Welcome to the last day of the Odyssey! The last waltz, the final hurrah, one more from the road...it's all here. We've been all over this great land of ours, searching for truth, justice, and cheap internet access, and now we're back, older, wiser, and more than a little atrophied. 20,000 miles of sitting on your tuckus will do that to you. But this isn't the epilogue! This isn't the summing up, the accounting! No, no, no...that's still to come. Today is just what it is -- the Last Day of the Odyssey.
The Last Day of the Odyssey started as do many Last Things -- in Tacoma. We got up a little late and managed to motivate everyone for a breakfast at the Boathouse Grill down in Pt. Defiance park. That's me, my mom, dad, and brother, there, all hanging around looking cool. And, yes -- we are the First Family of Funk.
The Boathouse Grill is run by the city as part of Pt. Defiance park. Because it is run by the city, they really don't seem to have much profit motive going on. The waitresses are notoriously lax, taking your order when they durn well feel like it. Heck, the city can't fire anyone without a two-month fact-finding mission...what the heck do they have to worry about? It reminds me of nothing so much as my stay in Poland just before the fall of socialism. Back then, everyone was a government employee. They were paid very little and did even less. It was understood -- that was the way everybody "worked." The Boathouse Grill is a little slice of Poland right there in Tacoma (though I don't think they're going to use that as their new advertising slogan, or anything). I've never been there when they didn't have at least ten tables open. Yet I've also never been there when you didn't have to wait at least ten minutes to sit down...even if you had reservations. The reason for this, I think, is that if they opened all those other tables, they'd actually have to work harder. So, they just don't seat people there, preferring instead to slack off a bit and take it easy with a few tables in front. Beautiful. Polish, but beautiful.
Undaunted by the Boathouse Grill's usual wait, we had an OK breakfast with a real good view and then headed back to pack up our stuff at the folks' house. Then, there was nothing left to do but head to Seattle, our new home. The drive up I-5 was the same as it ever was, and then we were there. Home. The basement.
Actually, it wouldn't be home until two days later when we got our cats back. As you can see from the picture below, they were almost as happy to see us as Kristanne's brother Chuck was back in Newport.
And, well, that's the Odyssey! Check back in a couple days for an epilogue where we try to sum up just what the heck we think about this whole Odyssey thing. See you then!
Total Miles for 8/31 = 42