Season 1 Episode 1: Get to Know Washington State

Welcome to the Greatest State. By that of course, I mean Washington State. I'm your host, Nick Poe, and I've lived in Washington long enough to remember popping an Irvana cassette tape into a Ford Bronco on the way to a Sonic's game at the Kingdom. I was born in Longview, I currently live in Inacortis, and I've even lived east of the mountains in Walla Walla. But I haven't just lived in different parts of Washington. I've made a point to get out and experience all this great state has to offer. I've hiked to the top of St. Helens, had dinner in the space needle, encountered a bear in the Olympics, watched Orcas breach the water in the San Wands, searched for DB Cooper's parachute, and I've stood in the presence of Jake the Alligator Man. Could you do all these things in California or New York? Could you do any of these things in Texas or Arizona? I don't think so. But as much as I've learned over the years about the Evergreen State, I want to learn more. So I'm going to interview someone from each of its 281 cities, towns, and municipalities. So join me on my journey as I speak with Washingtonians and celebrate the many reasons why Washington State truly is the greatest state. OK, all right. So I wanted to have my father as the first guest on, you know, with my lofty goal of interviewing 281 people from 281 cities or towns in Washington State for two main reasons. One, being he's the reason that I live in Washington State, obviously. And then two, he's worked for decades in Washington State. He's in the music business. He's traveled all over the state from the time I was young. I remember him going to all these towns that I hadn't even really heard of at the time. And he's also lived in various cities within the state. And then of course, the third reason, you might be the only one that listens to the podcast when it's all said and done. So. Fair enough. Those are my three reasons. So is there anything I missed in there? Do you want to talk a little bit about your time traveling the state or what cities you've lived in? Well, I can do that certainly. I've mainly lived in Longview, but I've also lived in Olympia for a brief time and I live in Seattle quite sometime. A few years. Okay. And those are the ones that I was just concerned with the Seattle because I was working out of Woodenville, which is in the Seattle region. Right. Yeah. And the Olympia was probably before I was born, but I knew you'd lived in Olympia at one point. Yeah. It was a very brief time actually. I wasn't even married yet. I just got out of high school. I had gone to LCC. I believe maybe one year. I was just looking for work and I went to a lift you because I had a friend who was working for the Department of Employment, Unemployment, whatever you call it. And I ended up coming back to Longview and working in Longview instead. Right. And for those that don't know, LCC is the community college in Longview. Good for long. Longview College. Yes. And then Olympia is of course the state capital. So I'm going to go over a few facts about the state because this being the first episode rather than focusing on one city, I wanted to kind of focus on the state as a whole. So Washington state is the 42nd state. It was founded in 1889 and it has a population of 7.7 million people. So it really is one of the more populated states out of the 50. There's quite a few people here up in the Pacific Northwest even though I don't know if you've ever noticed this. But when I'm hearing like if I'm watching a Seahawks game on national TV, they all least talk about Washington state as if it's just way out in the middle of nowhere and that we don't have people up here. Yeah, it was like that before I moved here too. I expected that I was coming to a front to your town. Boy was I surprised. Right. That's yeah, that's how it's always depicted. And even there's a movie that I don't think too many people watch, but it had an ice cube, I think it was called like I can't remember the name of it. Something about a trip or road trip, but I guess he's depicted as driving between Portland and Seattle and it's just he's basically in the woods the entire time. Yeah, as opposed to interstate five, you know, if you've ever made that actual trip, it's very much a large interstate. Interstate five has been here since 1952. So I'm sure it was here when you think the movie. So I want to I do want to ask you about moving here and why you moved here to the state, but before I do that, I also want to talk about notable people in Washington state, which there's a lot, but the ones that come to mind for me are, you know, I think when you think of the state, a lot of people think Bill Gates, Jimmy Hendrix, Sasquatch, of course. You know, yeah, the Seahawks, anybody who's been a Seahawk trying to think, who am I forgetting? There's quite a few famous people that have come out of Seattle. Well, you mentioned Sasquatch, I would vote for DVB Cooper. Yes, because I can actually he actually was cited at some point or the money. Yeah, I think the first guy to hijack a plane. I think yeah, he was the well, the first the first and only to do it successfully anyway. Very. And get away with it. Yeah. And then yeah, there's several. I mean, there's different actors and athletes. I can't think of all of them at the moment, but obviously Bill Gates, the big name I'm trying to think of Amazon. It's not not Steve Jobs because he was but his partner. No, the guy that runs Amazon. Why can't I think his name Steve something? I thought you were going to talk about the guy that started the M T, which was Steve Jobs partner. Paul Allen. Yeah, Paul Allen is a Washingtonian, of course, as well. I think he owns owns a good portion of Washington. He also made it built EMP, experience music project, which started out to be a museum of Jimmy Hendrick stuff because he was a huge Hendrick's fan. And then expanded to cover a lot of other local bands for instance, since that time David Grohl, who had been in the. Nirvana. Nirvana. Yeah, and then he's got the food fighters there from Seattle to come to the area. Right. And all the one I was going to yeah, another one I was going to mention. I went there recently to the EMP. They call it Mo Pop now, but I always knew that EMP. Yeah, they. Yeah, they changed the name a few years ago. I'm not really sure why, but yeah, Kurt Cobain is from Aberdeen. And then the other members were from I think one was from Aberdeen. I think Dave Grohl was actually from California and moved up here, but you know, he's essentially a Seattle guy because he was in that. Yeah, he moved from somewhere else. I agree. I was back east, but wherever you are correct, he, I think he moved up because of the scene that was developing in Seattle at the time. The so called Gruns scene with the penalty shirts and all that. Yes, yes. And you being in the music business, that would have been, you would have been very familiar with that. And, and that's going to kind of bring me to. Oh, and by the way, with the guy that runs Amazon, I'm probably not going to remember his name, but the one thing I do remember now is he recently traveled up to supposedly he was going to space and he wore like a cowboy hat or something. Oh, yeah, I don't mean you'll have to look him up because that's, that's a good point. And he's sort of a cowboy in his own right, I guess. Well, I mean, the theme here with him Bill Gates, Paul Allen, I think he is or was at one point, the richest man alive. So there's a lot of people in in Washington that are super wealthy. Certainly, obviously from the tech, you know, the tech, the tech place. Microsoft and Boeing and all those interest industries pay a lot. Right. They're good. So, what's the next question? When people think Washington, they're more than likely, they're probably gonna think Seattle and they're gonna think of those rich techie folks. - Yeah, I suppose that's what put us on the map recently. - Yeah, for sure. So my question to you, which spoiler, I already kinda know the answer, but people listening don't. So what brought you to Washington State as in why, and I know you were a kid, but what was the reason that your parents moved you to Washington State? - Well, I was actually a sophomore in high school. It was 19 before my father remarried. She married a guy from North Carolina. I'm from North Carolina. But he had moved out to Washington already for employment. He worked for warehouse here at the time, and he had moved out to work for, in fact, the project that was, the civilian corps, the overcome building, the highways and that sort of thing. That's why I knew about the I-5 project. But so 1964, I was in sophomore. We moved out here, and I almost immediately loved it. I went to Aray Long, and long to you, Robert A. Long, founded the city in 1923, and my high school that I went to had been here since 1927. And I graduated in 1967. I didn't realize at the time, but that school had only been there 40 years, which I know may seem like a lot now, but at the time I just didn't know that. - Well, especially compared to over on the East Coast, I imagine a lot of the schools there had been around quite a bit longer. - Oh yeah, coming from Raleigh, North Carolina, one of the original 13 colonies, the high school I would have gone to was so much larger and older. And I really would have not had the opportunity to play guitar like I did when I moved here, to Long, do you? I had a time on my hands. It was summer, it was August, and a friend of mine that my parents went to church at a Lutheran church locally. And one of my best friends at the time, Jerry Wentz, was learning to play guitar at court and the local music store. And he would come to town on Saturday, stay with his guitar lesson from the my house, teach me what he learned. And then on Sunday, we'd go to church and practice playing music. And that's how I started playing in a band. And I would not have had that opportunity and had I stayed on the East Coast. - Right, so in '19, I guess mid late 1960s, East Coast, Raleigh, Bradley, North Carolina, guitar, not really an option. - No, they, well, it's right, it would have been a better option if I had to want to play baseball. Because you've heard of Bull Durham. The Durham Bulls, it was Durham's city in North Carolina. And they played the Raleigh Caps. So as a child, as a young kid, I did go see a lot of baseball games, and I played Little League, and then, but I wasn't that great at that. I was much better as it turned out. I was much better suited to play guitar. And in '64, the Beatles had already happened on the West Coast. We had, oh gosh, lots of bands like The Kingsman and all these different groups, forward during the Raiders. And so we instantly, well, not instantly, but we're gonna about the first four or five months. I had learned enough guitar, I could play three chords and 10 songs, and we started playing after game dances, and you could play at any given junior high, high school junior college. And so I ended up playing all over Washington State, and pretty much the I-5 quarter up and down, and then in Oregon quite a bit too. And that kicked off, what, and then being a lifelong music career for me. Right, and so. I worked in retail and then wholesale for many years. Right, and so when I was really, really young, I remember you having a local music store, but then by the time I was a little bit older, that's when you started traveling. And that's one of the reasons I felt like you were the most, probably one of the best people I could call on for getting like an overall view of the state. Because I remember you would travel, not just up to Seattle, Bellingham, you were going to places on the east side of the state, Walla Walla. Right. Walla Walla, you got one of your questions, in fact, was what was my least favorite town in Washington State? And I choose Moclips Washington, 9-8-5-3-6, because it's in the middle of nowhere. So we're on the coast between Tacoma and Olympia. But now I covered five states during that wholesale period. I covered Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. So I did get to see a lot of the Northwest. But again, I was still based out of Longview. And you know, I still love it here. Longview has a beautiful lake in the middle of the town. Man, they'd lake on Lake San Joa. That's the bonus. Yeah, it is a beautiful lake. I do. And I love Longview. So really, one of the points, I mean, one of the whole reasons I'm doing this podcast, obviously. I love Washington. I think it's great. I'm glad that you moved there. And I'm glad that you didn't stay in North Carolina, because then I wouldn't be able to host this podcast. And I can't even imagine what sort of attractions I'd be talking to if it were North Carolina. There's no rich tech people there. There's no-- Well, there's a little bit of-- In the tech triangle area, it's actually Raleigh Durham. And I believe Chapel Hill, which is where, for example, Michael Jordan, I believe with the college at North Carolina State. OK. Well, there is a tech segment there now. We'll give him that. Michael Jordan is not fast watch, and he's not DB Cooper. I'll just put it in. True. And I was going to say, there's still a lot more excitement in my mind here in this state. Then back there. Right. Which no disrespect to North Carolina. But I'm glad I'm here in Washington. And thank you for having me here instead of-- And I mean, North Carolina wouldn't be terrible. But God forbid you'd had me in Oregon. That would have been unforgivable. Yeah. Oregon has seaside. Oregon. I think it's egg-mon form. Yeah, that is pretty nice. So-- It's kind of beach all that, anyway. Right. So my question then-- and I know this is hard to say, because I mean, I know I gave you some time to think about it. But in the state, if you had to choose three places, if I had never been to Washington State, and you were going to be my guide, and there were three things you needed me to see, what are those three things you would take me to see? I think number one would be Mount St. Helens, because of its proximity to where long do you this where I live when it blew. And there's a visiting place up there where you can actually see the amazing devastation that happened in the regrowth, how it grew back. So that's one place. I think Seattle and North-- maybe the east side of Seattle over in Woodenville and that area is pretty cool. That's all the high tech area. And then I guess maybe last but not least long beach, but the beach is beautiful. It's across the Astoria Bridge from seasides, which actually-- that's my favorite beach, because even though it isn't oriented, it's a little bit more-- I've set up more for tourists, I think, than-- Right. But anyway, to me, that's almost part of the same neighborhood when you get down there. Yeah, it is right there on the Oregon. The long view being so close to the Oregon border, of course. I mean, I could drive over to Oregon in a few minutes. But Washington, being a coastal state, that is one thing. So those are three great places. I love all of them. Mount St. Helens, as you know, I've been up to the top with a couple of your other sons who aren't having you as their guests on a podcast. I'll just mention-- No, not on one. I'll have to talk to them about that. And I have three other sons. You're one of four sons. That's part of why I like them on you, because it was a great place to raise a family. On your life. Right. Yeah. And all of us have stayed relatively close. We've never had the desire to leave the state. That's how great a state it is. That's very great. I mean, I think there's so much about this state that I haven't lived in too many other places, but I briefly lived-- sort of lived in Colorado, which is a beautiful state. I did live in Oregon for some time. And yeah, I mean, you have the ocean. You have the mountains. You have the trees. [BLANK_AUDIO] doesn't get super hot like it does in places like Arizona and Texas. It's really a very mild climate. And of course, it rains quite a bit. It has a reputation for rain, a lot like London, London fog and all that rain. But what it really does is it gives us the evergreen state because of the rain. There's a lot of green. And I don't mind the rain. It's not as bad to me as to some. Right. And it's it's kind of funny because I working here locally. You know, I've gotten used to there's a lot of people, even people who have lived here for 10, 20 years, it kind of cracks me up sometimes when they say. You know, oh, I'm so sick of this rain. And I think to myself number one, you should be used to it by now. Number two, you know, where you live. Yeah. Right. And I don't think people who who live here, people who don't live here, I don't think they totally realize that we actually don't get that much rain in terms of inches of rain. It's just we have no days where it does rain. And I saw a statistic once actually at New York City actually gets more rain than Seattle. Well, on the east coast, when it rains, it's towards it's a torrent, torrential like in Raleigh. That would have been the rally North Carolina is North Carolina is the pine state and the similarity in that and in this state, the evergreen state. That's partly why there was a connection a lot of people from from North Carolina moved out here because lumber industry. But the rain back there's way when it rains, it's way more torrential and big at sliding and all kinds of issues, which is in the news currently too. So right. Yeah. And yeah, that's definitely. And I mean, at least North Carolina, of course, it does have the ocean as well. But yeah, that's an indication. How much will we have those beaches growing up to the beaches we have here? Well, we went to the beach. We would go to Merdle Beach, I didn't realize as a child was actually on the border. It's across the border of the South Carolina. And the thing about Merdle Beach, it's famous because it has boardwalks, you know, the song on the boardwalk. And so it's a very much a touristy sort of a beach place. I would compare Merdle Beach more to some of the beaches in California because of the boardwalk and. The surfing and all that, but other than that, I mean. And then that crazy, but the beach anyway, so I prefer long due to Raleigh. One of the questions that you, I don't know if you're planning to ask still you would ask me. Oh, I'm going to ask them all, but you can jump ahead. Okay, well, no, I was just as we were talking about this stuff, but I mean, obviously the industry, the one main employer would be the paper and lumber mills. And then I raised because of the rain and the evergreen take part of it. So yeah. And we, you know, I was going to kind of touch on that too with the industry. I mean, obviously, if you think of Washington as a state, the tech industry, Boeing, of course, which I know they did move their headquarters to, I believe, Chicago, but. You know, we're Washington state is known for the tech industry with the Microsoft Amazon. Right. But the smaller towns like Longview, where I grew up and where you moved to very much a lumber mill town. Well, in fact, yeah, and it's been traditionally a lumber state for a lot longer than it's been a tech state. Oh, right. In fact, in fact, in 1849 to 49ers, which is named after the Gold Rush, that's part of what see I grew up because of the people who were coming to. Seattle, then going on up to Alaska to participate in the Gold Rush, but they would bring that money back to the state and continue to invest in. Well, at the time, maybe some coal mining, but a lot of lumber, a lot of lumber and railway, you know, the railroads ran all the way up and down the I five quarter. Right. The bill's houses. Yeah. And if I, I mean, that's one thing, a lot of those old coal mining towns kind of ghost towns now. There's a lot of great hiking trails now in some of those places. And one. Yeah, I took your grandson Oliver, my son. We went to one of those abandoned. Actually, it wasn't an abandoned mine. It was an abandoned mill. It was an abandoned mill in the Olympia area and it's incredible. You just walk into the woods and it takes about, I don't know, 30 minutes to get in there, but it's just all the structures are kind of decrepit and. But you can see at one point it was this thriving mill and now it's kind of just ruins and. It's pretty interesting. So actually out highway four on the way to Long Beach from from Longview, you'll go through a couple of those areas where there used to be old lumber mills and and there, of course, defund now, but you can see them and. Oh well, I'm trying to take you the name of the town. We'll tie it to county. Oh right. Where cattle is. Yeah, yeah, and so on. So there's this. It's very scenic. It's a beautiful drive to the coast. And it's also curvy and kind of a little bit mount is hilly, I guess I should say. So it's an adventure to drive to the beach from this side and it's also an adventure to drive these to the mountains. That's a whole like a whole different world over there. It is. Yeah, and that's actually something part of what. And I'll talk about this as I take this journey of interviewing all these people from all the different cities, but I never realized how beautiful Washington state was growing up because you, you know, it's just it's all I knew I didn't have anything to compare it with, but I took a train trip across the US. From the east coast to the west coast years ago and. It was kind of interesting because there was this man from Buffalo that I sat with really nice guy. I think that his I think I was kind of driving his family crazy because he kept talking to me, you know, it's a long trip. For whatever reason, his daughter and his wife, they were kind of just, you know, kind of sitting there with him, but I had sort of. Started conversation with him and he really took a liking to me so we kept talking and talking and at one point I think they kind of got sick of us talking all the time because it was like I was, you know, I was like his new son or something. But yeah, well, and it's like a five day trip that's actually how we came out here that first trip with my mother and my other and my sister. We came out on the train and that's a very interesting way to cross the country and you see a lot, a lot of the countryside that you wouldn't see otherwise. Well, that was part of the reason I wanted to do it was because I wanted to experience that and I don't know if you remember this, but when I did this. You said something that really cracked me up, I don't you might not remember this, but. I remember when I told you I was doing that I said i'm going to take the train I was going for my brother in laws wedding in Washington DC and you said really you know that's like five six days I said yeah I said but you did. And you looked at me said yeah I didn't have a choice. Big difference. But I appreciated it more as I grew you know as I matured I really. Right look back on that quite formally. Well make my kids do it one day I think everybody should do that train trip across well because my point is what. Yeah, even if you just take a short trip to somewhere on the train it's a beautiful it's a good way to go. Well, so this man from Buffalo though his point he kept telling me he said just wait until we get. You're just wait until we get to this one spot so we're on this train trip it's basically a barren wasteland the entire way you know you're taking the train. Through lots of just Wyoming and Arizona and just desert and there's nothing to see it's just and and so we finally get to where. We get into northern California where it's basically looks like western Washington and he tells me look at this isn't this amazing and so i'm thinking to myself. You know i've just traveled across the entire country and the big payoff he's he's been waiting for is where I live all the time you know so yeah because starting in northern California you've got the redwood forest and then you get all the way up to Oregon and Washington it's there's trees everywhere trees and mountains you know it's grass gave mountains has a. Mount Seaheil is that I referred to earlier and it really is a beautiful area yeah definitely I get a lot. That's why I haven't moved it's why I don't want to. So, at least favorite town in Washington, I know you said it was, what did you say it was all again? Most clips. And it's 98536 in case you want to pinpoint it on the map. So I had to research myself. It only came to me because I remembered when I was driving on the road for a living and I was going to music stores and all the small towns. It seemed like how the music stores. Most great. There's one of the exceptions. It's between like great view and all these little towns along the way, but there's nothing there. Right. Nothing. So that's my least favorite town. Well, that sounds good. And it works out perfectly because when I did my research, trying to determine how many cities, towns or municipalities are in Washington. Is harder than you might think. Oh, no, I, there's a lot of. Yeah, so too, I arrived at 281. Basically, there's, there's some rules and it gets, there's kind of some gray area, but. Bottom line, if you go on my website, the greatest state.com, I have a list of all 281 locations. And that's because it's just sort of a designated area. It's not a real, if you will town. So, so that worked out perfectly. We don't have to out any. It probably has a stop sign. Right. And generally speaking, a little town like that would be where someone who used to work in the one where industry would live or on rail, you know, whatever the. And that's where the industry at the time. Because again, in 1964, when I moved there, there was still a lot of old growth timber. And there was a lot of logging going on and that's changed dramatically. And so now it's an Alan's, for one of the reasons, but. And I still, I still like to say. So what is. I'm not going to ask you any questions. I have no idea what you're going to say here. What is your favorite Washington state based film? You know, I couldn't think of one actually. I know. I know. Yeah. I can't think of the name of it. It was. It was a guy from harry long actually did a film about the ends of the earth kind of a thing. Where is it steeped a jr. Yes. What's it called? It is the film that you did jr. Yeah, I know. I know. The director. Yeah. And. But I can't remember the name of the movie. Oh, the something mile. Was it the miracle mile. I'll have to look it up. I'll put it in the notes. The podcast notes are all edited in so that we can get it in there. But. Yeah, I have a feeling. I think a lot of the time people don't. Realize when a film is being filmed in Washington. The ones that I think. Come to mind for me when it's just the state as a whole. Obviously, you know, sleepless in Seattle is the one people think of. Well, actually, you mentioned the film that Steve disjarned made. He didn't make it in Washington. He made it in Hollywood. So that's how I agree. Well, that doesn't count then. So we'll go with. It's good choice. Yeah, sleepless in Seattle was one. Another one war games from the early 80s. You remember that one. Nagle, but I know I don't really, but I remember the one where they did some filming at Kalana at your high school. Twilight. Yeah. Yeah, that's probably the most famous one recently. Yeah, I think those are the ones people will think of when they think films in Washington. Twilight, which. Forks is forks Washington is where they. Where they. Kind of turned calamal Washington into so. Yeah. When I interview someone from forks, that'll definitely be a topic. I'll want to ask about is how they feel about all that. I think that's what I'm going to say. Yeah, because that's not all that far from where you live now. So it's closer. Right. And where you went to school. Well, I'm closer than where I used to live. Okay. So this one, I have a feeling you're going to struggle with because I don't think you could come up with just one. But what is your favorite Washington based artist or band. Hard. Yeah, okay. That makes sense. All right. I love them. They're people. I know the answer, but why don't you tell the listeners about your connection to heart and where that all comes from. Well, for a brief time when heart was not touring, they. Nancy Wilson and animals and the sisters are famous for some art. They were. Nancy was married to. A movie director. A movie almost famous is about him, but they were doing it. Right. Cameron Crowe. Cameron Crowe. Thank you. And they were doing a movie in Seattle about kind of the grunge scene. And on the radio in the background, you could hear. The love mongers playing a song called the Battle of Evermore, which is a Led Zeppin song. But the love mongers were formed strictly for that period of time. And the. The sisters and my friends from high school Frank Cox and Sue Dennis, the songwriter that wrote a lot of things co wrote with. And Nancy. And so I got to meet them through that. And then later when Ann started playing with the whole band again, I got to be Roger Fisher, the original guitar player. One of my good buddies is Steve Fosson, the original bass player. And so, I think that's what I think. And so, he gets credit for a lot of these. The intro, for example, to crazy on you. That's all Nancy. whole acoustic guitar intro and when she plays now with her band, she could do all those parts that Roger did too. So I mean, she's really a good guitar player. So my next question is, who's the most famous Washingtonian you've ever met? And the thing with you is I know, you know, growing up with you being in the music industry, you met a lot of different musicians and I know that, you know, I saw, I don't know, I mean, is that maybe your answer is that Ann and Nancy or somebody else? Well, it for me, it would be Jeff Wilson because he's a close friend. He's from long, he went to, he went to the same high school I went to, I'm 10 years older than he is. So I used to book his back, that was a nice girl in junior high, but he started off in the 80s, he went to Southern Earth to Northern California and got involved in the heavy metal scene and was in the band Dawkin for almost every album and he had eight platinum records with Dawkin. And currently he's the bass player for Forerunner and he's been with him for 18, 19 years, almost as long as the original guitar player. I mean, the original guitar player, Mick Jones, is still in the band and the the new singer and Jeff and a couple of the other guys have been in Forerunner for almost 20 years and they are on their farewell tour all this year and next year and one of their hits, so early hits, it feels like the first time. The tour this year is called feels like the last time. Oh, that's great. Thank you very much. Yeah. Yeah, so Jeff, if anybody who doesn't know Dawkin, I definitely recommend you look them up because they were at the time. I mean, they were huge and Jeff, Jeff's an incredible bass player and just an incredible musician. And also he's been in soundtracks. He's in soundtracks, so for like Nightmare on Elm Street and for you to many records, if you go to JeffTilson.com, you can see his entire career and it's mind bogged, but how many people he's worked with. And he's just a great guy too. That's the other thing that I look at. I think that's what people like and get these a nice guy. Right. Well, the rock star. Yeah, I don't want to make sure I mention this too because I don't know if I'm remembering this correctly. I think you told me this, but did you not at one point meet and it might have been just briefly, but you met the singer who big time Seattle singer, everybody in the Grunge movement knew him. Chris Cornell, didn't you meet him at one point? Ironically, I did. I actually met him. We were just talking about the love mongers. I met him at a Christmas party at Frank and Kathy, Frank Cox's house. And a Nancy were there. Chris showed it up and he was wearing this kind of an army jacket looking thing. And I remember it well because from there, he went on in town and did an interview in that very jacket I had just talked to him. And I met him briefly. I can't say that I knew him all that well, but I did get to meet him and I found him to be very, very interesting. Yeah, he's great. I have a lot of friends. I mean, obviously growing up in Washington and me, I was a teenager when the Grunge thing kind of blew up. So it's kind of the perfect storm. I got to, you know, they say that's when you have your most impressionable sort of music listening time frame, I guess. And so I was in Washington during the height of the Grunge era without going on. Yeah, so was I. Yes, I've been here since the mid 60s. So I feel very fortunate because I got to see all of the scenes that exploded in the sixties. It really, and of course, the Beatles were huge, but it evolved around like the Beats voice and all these groups, a lot of the the surf groups out of California. And all of that whole scene was just, just, there was music everywhere. There was a venue to play here in Longie called the the Smith Center. And my band opened for Marley Rush, Marley in the turnabouts had a hit called Angel of the Morning. And then we opened for the Bards. And we even got to open for, oh, not the Kingsman. There's another group from Seattle. It's gave me right now, but anyway, they were called the Whalers. Ron Garland Whalers. Anyway, completely different than the than the reg A Whalers. It came later. But all true from 65 to probably 95. I played in bands. And mostly we can bands, as you know, because I had a full-time job and raised the family. But I've been really, I feel blessed living in the Northwest because there is so much music everywhere. Such a music scene still. Yeah, for sure. And there's, yeah, still, I mean, like I said, I went to the, what you and I think of as EMP, but they now call O-Pop. And, yeah, there's very much a lot of music and bands coming from here. You know, Brandy Carlyle is another kind of more recent musician. Oh, yeah. It's from this area that gets mentioned a lot. Yeah, and of course, that also brings us to Kurt Cobain's will. Oh, yeah, Courtney Love for sure. For me, love. Was it? Was she from Washington? She lived in, they were living in Seattle, I believe, when Kurt had his demise. But so they were raising their kid in the Seattle area. And also there's a group called Slater Candy from O'Lamford. Oh, yes, Slater Candy. Yeah, which is actually a street in Olympia. Right. Yeah, that one. That's another one. In fact, when I was at the Space Needle recently and their gift cup, you notice all those kind of, they have Slater Candy albums. They have, you know, of course, their band albums and things like that. So I have two more questions for you. And one of them, well, we've already talked about how many different Washington towns you've lived in. It's basically three, but could be four if you count Calcio, because Longview Calcio are right there next to each other. Oh, that's a good point. I did have a house in Calcio. But yeah, you're right. It's a 20 so I did live there too. So what is your favorite restaurant in the state of Washington? Can you guess? I ran it. I ran it. In Longview. Yes, perfect. Okay, great. So, um, grants in Longview, the Manusello hotel, Historic Hotel. It was featured in Kitchen Nightmare. What's that? What's that show? Gordon Ramsey featured it once in one of his shows. Right. But that particular show was called Hotel Hell. Hotel Hell. Yeah. Yeah. And Grant. Grant was working there at the time when he was on that show. Right. Which, uh, unfortunately, I know Grant has to weigh recently, but I will just clear up as we're discussing it. The hotel hell thing was brief. And then when Grant took it over, it was an incredible restaurant because I remember it's still an incredible restaurant. Yeah, Grant, Grant at the Manusello is still there. His wife and his, or, for me, his widow and his son Nick. Right. Or run it. And it's still in it's a, it's a, it's a landmark. The Manusello hotel is a landmark in Longview. So that'll be kind of my plug for this episode then because one of the things I want to do is I interview all these different people from all over the state as I want to see what's, what are the restaurants people need to go to? So grants at the Manusello hotel, I'll probably go ahead and put a link to their website so that people listening can, can look it up. What's your favorite meal there? Um, well, my favorite meal is actually another restaurant. And it's at Parkers at exit 49 on, Highway on my five and Tony Parker, Tony Parker, the owner of that restaurant is a really good guitar player at a friend of mine as well. So I really love the fondue at Parkers on exit 49, I recommend it highly. Fondue at Parkers. Okay, so fondue at Parkers. And then just over all restaurant experience, you'd go with grants. It sounds like. Yes, for me, it's a toss up between grants and parkers. Okay, well grants for me, I like their bacon and Brussels sprouts. That's what I liked that they had. I remember. This is gonna be funny because I actually like the fondue at Grant's. That's not the only thing they make. Usually I think I get at grants, I get, um, well, state, they make, they make wonderful states. It's just a great way to make them. Yeah. Take for sure. That's the thing. I don't really eat Brussels sprouts much anymore or ever. So that state would probably mind your life. Okay. Okay. Well, um, last question. And I think we've already kind of touched on and I think you sort of answered it, but, um, Sasquatch or DB Cooper. If you had to pick one, which would you pick? DB Cooper. I was just so impressed with his ability to jump from an airplane and not get caught. Yes, I agree. He's a full deal. I would agree. And, you know, I don't know if you know this. I might have told you I actually I went with one of my friends to the museum and Tacoma where they actually have the actual seat that DB Cooper sat in and I sat in his seat. Well, the one thing that I do remember they never found his body so they had to assume that he survived what they did find some of the money that had scattered to the woods play it. It was a very interesting character in. It's just interesting folklore and watching science watch. That's that's that's just that's not just local to Washington. They could leave anywhere in the Northwest. And of course, it's a movie. I would choose Harry and the Henderson's as being the best. I'm going to take you to the next one. That's true. Well, okay, so I'm going to end first of all, so I know that you're my father and I kind of, you know, I kind of forced you into to be in a guest anyway, but by default. But thank you for being my guest, my first guest, first of all. I really appreciate it. And then lastly, I just on a little note there with the DB Cooper thing, although it did happen before my time. Growing up hearing the legend, the tale of DB Cooper, one of the things I thought about as I was kind of investigating, you know, who could that be? I did think, well, who do I know that knows the state well travels the state. And avid traveler flies. So I don't know if I ever told you this, but for a while, I thought that it might be you. Well, I actually thought it might I thought it might have been your grandfather on your mother's side, but you look more to the park. Well, if you haven't had a lot more expensive musical instruments than the house. That's true. Good point. We would have been a little bit more better off if it had been you. Well, that'll be my second goal, though, besides interviewing 281 people, maybe in the process, I can figure out who that DB Cooper actually was. Yeah, excellent. I think that's a great plan. All right. Well, thank you. And I will catch up with you later. Fantastic. It was my pleasure. Thanks for having me on the show. You're welcome. Bye. Bye. Okay. Time for some post show corrections. The rich cowboy hat guy that I couldn't remember is, of course, Jeff Bezos. Amazon being a big Seattle company that everyone knows. That is who I was trying to think of. I'm sure you probably thought of it. I just couldn't think of his name. So there's that correction. The film director, my father mentioned Steve DeGarnett. The film my father was probably thinking of was the miracle mile. He also directed a film called Cherry 2000. These are more along the lines of your kind of cult classic films. I haven't seen them, but I do know a lot of people who have and I've heard they're good. Finally, the trail that I mentioned, the one with the abandoned sawmill. I wanted to be able to tell you how to get there, but apparently that trail is not actually a public trail. So I can't really share that information. However, if you are in Olympia and you know the MIME Mounds, which any local person in Olympia could probably just tell you where the MIME Mounds are, you probably just ask them, you know, how do I get to the abandoned sawmill close to the MIME Mounds. And I'm sure they tell you how to get there. I won't tell anybody anyway. And now it's time for further examination. Washington State is the 18th largest state by land mass, but it is the 13th largest state by population. It has a reputation as a blue state. That is one that is more socially liberal compared to most other states. In Washington State, they've legalized same-sex marriage much earlier than other states, legalized marijuana, and most recently implemented an assault weapons ban. That was just right now in 2023 here recently. Now, although this is true for the state as a whole, I should point out that there is quite a separation politically in terms of the western half of the state versus the eastern half. The eastern side of the state tends to vote more conservative and is a much less populated area, though. So that's why the state as a whole tends to swing more towards being a blue state because the majority of the population is over on the western side. The current governor of Washington State is Jay Inslee. He is the 22nd governor for the state and he is a Democrat. There has not been a Republican governor in the state of Washington since 1985, the year that back to the future came out. Dixie Lee Ray was the first female governor to serve in the state of Washington and she was among the first ever governor's female governors to serve in the United States as a whole. She was also the governor during the eruption of Mount St. Atlons that took place in 1980. Governor Alisha Pierre Ferry, a Republican, served as the very first governor of the state from 1889 to 1893. Prior to statehood, Washington State was part of the Oregon territory. The Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803 is often cited as the discovery of the Pacific Northwest. However, the term discovery only applies when viewing things through the lens of a European civilization. Obviously, you know, and I do kind of want to note that just going forward with this podcast as a whole, I'll often refer to dates like discovery dates and founding dates in the 1800s. Obviously, I'm aware that is only kind of through our current historical lens. I intend to acknowledge as often as I can that of course the land wasn't discovered in reality in that time. It is actually estimated that roughly 125 distinct Native American tribes lived in current day Washington for at least the past 13,000 years. It is actually predating the current state of this political state that is in place. Now among these tribes were the Chinook, the Lumi, the Quenalt, the Macaw, and the Snahomish, just to name a few. Many of the names of the different cities and counties throughout the state are born out of Native American heritage, but probably most notable being Seattle itself, having been named after Chief Seattle, who was a prominent Native American chief during 19th century. Washington State is a place of many natural wonders, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Baker being the most prominent and noteworthy, but the Olympic Mountain Range covers a great deal of the whole western half of the state. So the difference between the landscape kind of as I spoke to earlier of the western half, which is very mountainous and the eastern half, which is very flat is pretty staggering. Jumping towards more of the modern history and modern aspects of Washington State, something that I think is often overlooked, and I really do hope to speak about, especially when I interview people from kind of the Richland and Hanford area, and you would have seen this if you watched the film Oppenheimer recently, great film by the way, think of this kind of era in American history. You know, a lot of people know that New Mexico served as the site of the research and the testing of the atomic bomb, but the town of Richland, which is next to Hanford, actually served as the primary site for the development of the nuclear energy that was required for the making of that atomic bomb and for the use of it. Many people know today there is still of course the Hanford nuclear site that is over there and still operational, and it's had some issues, but overall it's, you know, it's definitely still there in a big part of the state. And Richland itself was just a very small town of only about 300 people in early 1940s, but when the government decided that it was going to use that site to construct the nuclear plant for the Manhattan project, They actually evicted the 300 people that lived there and brought in roughly 25,000 people to grow this city of Richland and carry out the Manhattan Project. So it's really an interesting part of just American history and state history as a whole that often gets overlooked and I definitely plan on speaking on that quite a bit. It's kind of interesting too if you ever have a chance to see Richland High School, their actual mascot is actually the Richland bombers. So that's kind of a homage to their history in the atomic bomb and World War II role that the town played along with New Mexico and a few other sites. But Richland is a huge part of that and really, you know, most of the historians will talk about how it was such a big deal that it had to be kept secret, kind of like a secret city if you've heard of the former Soviet Union used to kind of with their Cold War era bomb making that they did, they would actually construct these secret cities. And in a sense Richland was kind of along those lines and they even had some Russian spies who came into Richland and successfully stole some of the information that was being utilized there, unfortunately. And so there's a lot of Cold War era history in Richland and I definitely hope to get more in depth with that as I get towards the episode where I interview people from Richland. Early and internationally, I think Washington State is most often associated probably with Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks. But you do hear about the Seahawks and Nirvana and the Grunge scene or the Twilight films which were filmed, well they were filmed mostly in Canada but some of it was filmed here in Washington, places like Kalama, Washington and of course Forks which is the fictional site of the films. Obviously, Sleepless in Seattle gets a lot of mentions with Seattle being in the title. But as far as pop culture references to Seattle, they're out there and you hear them but I think most common the ones that I get when I travel are things like, you know, oh the tech companies, Starbucks or they just ask, you know, what I think about all the rain which, you know, we certainly have rain but it's not as bad as people think. So as you can see, there's a rich history and I intend to explore it all in upcoming episodes. If there's anything I didn't mention or something that you just want me to comment on or you have a suggestion you want to make, please go to thegreateststate.com and fill out the submission form or just write it in your review and I ask that everyone subscribe and leave a positive review to the podcast if possible. This is a completely independent endeavor. So in order to keep going, I definitely need as much support as I can get and thank you so much for listening to my first episode.