Day 5: Seattle Here We Come

Capone's in Coeur d'Alene

Today was the final day of driving as we leave Butte, Montana and head out for 600 miles of I-90 straight to Seattle.  After two days of getting up before the sun we decided to give ourselves a treat and sleep in until 7:00 AM.  We got up and had yet another continental breakfast in our Super 8 motel and we pulled out of the parking lot just before 8:00, bypassing the gas station across the street and heading up the on ramp just a few hundred yards up the street.  After driving driving for 90 minutes or so I see that the gas gauge has 1 tic left and I say to Katie "We need to get gas soon.".  About 3 seconds after I say this the chime warning you that you are low on fuel went off and Katie pulls out her iPhone to find the nearest exit with a gas station.  Keep in mind, we are in western Montana and, although its not as uninhabited as Wyoming, its pretty close.  Katie's first reaction upon glancing at her results was "Oh-Oh" which got my heart racing a bit.  She then says "Why didn't we just fill up at that station across the street from the hotel?".  Of course I didn't really have a good answer other than "It's a Prius, isn't it?  We shouldn't have to gas up".  We finally find one about 30 miles down the road and we fill up the tank and it takes 9.6 gallons.  Given the fact that we have been getting over 50 mpg and the tank is 11.9 gallons I figure we could have gone another 100 miles!  Why was I panicking so much.

We decide to get off interstate 90 at Coeur d'Alene to find a place for lunch.  We traveled through a portion of this town that Katie says is a major tourist/getaway town for this region of he country.  We quickly pick a joint that looks interesting and find ourselves in a very nice establishment called Capones Pub & Grill.  The back of the menu indicates they were featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives".  The food was excellent and we both enjoyed our respective sandwiches.

Columbia River

The rest of the journey was pretty much uneventful, which is what one would like on a cross country trek.  We did pull off on a scenic turn off with a panoramic view of the Columbia river.  It was quite the view but it was also very hot outside so we only stayed long enough for a quick look, kind of Griswold family vacation style.
Once we hit Seattle our pace drew to a crawl as we tried to make our way to the intersection of I-90 and I-5 so that we could turn north and make our way to the hotel.  We finally made it and were checked into our room by 6:15.  We strolled across the street to an upscale plaza of shops and restaurants and found a place to eat.  After we were done we strolled around the place and stumbled across a big Bartell Drugs store.

Kodak Kiosks and Complete RSS System in Bartell Drugs

Bartell Drugs is one of the biggest customers of the photo equipment that I work on so I had to stop in and check it out.  Very impressive array of Kodak equipment in an inviting arrangement with easy chairs to sit in while you work on your photo projects via a Kodak Picture Kiosk.
After leaving the Bartell Drugs we found an Apple store and directly across the parking lot was a new Microsoft retail store.  It was pretty hilarious to walk from one to the other and see virtually the same setup in the Microsoft store complete with the geeks wearing nametag lanyards that were identical to Apples with the exception of the corporate logo.  Nice try, Microsoft.
At 9:00 PM Katie and I left for the Seattle airpot to pick up Amy and as I write this, our little band of travelers has grown by one and we are now 4 as Amy joins Katie, Pooh and me on our adventure.