Some Things We Looked Up While On Our Trip

SUMMARY: We both have curious minds.

So, this happened:  Seester and I headed north to western Washington to investigate possible future retirement locations. Driving is the best! Lots of time for conversation and asking questions about--anything! [yeah, will probably get around to talking about the trip at some point.]

• Can we reasonably make it to our first area of exploration (Silverdale, WA) in one day? Answer: Yes, if we're willing to drive for 14 hours. Not including rest stops, food stops, gas stops....  Final answer: No.

• Where should we stop our first night? (Checking distances from our starting location to Portland, Crescent City, Eureka, Ukiah, and some other places.) Decided on Crescent City but I insisted on not making reservations until we were well on our way, and glad about that because we made it only to Eureka for dinner with a friend.

• How to pronounce Puyallup?

• How does tolling work for non-Washington residents crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge? (Apparently they'll get our address from CA DMV via our license plate and send a bill.)

  

  When we headed home, that was really the only day with dark foreboding clouds.
  Which pretty much cleared up by noon.

  
  

• Did L. Ron Hubbard *really* have more published works of fiction than Stephen King? (Guiness World Records says yes.)
  
  
• If I wanted to pick up Zorro the day after I got home instead of Friday night, and he was in Sonora, how long would it take? (Gulp--4 hours round trip. Answer: No. Fortunately arranged a pickup in Tracy, only 2 hours round trip.)
  
  
• Which rest areas (er, "safety roadside rest areas") are currently open on I-5? On US 101?  (Didn't have much luck finding those answers.)
  
  
• Where exactly is Trees of Mystery and what are their hours?
  
  
• What's interesting about Port Angeles?
  
  
• Rainfall averages for various places in Washington?
  
  
• Lots and lots and lots and lots of queries in Google Maps for how to get somewhere or how long it would take or where it was.
  
  
• Where's the nearest AAA office?
  
  
• Tsunami Hazard Zone Maps for WA.
  
  
• Exclusion zones for Mount Rainier eruption dangers
  
  
• Iceland isn't on the Ring Of Fire, so why does it have volcanoes?
  
  
• How did prehistoric irrigation work in the Americas without the wheel? Was it all gravity-based? (Apparently, yes.)
  
  
• Calories in a Wendy's small chocolate Smoothie?
  
  
• Common name for Humuhumunukunukuapua'a? [Yes, I could remember the Hawaiian name, but not the common  English name.]
  
  
• What is all the white stuff growing next to  101 around Eugene? [Answer: Meadowfoam. OK, what is Meadowfoam?]  

  

  Meadowfoam, by phone from a moving car.

  
  
  
• Is there an airport near Labanon OR? (Yes, the Labanon airport.)
  
  
• Are wild pigs just domestic pigs gone feral?  (Maybe in some cases, but actual different species. They are a likely ancestor of domestic pigs.)
  
  
• Are wild turkeys just etc etc. (Domestic turkeys are descended from them.)

• ARE there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side? (Interesting and funny blog post about this.)
  
  
• List of fictional characters with stars on the Hollywood walk of fame?
  
  
• Does EVERYWHERE WE GO have a Safeway?  [It sure seemed like it. I think we saw more safeways than anything other than trees.]
  
  
• Can that photo of our hotel on [something] Bay [which appears to be mostly mudflats] in the far background of an orca leaping into the air be real? For that matter, do orcas really breach often? [I said, yes, they're basically just big dolphins.] 
  
  
• What's the best Incorrect Quote we can generate for our favorite fictional characters?
  
  
• If someone says their dog is a Service Dog (and the person is disabled after overseas service), but the dog is badly behaved, can it really be a Service Dog? And how is that defined?
  
  
• Where is the wooden ship Tally-Ho being rebuilt in Sequim? (All that info has apparently now been hidden and we couldn't find it.)
  
  
• Rules about capital gains on primary residences.
  
  
• Dimensions of a king-sized mattress?
  
  
• Actual name of the Klamath River bridge that washed away, and is it the same name as its replacement?

  

  Site of the old bridge. Seester taking a photo.

  
  
  
• Earthquake and liquefaction hazard maps in and around seattle?
  
  
• Did our favorite hotel Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim survive the pandemic? [says it's currently "under renovation"... whatever that really means]
  
  
• Kaiser locations in Washington and Oregon?
  
  
• Nearest Wendy's?
  
  
• We're alongside the Salmon River -- want more info.
  
  
• What causes nighttime leg and foot cramps?
  
  
• Where did the city name Cotati come from? (Coast Miwok)
  
  
• So much more--but I didn't save everything... and sorry I didn't include all the links (sometimes searched a lot for an answer).