Me in my motel room in Bellevue, Washington
I checked out of my motel room in Olympia, Washington, and drove around the area for a while. Then, I chose an alternate route, inland from I-5, which would take me directly into Bellevue and would bypass the traffic through Seattle. It was yet another beautiful day. The traffic started to get heavy as I was approaching Bellevue, but I made it there in good time. After some wandering around, I found the independent motel that I had located from home using an online Yellow Pages search. It was an old motor court, but it appeared to be in good shape. I got a room there and unloaded my bags from the car.
After resting briefly, I drove down to the nearby mall. From there, I was able to reach Claire on her cellular phone. It turned out that she was actually in the same mall, and we arranged to meet nearby when she was done with her shopping. While I was waiting, I wandered through a gift store featuring products from Washington. I couldn't resist buying some Applets, a candy made from apples and walnuts which I frequently buy at home.
I saw Claire, who had described what she was wearing, and introduced myself. We then went to a restaurant outside of the mall, and had dinner together. We got to know each other, and she invited me to join her on her trip to Reno the following month for a makeover by Leona at The Hidden Woman there. I agreed, and am looking forward to seeing both her and the Reno gang again, a week ahead of my birthday!
After we said goodbye, I drove back to the motel, and played both photographer and model for several of the outfits that I had. My camera was set up on the mini-tripod that I carry with it on top of the television set in the room. Unfortunately, I didn't frame the pictures properly, but still got some acceptable shots, which are shown below.
Some shots of me with different outfits from my wardrobe
The final outfit shown, which I had purchased two days earlier in another mall in Bellevue, was the one that I selected to wear on my trip home the following day.
I then washed off my makeup, put on my nightie, and settled into bed for my last night's sleep in Washington.
This page last updated: September 17, 1998
