GUESS THE ‘SCOW, EARN SOME POINTS
So y’all know Geoguessr, right? Well, my wonderful husband made a Moscow map for me because I’m beyond homesick and I neeeeeeeed the Palouse.
It’s super fun. Go check it out!
I also love how I lived in Moscow for about 23 years total and still don’t know the damn street names.
In This Blog: Claudia’s Jet-Setting Suitcase Says “Screw You” to Cold Temperatures and Goes to California Instead
Today, I went from Moscow/Pullman (PUW) to Seattle (SEA) to Calgary (YYC).
My suitcase, however, did not. It went from Moscow/Pullman (PUW) to Los Angeles (LAX) to Calgary (YYC).
????
Luckily, my nine-hour layover in Seattle meant that my suitcase still got to Calgary before I did, despite its little adventure.
I like Sea-Tac; I’ve spent a decent proportion of my life there. It’s a nice airport. Nine hours, though, is a little too long of a layover. At least I got a lot of semester prepping done and still had time to walk around a little bit.
Hoorah.
I am IN MOSCOW
Also it’s Christmas. Merry Christmas.
I spent most of the day in various airports, but at least I got to walk/run this morning before I left. So yay!
In the spirit of Christmas, have a beautiful rendition of Carol of the Bells.
BYE!
Moscow…Moscow Never Changes
- People still blow at shoveling their sidewalks
- The Palouse Mall still allows whoever shovels their parking lot to pile the snow on that outside sidewalk that goes the length of the mall to Walmart
- Winco still has cheap as hell cheese and it’s fantastic
- COLBY JACK CHEESE
- Safeway doesn’t have pitas
- There’s something kind of comforting/relaxing about walking in a small town compared to Calgary. I can basically get anywhere I want in about 45 minutes regardless of where my starting point is. The same definitely cannot be said about Calgary
- No Chinook headaches!
- The bus runs on Saturday now?!?!?!?!?
Whining Time!
When I’m in Calgary, I miss my mom and Moscow.
When I’m in Moscow, I miss Nate, Jazzy, and Calgary.
LIFE IS HARD
HEY MOSCOW POLICE DEPARTMENT:
It would be much appreciated if your officers could be a little more pedestrian-aware.
Story: I was walking down the highway towards the intersection by those new “Identity” apartment student-housing thingies. A police car was sitting in the parting lot of the apartments and, in no particular hurry whatsoever, started to pull away from the curb and approach the intersection.
I pushed the little “walk” button and—COMPLETELY LEGALLY—entered the crosswalk in front of the approaching police car. Once I was about 1/3 of the way through the crosswalk, the car reached the crosswalk itself. I expected the car to slow to a stop, as I had made eye contact with the driver as I was crossing.
However, they did NOT stop and I had to very quickly move out of the way of the front of the car before it finally gradually stopped IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CROSSWALK to wait for its green light. The officer showed no sign of knowing that that she was about three inches from hitting me with the front of their car, nor did she seem to care once I shot her a dirty look after getting to the other side of the street.
Again: I was making eye contact with the driver as I crossed. I was LEGALLY crossing. she did not have her police lights on to indicate that she was in any sort of hurry. Once she pulled out of the intersection, she was not in a hurry to get anywhere. She just apparently felt like trying to run me over.
What the fuck.
I should have gotten the license plate number. That is 100% unacceptable.
I hate everyone.
SCOOPTITY BOOO
I really miss Moscow. Like, I’m not sure if I could live here again just due to the fact that it’s pretty hard to walk 15 miles in such a tiny town without taking the trail to Pullman all the time, but it does really feel good to come back here every once and a while. I like knowing that I’m at most like three miles away from home anywhere in the city and I like how quick and easy it is to walk to Walmart/Safeway/Winco and get nonsense stuff.
And how cheap everything is.
Also, MOM!
MOSCOW-BOUND
I’m heading to Moscow for a bit, YAY! We’re driving back from Calgary today and then I’m in the ‘Scow for like two weeks.
Rockin’.
Edit: $163.27 wheel of cheese? It better be…gouda.
Moscoooooooooow
I am SO FREAKING HOMESICK RIGHT NOW.
I’m glad I get to go back to Moscow in half a week or so. This has been a very long spring/summer following a very busy winter semester and I really miss my mom.
I also really miss Moscow itself, despite how difficult it is to do my daily 15 miles there without looping the hell out of all the streets.
WOO!
Zoom North
Headed back up to Calgary today. Not ready to go back. I want just a bit more time in Moscow.
Edit: THIS KOKANEE FOOT HAS SIX TOES
BACK IN THE ‘SCOW
I am BACK IN MOSCOW AGAIN!
It always feels good to come back for a little while. It’s not quite the same now that my dad’s no longer living here (meaning my mom and I can’t go crash over there and visit, haha), but it’s still fun.
Calgary’s great; I love the big city, I love Canada, and I love pretty much everything else about it here (except CHEESE IS TOO FREAKING EXPENSIVE), but it’s nice to “escape” back to tiny old ‘Scow for a bit.
And buy $1.77 bags of shredded cheese from Winco.
ALSO. Did you know that there is no Colby-Jack cheese up here? I don’t know about the rest of the country, but Colby-Jack is not a thing in Calgary.
Which is dumb, ‘cause Colby-Jack is life.
Anyway.
A Thought
As you are all probably very well aware, I have moved around a lot in my life. Yes, most of that was in one city (Moscow), but I’ve moved a lot. Ask my mom.
At some point or another, I have missed living in most of the places I’ve called home, except for that first house on Grant St. (sorry mom) and that shithole I lived in in Vancouver for the first year or so (this one).
Another place that I’ve (surprisingly) not missed very often? My place in London, ON.
I miss the dorm room sometimes because it was so unlike a dorm room and more like a little apartment and I had it all decorated and pretty (this one), but I really don’t miss London at all.
I don’t know if that’s because those 70-ish days I spent there were part of a very bad time in my life or what, but I just didn’t enjoy it there. I knew I shouldn’t have gone, but I went anyway. And then had to come right back, haha.
That was really a rough time. Maybe I’ll tell you all more about it someday.
Maybe not.
Are you Koppen with your climate?
So this is a cool little website. It lets you type in a city and highlights places around the world that have similar climates to that city.
Here’s Calgary, with its Dfb Koppen climate (continental climate, no dry season, warm summer)
Moscow, with its Csb Koppen (middle latitude climate, dry season in a warm summer)
Vancouver, with its Cfb Koppen (middle latitude climate, hell on earth no dry season, warm summer)
And Tucson, with its BSh Koppen (dry and hot semi-arid climate)
Nice!
Back to Calgary today.
That was NOT ENOUGH MOSCOW TIME.
I need like two weeks down there, seriously. I just want to hang with my mom for a bit. I have a feeling we’re not going to be able to do that for much longer, so I want to hold on to it for as long as I can.
Also, it was super weird not being able to go to my dad’s house in Moscow. It’s no longer his house. That’s going to take some time to get used to.
And now I’m sad. Change blows.
Hey poop-o’s, I’m back in Moscow!
FREAKING FINALLY, it’s been way too long since I’ve been back here and seen my mom. I think early September last year was the last time. That’s super sad.
ANYWAY. I should be here for a week and a half or so. I’ve already walked 15 miles around the city, haha. And I’m going to go to Mongolian BBQ like 50 times because I love it and miss it.
And maybe I’ll even get my blogs all posted before I leave.
(I won’t.)
Homesick
You wouldn’t think I’d miss this little dink of a town, but right now, I miss it very much.
I’m excited to go back for a week or so in May to hang out with my mom/see Annabelle/walk around on my old routes. The cheaper groceries/clothes/everything will be a nice change for a bit, too.
Have more pics.
Walkin’ on the Sun
Holy buttgoblins, I’ve been missing Vancouver today. I was actually going to blog about how much I missed the city (and walking around in it), but as I started doing so, I remembered something else that was related but more interesting than my usual Van blathering.
“What is it?” You ask, grateful that you don’t have to scroll past another “Claudia blah-blahs about Vancouver” post.
It’s Walk Score!
From their “About” page: “Walk Score’s mission is to promote walkable neighborhoods. Walkable neighborhoods are one of the simplest and best solutions for the environment, our health, and our economy.”
Basically, a city (or a specific house in a city, either way) is assigned a score depending on how “walkable” that particular city/house is. If a house is closer to major things like downtowns, restaurants, grocery stores, parks, etc., it will have a higher score. If it’s far away from such things. Or, in the case of a city, if there aren’t a lot of sidewalks or pedestrian-friendly routes, the city’s overall score decreases.
So let’s check it out!
Yeah, that looks about right. The blue dot is where I lived, by the way.
And this:
That looks about right, too. Calgary is fantastic at the inconsistent sidewalk thing. And the taxi drivers that want to mow down pedestrians. DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE TAXI DRIVERS.
What about Moscow?
That’s…surprising, actually. I don’t know if it’s because there just aren’t that many grocery stores in the city or (because stores/restaurants/etc. seem to be pretty clustered in specific spots)? Moscow seems waaaaay more walkable than Calgary. But that might just be because I’ve walked it so many freaking times that a 3-mile walk to Walmart doesn’t seem bad at all.
Hahahaha, yeah. Yeah.
Too bad Moscow isn’t named “Phileas”…
Because it’s Foggy as hell here today.
It actually looked like smoke this morning:
I had to walk to the U of I to do stats consulting stuff and the air seemed super smoky, especially over by my mom’s house. But I guess it was just fog?
This nonsense had better go away by Saturday morning. I will walk back up to Calgary if I have to.
How to Travel from Moscow to Calgary: An Illustrated Adventure
So here’s Calgary, right?
Here’s how far Calgary is from Moscow.
How do you think I would fly from Moscow to Calgary?
Well, the nearest international airport is in Spokane, which is here:
Reasonable route:
Would you agree?
Well, here’s how you actually get from Moscow to Calgary:
Dafuq, Alaska Airlines?
Also, all the layovers in SeaTac are like SIX HOURS LONG. Like I haven’t spent enough time in that airport.
(I know, I know, pointless complaining.)
Man, look at the air quality today
I missed the “early” bus this morning and was going to walk to campus, but last time I walked in this much smoke my eyes hurt for like three days straight. Since I have to proctor my students taking their exam today, I decided I would kind of prefer to have my eyesight for the morning and just waited for the “late” bus.
But tomorrow is WALKING DAY! I love Fridays for that reason alone. I should go to the fair, too. Anyone want to go to the fair with me?
Travellin’
If I were to rank the places I’ve been in terms of how much time I’ve spent there, it would go as follows:
- Moscow, ID
- Vancouver, BC
- London, ON
- SeaTac International Airport
Seriously. 99% of the time I fly, I have to fly through Seattle. 99% of those times, my layover is 3+ hours. Today, it was about 4 ½. It’s cool, though. I like that airport. They’ve got these awesome rocking chairs in the main food court thingy and they face a huge window looking out at all the runways/planes. They also rotate the artwork exhibits that are in the terminal hallways quite often, and they’re always pretty great.
ANYWAY.
I’m headed to Moscow! I’m actually in SeaTac right now; I’ll be home in three hours or so. Our old gang needs to get together and “party” in the basement.
And now I’m going to work on some stats stuff. I slacked off majorly and didn’t start my Stats Weekly posts at the beginning of the year (for various reasons); I’ll try to get it up for the midpoint of the year.
Vroom!
Wow
So I heard about the crazy homicide/suicide in Moscow. I didn’t know the young lady, but Dr. Bustamante was my professor for Psych 218 back in fall of 2007. It totally surprised me when I read about it, he didn’t strike me as someone who would do anything like that ever.
Strange, strange world.
Last day in Moscow
Total re-addiction to OK Cupid = accomplished.
Oh, and here’s the route for the next six days:
Wednesday: Moscow, ID to Bozeman, MT (~450 miles)
Thursday: Bozeman, MT to Rapid City, SD (~460 miles)
Friday: MOUNT RUSHMORE, OMFG (PRESIDENTS!)
Saturday: Rapid City, SD to Rochester, MN (~575 miles)
Sunday: Rochester, MN to Kalamazoo, MI (~494 miles)
Monday: Kalamazoo, MI to London, ON (~266 miles)
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