Tonight I was over at Office Max in Mount Vernon checking out office desks, so when I got out to the parking lot, I decided to take my walk around the area there. I headed north through the deserted Wal-Mart store parking lot and then all the way down to the CottonTree hotel and back. Thirty minutes in all, 1.3 miles. I am sort of fascinated with the way America just discards commercial buildings. Across the street a ways from the now empty Wal-Mart, are a vacant, discarded Joes Sporting Goods and an Albertson's store, a large amount of retail space sitting empty. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart builds a brand new store just a 1/2 mile away, and at one point Winco was going to build a new store up the road--while this prime property sits empty. I have heard that there is a covenant on the Wal-Mart property made with Safeway that prohibits another grocery store from moving into the Wal-Mart site. Cities should think more about the future when they allow building permits. Another thing I walked past tonight was what used to be, until Tuesday, a Frontier Bank.
Now it is Union Bank of California. Notice the plastic sign. I have seen those go up on other banks in the area the past few months as bank after bank closes. Scary times for financial institutions. Frontier is the 6th Washington bank to go under so far in 2010; that's over 1 bank a month. Kind of makes you want to start keeping your money in your mattress--not so easy now with a Tempur-Pedic. Maybe in my cowboy boots in my closet. I don't use those too often. Here's my route:
http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/707372
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