© David Coyote David Coyote’s Den Presents Pamela and Teddy’s Trip Part 5 Slides advance at 30 second intervals, or by clicking anywhere on the screen.

© David Coyote Part 5 Let's see...what was the coyote saying? True love. Something like that.

© David Coyote They checked out, took the Clipper back to Seattle, and checked into a 7th floor room at the Inn At The Market just in time to get out of a rather blustery rainstorm that was whipping buildings and city streets. The view of the Puget Sound from the suite was very dramatic. There were 40 mile per hour winds and it rained hard for two days...

© David Coyote...but the wanderers hoofed it all over town and shopped for tasty edibles at Pike's Market.

© David Coyote Pears, bananas, strawberries, Kashi and yogurt sure make a delectable breakfast! Such fun shopping in stalls like these!

© David Coyote however, this was Teddy's favorite store!

© David Coyote Seafood? They saw food everywhere!

© David Coyote Departure time finally arrived. They grabbed a cab for the train station but had to wait thirty minutes for the train to arrive. Someone behind a counter said the stewards were late to work due to rain. There's an excuse a coyote never used! Was there humor implied in this station sign?

© David Coyote Two days earlier, two freight trains had collided near Kelso, Washington, closing tracks and strewing freight cars like leaves in the wind. The travelers rolled past the wreckage that morning, the first train allowed to pass since the derailment. Gave them something serious to think about. Oh well...Teddy and Tinker sure loved the view from the train while they had one...

© David Coyote The next morning they arose to discover that the train would be unloading its passengers in Oakland due to another freight train wreck and derailment somewhere near Salinas. Passengers heading for points between Oakland and Santa Barbara were bussed down the coast. Oh joy!

© David Coyote The rest of the travelers, going to Los Angeles and points south, were herded onto train 714, the inland route for Modesto, Merced and Bakersfield. But, again the finger of fate pointed at the tracks and the train was halted in Merced. There was a burning train trestle somewhere ahead. Four bus loads of travelers were sent down highway 99 toward Bakersfield, a ride that wasn't unpleasant, though there was little to recommend regarding scenic views. Three hours later the busses stopped in Bakersfield. Passengers were allowed 45 minutes to grab 'dinner' from a handful of those ubiquitous fast food joints that dominate the diets of middle America. Back on the highway, the following scribble fell out of the coyote's head.

© David Coyote Lightheaded © david coyote After dark, the illusion is greatest. Headlights of approaching vehicles, and taillights of those ahead create the impression that they're disembodied. Floating ribbons of white and red lights perform a cryptic ballet, weave in and out, seem to follow a pattern, but shifting sequences suggest ethereal fractals. Images merge and part, reflect in large bus windows at each side of my seat.

© David Coyote The diesel hum adds to the play. Head back against seat, I succumb to the harmless diversion of lights and vibration. The freeway. A virtual moving organism. Trucks of every size, from countless locations, appear joined bumper to bumper in an undulating Lambada. Amber, white and red running-lights line trailer tops for as far as I can see. Thousands of trucks roll past this night, thousands proceed me, moving cargos to ordained destinations, the twenty-first century body of business, red corpuscles in the circulatory system of western world commerce. After dark, the illusion is greatest.

© David Coyote Two hours later the quartet arrived at the old Los Angeles train terminal, only to face another two and a half hour wait. AmTrack had just sent a departing train down the tracks, knowing full well that four bus loads of people were arriving in less than ten minutes. "We can't hold up our schedules for late arrivals," said an agent. Interesting position after what was so recently experienced.

© David Coyote The travelers got home at one in the morning, tired but grateful for lives and each other. What else is there? Not much. Now the Princess and the coyote have their heads together...exploring new train routes and making plans. Teddy and Tinker? They've been rather occupied with other interests....

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