Touring "Real America"

[CarsOfFortLangley]

On my trip I spent the bulk of my time in Central OR and Eastern WA. After the portion of my trip with Oppos, I had a goal to stop in as many towns for coffee or beer as possible and to try to chat with people.

I saw many trump signs, trucks with "Fuck Biden" on them, guns in truck windows on gun racks and people wearing camo.

I wore a Canadian flag hat which combined with my Jeep/plates started a lot of conversations. Some with cute girls in Bend over beer or coffee, some with friendly employees at museums or tourist destinations or just locals having a pint. People become very friendly if not a bit patronizing when they find out you're a Canadian. I felt like I was being treated like I had a low IQ or something at times.

I learned many things about local issues like the Facebook data centre in Crook County, OR which is the biggest in North America, hideous and can be seen from most places in the town. The group I shared a table with likened it to a prison and I agree. One of the group asked if we had Facebook in Canada....

I also was told about how Joe Biden is the devil, not like, in a figurative sense, but literally Satan and that he was sent to destroy the world. Now, I like to think I'm pretty savvy re: politics even in the USA. Biden has always kinda struck me as a pretty meh/ineffective president... if he is Satan, he's playing a pretty long game.

I steered the conversation towards the weather or some other topics, finished the beer they bought me and made my exit.

As mentioned in my Oppo post, I very much enjoyed my time in the USA, especially in Central OR, but sometimes things would catch my eye that snapped me back to where I was:

Also, it seemed that everything that could be a potential target had been shot. Including this sign where someone had nailed it with what appears to be a shotgun slug RIGHT in the "you are here" spot which I found funny.

I'm not opposed to guns, and in fact, I wished I had mine as I view it as a safety item when so far in remote areas not only for animal defence, but as a flare launcher. But the country towns... wow. One time shortly after @AMGtech and @CaptDale-is-secretly-British left, I came across two militia type guys in the desert with AR's slung across their chest. They were clearly target shooting or whatever, which doesn't bother me you see that here too, but as I drove, one or two yards from them, they turned, waved, then turned back to their makeshift range and opened up. So fucking loud... why they couldn't have waited for me to make my way back from where I came, I have no idea.

Anyway, tldr, America is fuckin weird and @fintail I have no idea how you can live in Spokane. Unless it's wildly different from Yakima and surrounding areas, it doesn't seem very "you".

[gettingoldercarguy]

@CarsOfFortLangley Spokane is very different than Yakima.

[CarsOfFortLangley]

@gettingoldercarguy Yakima was a total shithole, I was kinda surprised.

[fintail]

@CarsOfFortLangley Guess where my Trumpy relatives are from - Yakima! Most of them still live in that area too. To be fair, my boomer 'Nam USMC combat vet uncle lives in the Columbia Basin, and is more anti-Trump than anyone here, so all is not lost.

Spokane proper voted 63/37 for the lesser evil, FWIW. It's not as flamboyantly progressive (and sometimes limousine liberal) as Seattle metro, but it isn't a red wasteland, more of the purple that used to be more common. It's a small city, but a city no less. Things get red quick once one exits the Spokane city limits, especially going east, however. Aside from maybe a few neighborhoods in CdA, north ID might as well be stuck in the days when literal Nazis had their mecca in the area.

I think the highlights of Yakima anymore are Miner's and Arctic Circle, maybe just out of nostalgia.

[CarsOfFortLangley]

@fintail I think it was you who recommended Miners. I grabbed a burger and shake there. I never eat fast food and nearly bailed, but "when in Rome"

[gettingoldercarguy]

@CarsOfFortLangley did you go to bale breaker? Yakima was interesting about a decade ago, but I can see where you're coming from. Never visit Ft. Worth.

[fintail]

@CarsOfFortLangley Miner's is known for huge portions, sometimes huge prices, and having not changed a lot over time. Signage and colors are the same as at least 40 years ago. The dining area is probably 30 years old now and unchanged (you used to have to eat outside). However, I remember going there every time we visited when I was a kid, so it's a thing. I might stop there every other year now, and understand how it might not have value to someone who isn't into it.

I hope you got to laugh at the "Palm Springs of Washington" sign.

[CarsOfFortLangley]

@fintail

You know it!

[CarsOfFortLangley]

@gettingoldercarguy Sadly I passed through Yakima before breweries were open.

Why can't a guy get a beer in most cities before 11?? Madness.

[gettingoldercarguy]

@CarsOfFortLangley They're called airports.

[fintail]

@CarsOfFortLangley Hilarious, I laughed out loud. When I was younger, that sign had me cracking up. Highlight of the trip.

I suspect Palm Springs doesn't have a corresponding sign, although apparently they exist as photoshop jokes.

[glemon]

@CarsOfFortLangley "if he is Satan, he's playing a pretty long game" Hilarious

[NKato]

@fintail said in Touring "Real America":

@CarsOfFortLangley Guess where my Trumpy relatives are from - Yakima! Most of them still live in that area too. To be fair, my boomer 'Nam USMC combat vet uncle lives in the Columbia Basin, and is more anti-Trump than anyone here, so all is not lost.

Spokane proper voted 63/37 for the lesser evil, FWIW. It's not as flamboyantly progressive (and sometimes limousine liberal) as Seattle metro, but it isn't a red wasteland, more of the purple that used to be more common. It's a small city, but a city no less. Things get red quick once one exits the Spokane city limits, especially going east, however. Aside from maybe a few neighborhoods in CdA, north ID might as well be stuck in the days when literal Nazis had their mecca in the area.

I think the highlights of Yakima anymore are Miner's and Arctic Circle, maybe just out of nostalgia.

Can I meet your uncle and crack open a whiskey with him someday? Preferably before he keels over from a coronary from his barbecues.

I want to have a little more faith in humanity, but I've been finding it extraordinarily difficult.

[AestheticsInMotion]

@CarsOfFortLangley said in Touring "Real America":

Some with cute girls in Bend over beer or coffee

Hmm, might need to get myself a Canadian hat...

A pretty common refrain is that Spokane feels like Seattle did twenty years ago. I can't comment on that, but I do find that Spokane feels remarkably similar to Portland. It's certainly metropolitan. You'll find high-end cocktail bars that put to shame most anything in Seattle, Michelin Star chefs, a booming real estate market, nightlife that beats every other city in Washington outside of Seattle and maybe Bellevue or Tacoma... There's a lot to like—and despite being surrounded by red country it seems pretty moderate. I know they've seen a huge influx of younger professional types over the last five years, which has probably accounted for a large part of the recent political shift.

Yakima doesn't have much in the way of redeeming qualities. Last time I went through, I parked somewhere to grab some food and the car next to mine had it's windows bashed out while I was eating. The town feels like the worst parts of multiple cities, all bundled up into one.

[Vondon302]

@CarsOfFortLangley Well America you had a good run. Hard to believe the internet and Trump could bring us this low.
I was pretty pro gun until the open carry guys started showing up at my grocery store. Dude your just a threat to everyone now.

Do you have Facebook in Canada?
My God we're ignorant of the rest of the world.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@CarsOfFortLangley Spokane is wildly different from Yakima, where I fear the local population has been effected by the radiation leaks at the nearby Hanford Site. You’re probably better off getting there before the breweries opened. I wouldn’t want to drink anything near there made from water or grain.

[ST80MND]

@CarsOfFortLangley My thoughts are on the same page! We met a heartbreaking old man and his RV in Ritzville. SUPER nice guy, lost his wife to cancer, and touring on his own. We had a coffee with him, and he opened up his RV and offered us anything he had. I found mostly all folks we meet in America are just this, super freaking nice. What made this guy memorable was the HUGE amount of sexism and blatant racisim, which was quite uncomfortable.
And the sheer amount of guns and ammo he had!

[fintail]

@ST80MND The well-regulated militia etc.

[fintail]

@AestheticsInMotion I've heard that comparison for Spokane, I can see it as Portland 20 years ago, or Seattle 40 years ago - a city that was once pretty industrial now starting to deal with significant in-migration of non-industrial people. Growing pains, to put it nicely. It has areas that are about as gritty as anything in the Puget Sound, but also has areas that are just about as posh as the nicest areas of Seattle metro, too. I think housing here was vastly undervalued for years - it is a little inflated today, but still has value compared to Puget Sound metro. Rents can be pretty shitty, however.

Yakima has been rough for awhile. For decades it has effectively been the distribution center for the region used by drug cartels. I remember when I was a kid, a highlight of visiting my aunt there was listening to the police scanner.

[fintail]

@NKato He's a good character. Sadly, I think if anything gets him, it will be smoking, but he's 75 and seems to be pretty strong, so fingers crossed he has a ways to go. He's also a huge proponent of reforms to the American healthcare juggernaut.

He's the one who warned me Trump would be "worse than I think". He wasn't wrong.

[NKato]

@fintail said in Touring "Real America":

@NKato He's a good character. Sadly, I think if anything gets him, it will be smoking, but he's 75 and seems to be pretty strong, so fingers crossed he has a ways to go. He's also a huge proponent of reforms to the American healthcare juggernaut.

He's the one who warned me Trump would be "worse than I think". He wasn't wrong.

Heh. Definitely the kind of person I'd want to chill with.

[fintail]

@NKato He's seen some shit, and dealt with it. I find it hard to imagine any 'nam vets would support 45, but we live in a wacky world.

His (and my) cousins (and their kids) are the Trumpys, they all get along, but I think know enough to not be political in good company, as he no doubt will happily shoot down bad faith far right talking points, feelings be damned. Maybe a rule many should follow. Not sure what happened, as the mother of those cousins is also not on board the crazy train.

[nickhasanexocet]

@CarsOfFortLangley said in Touring "Real America":

I wore a Canadian flag hat which combined with my Jeep/plates started a lot of conversations.

I think up until lockdowns, being Canadian wouldn't have started anywhere near as many conversations. Governmental use of force (including seizing of financial assets of protestors) to shut down the trucker protests, Canada's tight media control, continued onerous use of vaccination as a border measure, banning of gun sales, and other "controls" have been hot topics in conservative circles. It's your country, you can do what you want, but a lot people look at Canada and think "that kind of authoritarianism is a little too close for comfort".

There are LOTS of conservatives with family across the Canadian border. My grandfather lives in Canada. His son can't visit because his son (my dad) isn't vaccinated. Even if he was, the retirement community where he lives randomly locks down for several weeks at a time if someone tests positive on the staff so there have been multiple times when my uncles went up to visit and were denied entry. A family friend who checks in on him has had to cancel plans to take him out for lunch several times due to those still-ongoing lock downs.

Think about that from the perspective of someone who is conservative. A bunch of people are locking away your parent.

@CarsOfFortLangley said in Touring "Real America":

Biden has always kinda struck me as a pretty meh/ineffective president.

The way I would put it (as me, and not speaking for anyone else) is that his administration (not him) has gotten a lot done in a short amount of time but their work has been almost entirely made up of stuff to anger conservatives instead of making any actual progress. If given the choice of replacing a roof with a solar roof, and sticking a whoopie cushion under every conservative, this administration would choose the latter. The problem is that it's a game of escalation.

I forget where I heard it, but I recently heard a quote that went something like "people need to stop defining themselves by their differences". People in conservative areas like hiking, being outdoors, eating good food, enjoying music, and 99% of the same stuff as liberal areas. The differences tend to fall into religion and how to face societal issues. To give you a somewhat ridiculous example, some trash blows into two lawns - one US conservative and one US liberal. The US conservative picks up the trash and throws it away then complains to their friends. The US liberal leaves the trash to blow into someone else's lawn, then prints 10 flyers to post around the neighborhood telling people not to litter (which then blow off the poles and become litter).

Sounds like it was a good trip. Hopefully you also got some good food. The PNW does some great comfort food.

@fintail said in Touring "Real America":

Spokane proper voted 63/37 for the lesser evil, FWIW.

The people in the 37 feel like THEY voted for the lesser evil. Everything is relative.

[gettingoldercarguy]

@nickhasanexocet Fantastic argument

[MasterMario]

@CarsOfFortLangley said in Touring "Real America":

I felt like I was being treated like I had a low IQ or something at times.