Day 17 - The day the rain got me

Woke up fairly early at the motel.  It was raining.  We went out to breakfast at Lana’s Hangar Cafe – breakfast was quite good and the place had some neat local history up.  On the way back to the motel, we passed by the Hoquiam high school.  When we went past the football stadium in the rain, I could have sworn that the sign said “home of the Hoquiam Drizzlies” which seemed utterly appropriate given the weather.  Then I saw the Mascot – A grizzly bear – darn.

Getting back to the motel, we were cruising along until we started to pack up the camper – the cabinet had shucked the track holding in the sliding doors, and the doors had to be put back up before we could pack up and leave.  So I broke out the epoxy putty and glued the track in.

Finally we were about ready to go when I noticed that the racks that I thought were strange decoration around the motel were in fact drying racks that were full of long beans.  With the rain coming down harder, the idea of drying anything just seemed like wishful thinking, but I had to take a couple of pictures:

Strange decorations?

Nope - green beans on drying racks

Then I prepped for the ride, and got Sharon to take a picture of me all decked out for the rain:

Matthew in full rain gear

Anyway, we finally headed out, in the rain, to get to Elma and perhaps beyond.  I was moving slowly Eastward through Hoquiam and Aberdeen, and then I got scrambled and went over the wrong damned bridge and ended up in south Aberdeen.  By the time I got my bearings and back on course, I was tired, soaked and cold.  I stopped in at a fast food joint to get out of the rain, use the john and rest a bit.  So I head into the john and promptly end up dropping my phone in the toilet.  That makes two drowned phones in two weeks.  Luckily (?) I was in the same shopping center as an AT&T store, so I went in and bought the cheapest no-contract phone that I could find.  Also, luckily, Sharon called just after we'd put the SIM card in the phone, so I had her cell number and she was able to come by the store, whereupon I folded up the bike and threw it in the camper.  Sometimes you beat the day, and sometimes the day beats you.  Yesterday I won, today the weather won.

We Drove to Elma and checked in at the Parkhurst Motel - a classic old motel with kitchenettes and a lot of space.  We then found that the only restaurant in town that looked reasonable was Mexican - which turned out to be pretty good.

Stats:
total mileage: about 8 miles before McDrowning then about a 20 mile drive

Update:
After a night in rice, the phone seems to have survived.  For the time being I will keep my phone number (AT&T) on the cheap candy bar phone and the unlimited data (T-mobileon the smartphone.  Also, this morning I bought a squaretrade warranty on the smartphone so that if I drown it again (it's gone blub twice in the last 2 weeks and somehow survived) I can replace it.