new sidewalks had glass blocks in places to admit light to the subterranean part of the city. For a while people shopped and walked in this underground part of the city. But now the places are dusty, musty and unused except for the tours.) We ate a delicious supper on board the Spirit of Washington dinner train.We went to Tacoma's beautifully restored Union Station and marveled at the glass art work of Dale Chiluly. On August 23 Kate entered her dorm at UPS. The freshman class went on a retreat, so we did not see her for several days. When freshman orientation was over, we said our goodbyes and drove eastward towards Saint Louis. | ||||||||||
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mail to: Freeman@Brown.org