🚗 Seattle to Spokane in a VW Rabbit

I’ve always been a fan of taking roadtrips. There’s just something about driving (or riding) in a car to somewhere new and exciting. The anticipation of what could be has always been spine-tingling, but in a good way. Plus, so much time in a vehicle can act as a mobile story time, and much of the time, that’s what it was for me.

In October 2010, my then-boyfriend was a low-residency graduate student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He needed to be on campus for four days and asked me to go along. I agreed and we decided to make a mini vacation of it, starting in Seattle. While he drove up to Seattle from Northern California, I flew out from Milwaukee — after an unspecified two-hour delay.

After two days and some change of wandering around Seattle and seeing everything we could manage, we set out for Spokane in his tiny Volkswagen Rabbit.

Driving from Seattle to Spokane generally takes a little over four hours, barring any traffic issues. It’s a long ride, but it’s a beautifully scenic one. Some of the beauty includes Snoqualmie Pass and Mount Si, as well as the stunning Cle Elum Lake. Some of these sites are truly postcard-worthy.

Over the four hours, we traded stories of childhood pond hockey games and Naval deployments. We talked about the fun we had in Seattle and what we were looking forward to in Spokane. We talked about the story I would be writing to NaNoWriMo, which would take place in Seattle.

This kind of story time definitely makes a long car ride seem shorter. But taking breaks to admire the scenery was also really nice. It was one of the most relaxing roadtrips I’ve ever been on, and I wish they could all be that way.