Thursday, March 25, 2010

The only place I have ever felt normal...

Well Utah is behind us, thank Joseph Smith! I hope never to step foot in that state again! The next state however....
Our next stop was Washington State for 2 weeks. I was SO excited, I mean ADHD excited. Here's an example of my thought process during the drive, "Coffee, Nirvana, coffee, K records, grunge, COFFEE!" The jump was awesome, I was the top seller in the van, so I sat shotgun by Tiny and got to control the radio. One of my fave things to do was make the aggro males listen to Tori Amos, but they couldn't say shit hehehe!
The farther north we got, the cloudier and greener it got. The northwest is almost like an alien planet for someone from the midwest. Here we have 3 things to look at, cornfields, cows, and soybeeans. The land is flat as hell. I guess some people think Indiana has it's own beauty, but after my travels, I don't see it.
Our motel was in Tacoma, which is south of Seattle off the I-5. We unpacked and got a day off to go to Seattle and run around.
I was a total tourist and I'm not afraid to admit it. I hit the crocodile club and about 50 coffee shops. Drank kick ass espresso until my eyes were bulging out of my head. But the next day, it was back to work.
That evening Bob called me into his motel room. He sat me down and told me he was proud of how well I did in Utah. Kind of a 180 from the last time I was in his room. He told me I deserved a reward. Gotta admit that made me a bit nervous for a second! Then he said, "You like that stupid Kurt Cobain right?" Anyone who knows me knows that I was unnaturally obsessed with Nirvana in high school and went into a 6 month depression when he died. So, "Yes!" I told him, "I love that stupid Kurt Cobain!" He asked me what I thought about working Aberdeen and Montesano for the week.
I almost wet myself! Keep in mind I am 20 and a total fangirl. To get to see all the places I read about?! Whoa!
I didn't sleep that night at all, just stayed up talking Tiny's ear off. He was more amused than irritated, bless him!
We took off at about 6:30 AM because Aberdeen is clear out by Grey's Harbor, on the other side of the state. It was a beautiful drive, to the east behind us was Mt. Ranier, on all sides evergreens, streams, and ponds. The environment there seems to have it's own pulse, like it is a sentient being. I am an agnostic, but I swear that God whispers among the pines in Washington.
The scenery started changing as we got closer to the harbor. There were miles of clear cut forests, nothing but stumps. It makes you understand what they mean by "raping mother nature" Every river we crossed didn't seem like a river at all. They were completely full of floating logs, you couldn't even see water. Every other car had a bumper sticker damning spotted owls (guess they're endangered and logging is suffering because of it) Finally after a 3 hour drive we came to Aberdeen.
This is probably the most depressing place I have EVER been. That's saying a lot since I've been to 47 of the 50 states. There are 2 distinct parts to the town, the hill and the flats. The hill has the "nice" houses, which would barely pass for middle class here. The flats was the most ramshackle collection of dumps ever. It looked like a Bosnian war zone. I requested to be dropped in the flats by 1st Avenue, the site of Kurt's childhood home.
I wasn't even thinking about magazines as I walked down the street towards his house. It's surreal to read about something or look at pictures, then find yourself there. Most of the time it's a letdown, like Mt Rushmore or Times Square. But his house was as awful as I could imagine. It was a tiny crackerbox structure, with peeling clapboard siding and dead brown grass in front. I just stood there looking and thinking. I understood his music a lot more at that point. What I understood even more is how someone who came from this would freak out when he got famous. I know I would. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I jumped about a mile and whirled around. There was a kinda dirty guy standing there grinning at me. He was about 30 with beat up Levi's and a flannel shirt. He asked me if I was a Nirvana fan. I said, "No, I just like staring at crap houses for no reason." He laughed and said he lived right down the street. Would I like to take some bong hits and see some pictures. I agreed.
We got to his apartment. He packed a fat bowl and told me that Kurt and him were good friends as kids. I was pretty skeptical, as everyone in Aberdeen "knew" him. He told me he had proof and drug out a box of pictures. I started leafing through them and he was for real. There were pictures of him and Kurt all through junior high. Of course now I had a million questions! Found out some interesting stuff! A lot of rock star stories are pure mythos and that's what makes them great. So I will not ruin it for anyone, but keep what I heard in my heart and remember the music more than the man.
I spent the whole day hanging out with this dude, then before I was ready it was time to go, but I had one more stop I HAD to make, the infamous bridge.
Here's one rumor I will dispel! "Something in the Way" is total bullshit. I have been under that bridge, there is no way in hell anyone could have slept under it, sorry Kurt you are full of shit! So I tagged under the bridge with my fave green spray paint and went back to Tacoma, and reality.
Not much else interesting from Washington, sold lots of magazines and fell in love with the state. My goal someday is to end up back there as it's the only place I have ever felt normal.
As always thanks for listening and God bless!

No comments:

Post a Comment