Coming off of my lovely Bay Area trip, my original intention was to go to Las Vegas in mid-June to attend a meeting of Epinions.com members.
I scrubbed that. It'll be too hot, and at this politically volatile period, throwing a tranny in the same space as a neocon (and there are quite a few on Epinions) does NOT make for a good experience. Besides, I am not really in a show/gambling mood at this time.
I am expecting to get the entire week of Independence Day off though, and I am planning to travel far away - to Seattle. I have planned a 4-day itinerary that will allow me to experience Seattle's groovy neighborhoods (especially Capitol Hill!), and the neighboring sights such as Bainbridge Island and Mt. St. Helens. The long daylight should help too, as well as the mild, sunny climate (Seattle is pretty dry in summer). And I will most likely meet a Seattle-based member of Democracy Cell Project as well.
Considering that my previous Seattle visits consisted of exploring its aviation industry (such as the Boeing 747/777 factory in Everett) and little more, it'll feel like a whole new experience when I get up there. This time, aviation will be limited to my flights up and back. It looks like I'll be flying United, for the first time since I started my novel (which deals with a United flight attendant). I hope it'll help my novel.
To keep my Seattle experience authentic, I will try not to go east of the lake into places like Bellevue and Redmond. Those places sound a lot like the materialistic suburbs of San Gabriel Valley down here in Los Angeles (down to the Asian nouveau-riche enclaves and Korean churches), and I don't need to go all the way up to Seattle to see more of the same. And to carry the theme further, I will insist on the smallest rental car possible, which will also save money at the gas pump.
As for Las Vegas, it can wait until the end of September, when it's a bit cooler. I decided to use the Mariah Carey concert (see the last Fashion Corner) as an excuse to get out there then.
