When I travel, I am very interested in what people name their businesses and streets. To me it reflects the attitude of the people living in the area, and it also amuses me.
My husband and I recently went to San Francisco by train. We went through many, many towns, some big and some not so much a town as a railroad station and maybe a gas station, sort of like Hansville (except we don’t have a train going through and no gas station so I guess we’re different, huh?).
We boarded the train in Seattle. It was supposed to leave at 9:35 a.m. and do you know … it did. Traveling through familiar territory toward Tacoma and then on toward Oregon we saw pretty much what you would expect: Beautiful houses overlooking the coastal waters, kids on bikes (it was Sunday), people walking hand-in-hand, and lots of dogs barking.
In Oregon, in the mountains, in a very dense forest I saw a road named Lone Tree Avenue. No town around, and the trees so thick you couldn’t see what (if anything) the road led to, but there was the sign by a dirt road.
Also in Oregon I saw the Busy Bee Restaurant. The sign out front said Buzz Right In. And in another Oregon town there was Stomach on Empty? Fill ’er Up at Jack’s Restaurant.
I soon lost track of state border-lines and just enjoyed reading my book and looking at the little towns as they passed my window, but of course still looking at their signs that advertised the business within.
I saw the 2am Club, and I thought I must be in California. And not too long after that I saw Godfather’s Bail Bonds. I was pretty sure I was in California.
Traveling by train you meet and see very interesting people. The woman across the aisle from us was from Leavenworth, traveling with her younger brother. She worked in a bookstore called A Book for All Seasons. I’ve been there many times to book signings and to just browse. I didn’t really remember her but it was sort of like seeing family where you didn’t expect it.
At one stop where the passengers were allowed to get off the train and “stretch those legs,” I saw a fast-food hamburger place that had a train outside for the kids to ride in, but this train looked like a long skunk — head at the front and the stripe in an overhead bar that ran the length of the train, and a busy tail.
In San Francisco, we walked a lot. Up and down hills to everything! We went to Chinatown and after that I relented and poor husband got to stay home in the afternoons while I went exploring. I saw a buffet sign that said Buddy’s All Day Buffet — a Day Spa for Your Taste Buds. I also saw the Wreck Room, filled with pool tables, and when the door opened cigarette smoke billowed out. I wondered how they could see in this room to play, let alone breathe.
We had a fun trip even though the train had engine trouble on the way home and we were seven hours late getting into Seattle — and that made us miss the last ferry — and we had to wait until 5:30 a.m. to catch the next one …
It still was a fun trip. Will we do it again? Not soon but sure, some day.
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Begin your Independence Day celebration with friends and neighbors at an annual Hansville tradition. Come to the Red, White and Blue Breakfast, July 4 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Pancakes, ham, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee. Purchase tickets at the door. Adults: $6, children 3-10, $4, younger than 3 free.
Contact Becky Weinbaum at (360) 516-0241 or beckyweinbaum@gmail.com.
— Donna Lee Anderson: welltoldtales@aol.com.
