Hometowns

I grew up in a smallish city in central Washington. I went home this past weekend to visit, and while there I realized I hadn't been home in over a year. Even when we lived in Seattle I didn't make it over as much as I wanted to, but now that we're six hours and two screaming kids away, it makes for an even tougher journey.

But every time I go to visit my family there are certain things I just have to do. I have to eat a hamburger at the local place called Dusty's Drive-In. I have to go to the Hastings bookstore, which has a better selection of magazines and books than the Borders near here. I'm not sure why, I like to think that they feel bad for all the people who live there that can't escape, so they like to offer a lot of diversions.

And I usually make Mandy drive around with me and I point out important places from my childhood; the schools I attended, that sort of thing.

But this last visit there were some surprising things that I wanted to see.

First was the Gas/Groc. That was never the real name of the place, but for some reason they built a convenience store/gas station and right in front they had a 50 foot sign that said Gas/Groc. I always understood the gas part, but the Groc was the funny part that didn't make so much sense. I guess it stands for groceries, though it's not really a place you're gonna go shopping for your evening meal. Alas, the sign is gone now, though there is still a convenience store there. I didn't go in.

Just down the street from the Gas/Groc is the oil-change coffee shop. I forget the actual name, but it's the first place I ever saw that combined oil changes and lattes. When Seattle's coffee boom hit, Wenatchee wasn't spared. We had coffee shops on every corner with coffee stands/carts on the sidewalks between them. And we had the oil change/latte shop to complete the set.

Anyway, though I miss not being near my family, it's good to be back home again in my own bed.