Centralia! We keep coming back here because it's a nice getaway. A little historic, a little homey, a little homely. The boy loves loves loves the trains that come through all the time. Things to do:
Insert Coin. Free play Out Run, Frogger, Tron, and a totally compelling electromechanical baseball game with what might be my favorite lever in the world. Tbe pizza is pretty good (and sourdough-crust, which works better for my stomach), and they have lots of beers and ciders in a self-serve format that enables teensy pours. The boy makes us come back two nights in a row and I'm OK with it.
I got my hair cut at the beauty college with a very personable young student. The haircut takes a lot longer than my usual haircut, but it's kind of OK?! After a while we both stop talking and it's nice just to sit in silence and take in the hubbub of all the students and the snipping.
The boy and I walk over to the trails on Seminary Hill while JL gets her nails done, also at the beauty college. Nice little hike right in town. Some of the trails are overgrown in a way that is thrilling:
Night walks to the community college parking lot to charge our vehicle. Eerie but also cozy. Nice to get enough juice to come home for like two bucks.
Of course we visit the Centralia Rollerdrome. What a place. Long may it roll. H finally gets sort of comfortable on wheels, though he'd rather bounce in the bouncy house.
Soundtrack to the Centralia portion of the trip: the new Slippers album, Slippers 08. Very satisfying stuff, kind of in the same no-waste jangle ballpark as Jeanines but less depressed. There are good surprises. The song "Sunday Morning" feels vaguely familiar, and then it hits me that she is almost certainly riffing off the Margo Guryan song of the same name. Then I realize that I bought that same album on my previous Centralia trip at the Amazoomer returns store. Crazy!
