a decade in Seattle, part 4 of 6

Boston to Seattle trip log
Sunday, March 10, 2002

3:30 pm CST: After a rather late brunch with Eldy and Priscilla, said goodbye to them, added 4.5 gallons of gas, and hit the road.

7:00 pm CST: Stop for gas in West Fargo, ND, added 7.5 gallons. Odometer: 1,686 miles.

9:45 pm CST: Stop for dinner at an Applebee's in Bismarck, ND. We closed the place out; it felt like old times. The waitress had an adorable accent.

10:30 pm CST: Stop for gas in Bismarck before heading onward, added 6.27 gallons. Odometer: 1,878 miles.

Approximately 10:45 pm CST: Crossed into Mountain Standard Time just outside Bismarck.

11:30 pm MST: Just outside Billings County, ND, at mile 41 on I-94, crossed the 2,000 miles mark on the odometer.

Monday, March 11, 2002

12:15 am MST: Stop for the night at the Buckboard Inn, in Beach, ND, right on the border with Montana. Odometer: 2,040 miles.

Some highlights of 2008

• Having made some offhand remark about how I should learn how to make ice cream, Tony and Farida got me an ice cream mixer for my (2007) birthday, and I started making homemade ice cream.


• My friend Dawn talked me into trying out swing dancing, which was fun but not really for me.


• I had good visits from my sister Andrea and her partner Jen, and my brother Jeremy. (Family visits are always good; I haven't mentioned all the previous ones because I'm not sure when some of them happened.)


• I went to all three days of Bumbershoot this year, my second time attending, and really enjoyed it.


• I went home to New Hampshire at Thanksgiving time in order to attend my high school's 20-year reunion. I also had Thanksgiving with my family for the first time since moving to Seattle.

Some highlights of 2009

• I was asked to take on a long-term data entry project at KEXP, which involved me being at the station on a weekly basis in order to do the work, and thus marked my transition from "volunteer" to "intern".


• I was also hired by KEXP for a week-long contract to audit the data entry for the spring membership drive, which has turned into a regular contract gig and technically qualifies me as "staff".


• I also volunteered to write a review of Hotels' then-new album for the KEXP Blog, which began my volunteer work as a blogger for the station.


• Because of being a KEXP blogger, I attended the Sasquatch! Music Festival for the first time, and also the Decibel Festival, as well as a few other concerts I otherwise would've missed, such as My Bloody Valentine.


• At the very end of the year, I turned 40 years old; to mark the occasion, I wrote a series of posts called "40 Topics, 40 Days, 40 Years Old" about my life to date, starting with this post in November.