So Long Seattle, Konnichiwa Kalaloch
Trip Start
Apr 20, 2012
1
16
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Kalaloch Campground
What I did
KEXP Headquarters
Jack's Fish Spot
Seattle Coffee Works
Kalaloch, Washington
Friday, May 4, 2012
We’ve emailed and called the crew at KEXP for the past couple of days, hoping to schedule a tour of the station, but so far no reply. So we figure, let’s just show up and see what happens (which seems to be the theme of this trip).
So after a lovely egg and prosciutto scramble at Alex and Angela’s, we repack the car and head off.
We pull up right in front of the station Bret and Lizette style—no reservations.
We walk up, ring the buzzer and a lovely redhead greets us.
Bret tells her our story, "We’ve been fans and members since 2005, we emailed and called but we haven’t heard back, we drove so far, we’re leaving today…"
She looked at us sympathetically and said “Well I can give you a quick tour, ’cause we’re short-staffed…”
And just like that, we were in!
She showed us their humongous library of CDs and records, we walked past the live recording studio where they frequently have bands perform, past tiny offices, and we even saw one of Bret’s favorite DJs, John in the Morning, walk right past us.
Mission Accomplished! Dreams Come True! We might have to consider renaming this blog, something more along the lines of The Dreams Come True (and So Do Double Rainbows) Tour of 2012!!!
Our next mission: cioppino! For those who don’t know, this is a sort of seafood stew, that’s really popular in San Francisco, and we’ve been craving it ever since we left. So we head back to Pike Place Market to Jack’s Fish Spot where we’re their first customers of the day. We each grab a cup of cioppino and split a crab cocktail. We eat our cioppino in complete silence, savoring each bite, sitting along a metal bar, watching the fisherman/sellers try to entice people passing by and imagining that we could eat so much more fish and clams and oysters and lobster, if we only had jobs. But then again, if we had jobs, we wouldn’t be sitting here, enjoying this lively view on a Friday morning at 11 a.m.
Before we hit the road, we think it’d be great to try some local Seattle coffee, so we head to Seattle Coffee Works. There, the barista (or is it baristo?) asks where we’re from and where we’re going, and when we tell him we’re heading to the Kalaloch Campground in the Olympic National Park, he tells us about One Square Inch in the Hoh Rain Forest. The Hoh Rain Forest is about 20 miles away from Kalaloch, and it’s one of the quietest places in the United States. About 3.25 miles down the Hoh River Trail, lies THE quietest place in the country. Once you’re there, you can’t hear any manmade noise – no cars, no trains, no planes, no construction. Just nature. He tells us he was just there last week for his birthday and it was amazing.
Well, if it’s the “-est” anything (tallest, largest, longest, gummiest, oldest, you name it), we just HAVE to see it.
We thank him for the tip and head on our way.
Three and a half hours and one “LARGEST Sitka Spruce Tree!” later, we arrive at Kalaloch.
It’s right on the coast, it’s cold and there’s rain in the forecast tonight. We’re thankful we thought to pack our ski coats and pants in the madness of the move.
