North America Guitar Tour Seattle June 11-14, 2014 This is the city where I spent three and a half years from April 1977 to December 1980. Apart from Alaska and Hawaii, it is located in the northwest corner, so I had no hesitation in making it the starting point of my trip. When I was there, Seattle had neither Microsoft nor Starbucks, and the Mariners were a weak baseball team. It was not well known in Japan, and I was often asked, "Where is that?" When I said Washington State, people acted as if they understood, but I was frustrated, so I added, "It's AC, not DC," and many people were convinced. I looked for a medium-sized car so that I could sleep in it, and decided to rent a Korean car called KIA. Since I was planning to drive three months, I initially considered buying a used car and selling it before returning home, but I was warned that it would be a big problem if it broke down, so I immediately rejected the idea. It may be okay if I was in the city, but it would be terrible if it stalled in the middle of the wilderness. In fact, the American car I had when I was younger often broke down. I hadn't driven in Seattle since 1992, when I stayed in Santa Monica for six months for a translation job, so I was really looking forward to it, but the number of cars had increased so much since then that everywhere I went there were cars. Just looking at this part, it even felt like I was watching the movie "Back to the Future Part 2". In the 70s, the downtown area was only a little crowded during morning and evening commutes and homecomings, and unless there was an accident, it never moved slowly. Since free Wi-Fi and an iPod touch were inconvenient as a means of communication, I bought an old iPhone and a card for $45 that allowed me to talk and use data for one month. For now, this was the first and last time I was an iPhone user. The navigation system proved to be an unexpected power. At first, I couldn't get a sense of distance in miles or feet, but after changing the settings to the metric system, it became a truly "essential" item. Until the departure on the 15th, I was staying at the home of my friend J from junior college, and the day before the departure, I played at a music store called Dusty Strings Co. that she had arranged with me. Since I was traveling by car, I brought my AER Compact 60/2 with me (I was charged $100 extra when I boarded), but I forgot the dedicated cable to connect my guitar to the DI box at her house, so I got by by connecting the sound from the headphone jack of the KORG MR-2, which I had connected to the RODE NT4 microphone I had brought for recording, to the AER. After the performance, the store clerk told me that the sound was good, and I was able to confirm that I could go with this combination even if something happened. On the 15th, I was planning to have lunch with Mr. D in Portland, Oregon. In the old days, it would be fine if I left after 8 o'clock, but I didn't know where I would get stuck, so I left at 6am. Fortunately, it was Sunday, so there was no rush hour and I had time to have breakfast at Denny's on the way. I had driven south on the I-5 freeway that runs down the west coast several times in the past, so the journey began leisurely, obeying the speed limit while the scenery brought back forgotten memories. *People mentioned in the text have been given initials until their identities can be confirmed. |
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Introduction
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