Category Archives: road trip

road trip, travel

The Trunk Incident

Have I ever told you about the last day of my 2010 California adventure? It includes one of my favorite stories to tell. Below is what I wrote at the end of that day.

Ohhhh, what a day. Got up a little later than planned because I figured not having a lot of time to kill in San Fran wasn’t that bad. Had my final buffet breakfast (really? eggs, sausage, cakes & cereal every day? mix it up Hotel Charlotte!) and went out to my rental car to get some things out of the trunk and into my suitcase.

I had a few bottles of water rolling around back there and a couple of them were wayyyyy far into the trunk, all the way at the back and impossible to reach by just reaching in. I was wearing a sun dress and tried putting one leg into the trunk to crawl in but decided it wasn’t really the best idea. I saw a kid on a bike and had a better idea! Ask the kid if he would get into the trunk of a stranger’s car to get a couple of water bottles for her!!! So I asked him and being a sweet kid he hopped right in my trunk and handed me the water bottles. I gave him a couple of bucks and his eyes lit up as he hopped on his bike and told me that he’d have to go put it away at home because he didn’t have any pockets. So I made his day for at least a couple of minutes – when he got home and told his parents about getting into a stranger’s trunk, well, that might have been another story.

Shortly after getting out of Groveland I passed a massive reservoir that was so beautiful. I kind of regret not taking a few pics but I really just wanted to get on my way at that point. I saw quite a few very nice ski boats making their way there – I’d have to say that’d be my perfect Sunday, just cruising on a lake surrounded by huge hills/mountains. Maybe someday I’ll have that. Or a boat, at the very least.

One weird thing I noticed while driving these back Cali roads is that a lot of homes are gated. Just what is it that they are trying to keep out way out there?

Also, my love of Mexicans has returned. Not the really little ones though.

While beautiful, the ride to San Fran was mostly uneventful. I had planned to go straight to the Golden Gate but ending up on Embarcadero (the waterfront/pier area with all the shops and touristy attractions) on my way there I figured I’d stop there first for a bathroom break and something to eat. It took about 30 minutes to find a parking spot where I was (I later learned all the parking I could ever want could be found a little ways down – though it seemed like miles down on foot) and then I rushed to find a bathroom. I ended up at a public toilet at the same time as 6 kind of burly biker guys. I told them there was no way I was going in after them and we all laughed. Though they were in their 50’s – 60’s, one of them was way hot! I wish I had taken a picture of them, we had a good time waiting for the guy ahead of us to finish and then for the bathroom to finish cleaning itself. The guys let me go first, which I regretted as soon as I realized there was no toilet paper and then subsequently not knowing how to wash my hands in there. So I scrambled out of there, wishing them luck and hoping nothing was dripping out of my dress.

I saw another one a little while later and decided I’d go in to listen to the instructions to find out where I had gone wrong. Big mistake as this one didn’t appear to have cleaned itself recently. Since I was in there I pressed the instructions button anyway only to find I couldn’t understand a word of what the voice was saying. I think I’ll be fine never knowing and never using one of those again!

I made my way from Pier 1 to Pier 4000 (ok, maybe it was 39) very quickly knowing that I only had a few hours before I should be to the airport. I got a sourdough bowl full of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had and enjoyed some people watching before speed walking back the way I came. While I was being particularly conscious of what my dress was doing in the wind, I discovered I was wearing it inside out!!! This is becoming more and more of a problem for me lately – do people usually need others to dress them at 32?? I continued on and ran into the bikers again who yelled “There she is!!” They let me know they made it in and out of the crazy toilet just fine and we parted ways for the last time. Nice to have some friends in a city not your own!

And now I must apologize to all the visitors of San Fran that day for possibly showing them far too much of me for at one point I had yet another issue with my dress in that it seemed to be far too high up in the back. I’m sooooooo sorry!! And quite embarrassed.

I decided I’d skip the Golden Gate as it was now cloudy and I didn’t want to worry about traffic. So what do you do with a little extra time? Stop at a little patisserie and get yourself some coconut mousse cake and graham cookies. I took them to go and made my way back to my car. I quickly put my dress on the right way and took off for the airport.

Returning my rental car was far less time consuming than I thought so I had a ton of time to spare even after venturing off into the city of Brisbane for 30 minutes to find gas. (cute city!) I had forgotten that there wasn’t much action in the Delta terminal at SFO so I didn’t see a ton of people but there were a few characters to amuse me in the couple of hours I was there. I grabbed a sandwich at the cafe there, turkey, cranberry mayo & stuffing on some kind of wheat bread. It was pretty good! I think I will try that with my Thanksgiving leftovers this year.

I landed in Mpls around midnight and that was the end of one of my best vacations yet. While I wasn’t solo the entire time, (that reminds me, theme song of trip: “Ridin Solo”) it really is nice to get away alone once in awhile. Though with all that time to think I still haven’t figured anything out. 😛

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road trip, travel, Uncategorized

Chimney Tops

The very best day of my outdoor life came the fall of 2009. I had been laid off of work for a few months and decided to head down to the smokies, one of my favorite road trips. I wrote pretty extensively of this trip in Facebook’s notes, so I’ll reshare what I wrote then.

–Sunny day! I decided to stay another night so I can enjoy the park in the sun.

Chatted with the man at the front desk a bit, he’s from Ohio but was stationed in the south in the 70’s. Moved back home in 77, got married, started a family. Tried to convince his wife to move down here for 31 years and finally did it last summer. They love it here. I do too. Though my waiter friend told me not a lot of people that work here in town actually live here. And it’s not quick drive anywhere around here so I’m not sure how I’d like it. It would be a great temporary move though. I just hope it doesn’t take me 31 years to end up where I want to be.
Had corncake pancakes at the Pancake Pantry and some chocolate milk. Soooo tasty.
Today may have been the best day of my life.
Seriously.
I decided to hike Chimney Tops. It was noted as strenuous but at only 4 miles round trip, I didn’t think it could be that bad. I was mistaken. I’m sure for my more seasoned hiker friends it would have been a breeze. I climbed about 1700 feet of the most steep, rocky and wet terrain I have ever seen. It was incredible. And I was incredibly sweaty.
Oh before I forget, I saw 2 more bear today on my way to the trailhead. Right where I saw them yesterday. However, a soccer mom was right up my trunk and I couldn’t stop quickly enough to get a picture. Thankfully she had enough room to pull off the road for a good view of them. <sarcasm> The bears were still there when I came down. Though I think they were in the trees cause I couldn’t see them from the road. I knew they were there though by all the dumb people in the road and the rangers directing traffic. They were still there nearly an hour later, kind of wanted to stop for the photo op but the crowd was insane.
So where was I? Oh yeah, super sweaty! I tried to hide every time someone passed me. :p. Fortunately that wasn’t too often, I guess that strenuous rating keeps lazy people away and the serious hikers are on the less advertised trails. So I reached the end which is this massive rock formation. The trail to the top of it is closed but you can climb up the rocks if you want. Um, scary. I have never done anything like that. This family I had passed had a son way up top already, I thought he was nuts. I started up a bit but paused. Then mom and young daughter of the family head up. I figure if I follow them it will be easier. They stop pretty early on. Daughter wants to go up to bro but mom says no way. She pleads. Mom keeps saying no and adds that she is annoying the rest of us with her whining. Nice. Son goes all the way to the top. Eventually he comes back down and mom is scared to watch. So am I so I decide I won’t go much further. However after the fam and two others left I decide I’d go up a little more to a more comfortable spot. So I sat for awhile, just soaking up the sun (my face is way burnt!) a man passes me and tells me to continue isn’t any harder than what I’ve already done. I consider going up but he disappears and I don’t want to fall off the mountain with no witnesses. 5 teens, 2 guys 3 girls, climb up the rocks like mountain goats (I told them this). The girls were in skirts! They disappeared over the top. Two guys come up and talk to me a bit. One of them asks if I’m afraid of heights. He thinks I’m frozen in fear on the rocks and afraid to move. I’m not afraid of heights at all, and while I was afraid to go up, down (from that point) didn’t scare me. They offered to help me up but I declined. I immediately regretted it. Eventually the mountain goat family came back down and they offered to go back up to help me. They were so nice. I knew I’d hate myself if I didn’t so one of the skirts went up and led the way. There was really only one rock that scared the crap out of me, it appeared almost vertical. Once I got past that I didn’t need too much of her help. She offered to stay to help me down but I figured the guys up there would help if need be. The kids were from Indiana, I really don’t know where they learned to climb like that. It may have been more like watching Spidermen than goats. I feel like I should explain that I probably would have climbed right up if I had a partner. I just kept picturing myself tumbling down the mountain with no one knowing I was even there.
So I got up top and the view was amazing. The guys seemed happy I made it. We talked a bit and they offered me water. I said no. They offered again, so I took one. Then one offered me a cookie. Said no. Offered again. Think I said no again. One more time. I said yes. They said apparently no means yes with me. They sure figured me out fast! :p I don’t know how long we were up there but it was quite awhile. And so much fun! They had me laughing the whole time. Eli and Daniel, from NC. I think they’d be my best buds if I lived near them.
At one point a guy comes up and has a butterfly on his hat. Eli told him and he replied that it had been following him the whole way up. Eli took a pic for him and it flew away only to land on me a short time later! Then on Daniel. Eli took it from Daniel so he could get a pic. They decided it must be thirsty so they put some water in a bottle cap and fed it. It was pretty neat. Did I mention that these two were also scared by “killer” squirrels or chipmunks on their way up? Now they’re feeding a butterfly. I was kind of questioning their manhood. :p
At one point I mentioned I was at Fridays last night and they asked if I was the loud one cheering and high fiving during the game. They had been sitting in a booth at the bar! If only I had met them last night, I could have had some more fun.
Eventually we decided to head down. I was glad to have them there, that steep spot was scary! I hiked back down the mountain with them. Lots more laughs, they were so much fun. I wish I could remember some of the things they said. I was giving them a pretty hard time but rightfully so, who is afraid of squirrels??
Oh, some couple told me I should go some place in Maine, I need to remember that. Lots of fun rocks to climb I guess.
We reached the trailhead and we were all planning on seeing the sunset from Clingman’s Dome (highest point in Smokies) but first Daniel wanted a funnel cake with ice cream. So we said a temporary goodbye and drove off. Me to my hotel to shower and change.
Headed to the dome, stopped to take some pics on the way and met a nice couple from Washington. They, like myself, hadn’t seen any Minnesota plates either. Minnesota, I beg of you. Visit the Smokies! I’ve been to higher mountain ranges but I don’t know that I’ve loved them as much.
I pulled into the parking lot and Eli and Daniel were just getting out of their car. Bad news, no funnel cake. They got in the shop but the woman said she was closed. Very sad.
It was so windy up there! And cold as a result! Daniel had to change out of his shorts and into the track pants that matched his jacket. I told him he looked like a grandma and we headed up the hill. It is paved but WAY steep. Boys needed to stop for a break. Made me feel less out of shape than I am! We got up to the observation tower, where on a clear day you can see 7 states or something. So windy and even more cold but we stuck it out till the sunset and it was so worth it. I hope at least a few of the 70+ pictures I took of it do it justice. Of course there were a lot more laughs and a few awkward moments. Like when a guy from our earlier hike showed up after telling them he was going somewhere else (they told him they were going there, creepy!), or when a kid asked his parents if America and the United States were the same and I couldn’t contain my laughter, or when Eli said my hair was reddish and I loudly said it wasn’t red when a redhead was standing right behind Daniel. (my hair is NOT red!!!!)
The sun went down and it was time to leave. Luckily for me the guys were prepared, they brought flashlights. And glow sticks. Yes. Glow sticks. They gave me one. We hosted a rave in the tower then went back down the hill. I was a little sad to say goodbye to them knowing I’d probably never see them again. We did exchange email addresses so we can share pics though, and I will find them if I’m in NC again.
I hadn’t even thought that another bonus to being in the mountains For sunset would be the stars. They were amazing. I sat and watched them for a bit before making the 30 mile mountain drive back to town. I saw 3 creatures, two were fox and I initially thought the third was but it may have been a coyote. I so love the wilderness!!
I debated whether I should go to bed or eat when I got back. Eating won. Went to Calhoun’s, a local joint and sister of the brewery from the other night. Initially I regretted it cause the menu didn’t impress me but I was too lazy to move. Told the bartender gal I wanted the fresh Calhoun chicken (per the menu). “Calhoun chicken?” she asked. Yes. “side?” Corn puddin’ (again per menu.) “Corn puddinG?” AGH! I was not going to sit there all night if she was going to keep this up. Luckily she was cut. And the corn puddinG was effing fantastic.
I talked to the other bartender a bit, sounded like he was kind of displaced by Katrina. He almost moved to Minneapolis too. (I’m starting to think the servers here are trained to tell that story.) He said everyone there is really nice. I argued that people here are nicer. He agreed but said they’re a lot less intelligent. So I guess we have something going for us up there!
Wow, Jason Bateman is hot.
I finished my meal and Adam sold me on their banana pudding. Homemade white chocolate macadamia nut cookie crust, layer of bananas, pudding, hand whipped cream and shavings of some exotic something or other. I didn’t need it but asked to take it to go. He went to the kitchen. They were out! Guess I’ll have to come back for it. That really bums me out. :p
I am very much dreading the ride home tomorrow. I imagine I’ll be sore from today and extremely tired. Oh, and I just never want to go home. Zombie pub crawl on Saturday though, gotta make it back for that!
Oh, lesson learned today: People are amazing.

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moving, road trip, Seattle

Glendive to Seattle

Let’s see… back to the road trip…

Picked up the van at about noon and rolled out of town shortly after. So excited to be back at it after being stuck for a little over 24 hours! But Katie was going to have to make an expensive flight change and we were going to have to find one more hotel.

We hop back on the highway and are flying along when we hit packed snow and ice. For 100 miles. Cars in ditches everywhere, tracks in ditches everywhere yet everyone is passing us. I’m still not sure how we made it up some of those hills. We trudged along between 25 – 45 mph. Hit the county line and like magic, the roads were clear. (thanks Treasure County!!) The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Hit Butte (“Butt”, Katie called it) around 10 something pm and asked the dude in sunglasses at the gas station how the roads were to Missoula. He had heard they were pretty bad. Because I heed no warnings, we continued on, making it to Missoula around midnight. (the roads weren’t bad at all)

Crashed for 5 hours or so and drove off around 7. Once again a pretty uneventful drive though Idaho was gorgeous! It was snowing and covered in snow and completely beautiful. Once we got near a city, Katie started searching for donuts. We took a much needed pit stop in Coeur d’Alene and munched em down.

Perhaps the best part of this leg of the trip was our stop in Ellensburg to unload my mattress. I have a massive full size mattress that Ben somehow squeezed into the van. To any passerby (and there were so many!), I imagine it looked like Katie and I were trying to pull an adult from a lady’s baby hole. That’s what it seemed like to me anyway. Haha. It had to have taken a good 20 minutes of pushing and pulling, but finally the mattress was out and we were once again en route to Seattle.

This was Superbowl Sunday and I was so excited to find a local bar and watch the game with the cheering crowd. However, Murphy had been a pretty good sport the entire drive and we thought it was best to get him some exercise before settling in anywhere. We found a nice dog park where he ran around a bit and we got an awesome view of Mt. Rainier. I really wanted it to be clear so my dear sis could see the mountains and why I need to be here, and it was!

We attempted to go together to a bar near the hotel to watch the game but Murphy had other plans for us. He started whining after we left the room so Katie chose to stay back and I went to a bar for halftime and most of the 2nd half. It was definitely a happy crowd and fun to experience. After the game we went to grab some food and that’s when the real celebration began – people cheering and yelling in the streets and shooting fireworks. I understand it’s exciting but really, it’s just football. I was happy for the revelers anyway.

Katie left around 4am for the airport and so it was just me and Murphy and our new adventure.

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road trip, travel

Last Day of Vacay (2010)

This was something I posted in Facebook Notes during a sweet vacation that included a flight to LA, road trip up the PCH and then a few days in Yosemite. The trunk story is one of my favorite vacation memories.

August 9, 2010 at 9:45pm

Ohhhh, what a day. Got up a little later than planned because I figured not having a lot of time to kill in San Fran wasn’t that bad. Had my final buffet breakfast (really? eggs, sausage, cakes & cereal every day? mix it up Hotel Charlotte!) and went out to my rental car to get some things out of the trunk and into my suitcase.
I had a few bottles of water rolling around back there and a couple of them were wayyyyy far into the trunk, all the way at the back and impossible to reach by just reaching in. I was wearing a sun dress and tried putting one leg into the trunk to crawl in but decided it wasn’t really the best idea. I saw a kid on a bike and had a better idea! Ask the kid if he would get into the trunk of a stranger’s car to get a couple of water bottles for her!!! So I asked him and being a sweet kid he hopped right in my trunk and handed me the water bottles. I gave him a couple of bucks and as his eyes lit up as he hopped on his bike and told me that he’d have to go put it away at home because he didn’t have any pockets. So I made his day for at least a couple of minutes – when he got home and told his parents about getting into a stranger’s trunk, well, that might have been another story.
Shortly after getting out of Groveland I passed a massive reservoir that was so beautiful. I kind of regret not taking a few pics but I really just wanted to get on my way at that point. I saw quite a few very nice ski boats making their way there – I’d have to say that’d be my perfect Sunday, just cruising on a lake surrounded by huge hills/mountains. Maybe someday I’ll have that. Or a boat, at the very least.
One weird thing I noticed while driving these back Cali roads is that a lot of homes are gated. Just what is it that they are trying to keep out way out there?
Also, my love of Mexicans has returned. Not the really little ones though.
While beautiful, the ride to San Fran was mostly uneventful. I had planned to go straight to the Golden Gate but ending up on Embarcadero (the waterfront/pier area with all the shops and touristy attractions) on my way there I figured I’d stop there first for a bathroom break and something to eat. It took about 30 minutes to find a parking spot where I was (I later learned all the parking I could ever want could be found a little ways down – though it seemed like miles down on foot) and then I rushed to find a bathroom. I ended up at a public toilet at the same time as 6 kind of burly biker guys. I told them there was no way I was going in after them and we all laughed. Though they were in their 50’s – 60’s, one of them was way hot! I wish I had taken a picture of them, we had a good time waiting for the guy ahead of us to finish and then for the bathroom to finish cleaning itself. The guys let me go first, which I regretted as soon as I realized there was no toilet paper and then subsequently not knowing how to wash my hands in there. So I scrambled out of there, wishing them luck and hoping nothing was dripping out of my dress.
I saw another one a little while later and decided I’d go in to listen to the instructions to find out where I had gone wrong. Big mistake as this one didn’t appear to have cleaned itself recently. Since I was in there I pressed the instructions button anyway only to find I couldn’t understand a word of what the voice was saying. I think I’ll be fine never knowing and never using one of those again!
I made my way from Pier 1 to Pier 4000 (ok, maybe it was 39) very quickly knowing that I only had a few hours before I should be to the airport. I got a sourdough bowl full of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had and enjoyed some people watching before speed walking back the way I came. While I was being particularly conscious of what my dress was doing in the wind, I discovered I was wearing it inside out!!! This is becoming more and more of a problem for me lately – do people usually need others to dress them at 32?? I continued on and ran into the bikers again who yelled “There she is!!” They let me know they made it in and out of the crazy toilet just fine and we parted ways for the last time. Nice to have some friends in a city not your own!
And now I must apologize to all the visitors of San Fran that day for possibly showing them far too much of me for at one point I had yet another issue with my dress in that it seemed to be far too high up in the back. I’m sooooooo sorry!! And quite embarrassed.
I decided I’d skip the Golden Gate as it was now cloudy and I didn’t want to worry about traffic. So what do you do with a little extra time? Stop at a little patisserie and get yourself some coconut mousse cake and graham cookies. I took them to go and made my way back to my car.
I quickly put my dress on the right way and took off for the airport.
Returning my rental car was far less time consuming than I thought so I had a ton of time to spare even after venturing off into the city of Brisbane for 30 minutes to find gas. (cute city!) I had forgotten that there wasn’t much action in the Delta terminal at SFO so I didn’t see a ton of people but there were a few characters to amuse me in the couple of hours I was there. I grabbed a sandwich at the cafe there, turkey, cranberry mayo & stuffing on some kind of wheat bread. It was pretty good! I think I will try that with my Thanksgiving leftovers this year.
I landed in Mpls around midnight and that was the end of one of my best vacations yet.
While I wasn’t solo the entire time, (that reminds me, theme song of trip: “Ridin Solo”) it really is nice to get away alone once in awhile. Though with all that time to think I still haven’t figured anything out. 😛

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moving, road trip, Uncategorized

Snowed in and Beached.

The day before I was to hit the road for Washington the weather monsters predicted snow for my departure. I figured I’d just wait and see. Decided when I woke at 5:30 that I’d wait awhile. Good thing because I hadn’t yet fully loaded the van and I decided to completely rearrange what was already in there. We smooshed my gigantic mattress back in and I proceeded to stuff every last inch of the van with my things. My sister thought Dickinson, ND was a reasonable distance for our shortened day and at 1pm we finally rolled westward.

The drive to Dickinson was mostly uneventful. The van was a champ and held 70mph just fine. North Dakota gave us a gorgeous gift in the form of a beautiful sun dog framed sunset. We made it safely to Dickinson and stayed in a nearly brand new HomStay. It was pretty nice and this morning’s breakfast included Lucky Charms which makes it the best place I’ve ever stayed.

Westward again at 8:30. The day was brisk and bright and seemed perfect for continuing our journey.

And then…

The van started stuttering. Then it’d recover and stutter again. And then it completely died. All the “I told you so”s were echoing in my head. We called AAA and the most familiar voice took my call. It took a few minutes to place it but I realized that Steven sounded just like Phil Robertson. Even called me Miss Amy! But he couldn’t find me a truck and had to assign the call to some specialist that would call me back in 20 minutes. When she did, it was only to tell me she was working on it. When she called again she found a guy who’d arrive in 15. I was really needing a restroom and wasn’t sure I’d make it. So I propped my self up against the van ditch side, sprayed the shoulder and maybe my boots a little. As much as I’ve used nature for a restroom you’d think I’d have this down by now. I don’t. While we were waiting/spraying my trusty travel companion thought maybe we should ask if the tow truck could take us to Glendive, the next large town. The driver was just a young guy and said he was pretty sure he had to take us to the nearest shop.

And what a shop it was. Before the van was off the truck the owner said he wasn’t sure he could do anything for us. He did try though. Calling all over to find this alternator that was only in Iowa according to one resource. Shortly after arriving I had to use the restroom again, having stopped mid-stream on the shoulder to avoid being spied by passers by. I asked him about a restroom and he directed me to the back, mentioning it wasn’t a nice one. Not a nice one? It was the dirtiest room I’ve ever been in. The seat was up and the rim was covered in dirt/scum along with the bowl, sink and floor. Once again squatting, I’m pretty sure I hit more floor than bowl. And tp? None. There were some crumpled up paper towels so I wiped up my legs and then used my foot to dry up the floor. Ish!

The mechanic confirmed he could get us an alternator on Monday. Not really an option considering my sister is flying out of Seattle at 6am Sunday. (Not anymore.) And, the idea of staying at a motel in Beach, ND was not the most pleasant one. (Sounds like it should be nice though, right?) We called some shops in Glendive and I found a Napa that could have the part tomorrow morn. He recommended a shop. I spoke with a nice guy named Robert, who when I met him later referred to me as a lady and called me Miss Amy (that is growing on me!), and he said they could get me in at 10.

It was time for another call to AAA. Same story, different agents. And an hour wait for the tow this time.

This guy was a chatter! From Toronto, lived in Florida, Vegas, now Glendive. Told us all about no one wanting to tow for AAA as they don’t pay much. So good to know! He recommended a hotel his wife manages, where we had already decided to stay, dropped the van off and brought us to the hotel. Even got us a luggage cart!

They mentioned fresh baked cookies would be coming when we checked in so we ordered pizza and went back to the lobby. Once, twice, three times, no cookies. Fourth time was the charm! Of course we had already picked up candy as an excuse to walk through the lobby. But we hadn’t eaten since breakfast so don’t judge!

Now we sit all night long (we got here around 4:30) and hope for a better tomorrow.

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The lobby of the lovely auto shop in Beach.

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