Aion Essence
Former Member
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hi all (intro, part II) :
A CIRCUITOUS PATH
(or Route 'Reasoning')
Do think it's fairly obvious that Shantina & son planned to not take the well-trodden & expected path off to see the relatives. The 1st indication was her initial in-store appearance on the far western side of Olympia. This immediately should suggest that she probably took # 3 down from Silverdale to Shelton rather than #16 to #5 thru Tacoma. Why ?
1) There is a toll on the Tacoma Narrows bridge ($4 a few months ago), ongoing construction where #16 meets up with #5 (for the last yr. or more), & often horrendous traffic from Tacoma to Olympia. I've driven it many times & my least favorite highway stretch on the entire West Coast is the area of #5 between south of Fort Lewis to north of Fife. Congestion, construction, crazy drivers, bad roads, narrow shoulders & lanes. Not fun.
2) Route 3 can be very scenic (esp. w/ nice weather) & although certainly a lot slower, it is also a lot more enjoyable, if one has the time. [an aside here, but using the same reasoning, she could have taken #106 to Skokomish & to #101 as well, though #3 to Selton is more popular]
3) #3 IS one of 'the backroads'. And here is where the fear of another traffic citation/DUI comes in (as i think a few of you have recently suggested) but i think at least as much we should consider the possible use of drugs. Personally i don't think alcohol was necessarily the only culprit or even the major one in her 'condition'. So i'm just going to throw a few things out there. I have a female friend in the SF Bay Area who has been on one or another anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety medication for a number of years. 'Selexa' is her favorite but she's been through the lot of them. If she combines one or more of them &/or has even a half-glass of wine or a 'toke' of marijuana, she becomes LOST ... completely. I've been in the car with her on a number of occasions & i've always been utterly amazed at her (lack of) decision making skills especially in regards to her navigation. On one occasion we ended up on the Bay Bridge & then in west Oakland just because she failed to make not one but several tactical decisions correctly in a row (she had had only her 'Selexa' that day). After that experience i refused to ever get in the car w/ her unless i was driving.
In Shantina's case however, there is yet another possibility to unfortunately consider & that is of some sort of opiate. Not heroin necessarily (although the Seattle & Portland areas are famous for 'horse' consumption), but possibly any of it's more accessible & available derivatives. I have more than a couple of casual friends & former co-workers in the area who just love their Percosets, to use one example for instance, & although their use is only occasional, they will use them as either a coping mechanism or recreationally. What potentially suggests the use in this case is how she stood while in the mini-mart videos, shoulders squared & ever so-slightly haunched, as if one were to sit back on a large rock to steady themselves if need be. While alcohol renders one 'tipsy' & lacking equilibrium, the inclination is to fall or sway to the side or back or down. With opiates, it's the mid-torso muscle groups that are most affected & especially the pelvis which is most impacted when one is trying to stay up.
She certainly didn't seem to be all that encumbered though at the time so it could just be suggestive of a past-history or tendency. However, there is also the issue with coordination in general ( hitting curb at pantry, 'hitting her head' possibly earlier, falling in parking lot). This type of motor-control difficulty could indeed suggest some type of opiates in her system as opposed to alcohol (from torso up & w/ eye-contact, etc. she didn't seem to be intoxicated like a drinker would normally be, or on her breath later). Could also well explain her propensity for 'nodding out'. Or yes, could just be meds plus a bit of smoke or wine.
Either way, i think it was her plan all along to take backroads down to Castle Rock. I also think that Robb knew this & it was why he was so quick & eager to leave his camp training early. I believe he knew the plan was to take backroads as per her condition, & also why he spent time on his way down in the Toledo-Vader road area. He may well have even traveled the backroads on the way down himself to check on her. It also is more than likely the reason why he & her step-dad left to go looking for her not once but twice that night. The first time only after Shantina & Azriel were merely a couple hours late. Unless they were otherwise concerned as to her 'tendencies' i don't think most people would send out a search party until early the next day. The only times i've ever known anyone to go out searching for someone else so soon is when the other people were known or expected to be impaired, or a very small child on their own. Then again i grew up in the 70's when no one had cell phones & rarely did people ever keep in touch 24/7. But yes, she didn't have her cell phone w/ her apparently anyway & pay phones are not plentiful like they used to be either, so why worry so soon ? Unless she was expected to be impaired.
The final piece of evidence here would be her insistence on trying to find a particular path. Not #5. She could have stayed on #101 (after taking #3 to Shelton, it winds up at #101) & it would have taken her right to #5. She knew that. No i believe she was looking for one or more connectors to the old hwy #199 so she could get back on the 'backroads'. The best choice would be to take Capitol Blvd south/southeast under the freeway for a few miles (which becomes #199). My own hunch is that she left the diner quickly (& leaving their dinner) when she spotted a patrol car & swung around in the opposite direction, thinking she would double back.
However, the old 'misdirection' kicks in & instead of traveling down & connecting w/ capitol blvd. on the right side of the water heading south, she turns onto what becomes Boston Harbor Rd. on the right side of the water heading north. And ultimately can't find her way back. [Ironically if she'd gone down Pacific the other way after leaving Martin Way Diner she could have eventually found her way to #199 that way as well]. After that, the next 'market' she comes to is closed. And she is then compelled, or rather necessitated to ask directions finally from a private residence, the Williams' on 46th ave.
A CIRCUITOUS PATH
(or Route 'Reasoning')
Do think it's fairly obvious that Shantina & son planned to not take the well-trodden & expected path off to see the relatives. The 1st indication was her initial in-store appearance on the far western side of Olympia. This immediately should suggest that she probably took # 3 down from Silverdale to Shelton rather than #16 to #5 thru Tacoma. Why ?
1) There is a toll on the Tacoma Narrows bridge ($4 a few months ago), ongoing construction where #16 meets up with #5 (for the last yr. or more), & often horrendous traffic from Tacoma to Olympia. I've driven it many times & my least favorite highway stretch on the entire West Coast is the area of #5 between south of Fort Lewis to north of Fife. Congestion, construction, crazy drivers, bad roads, narrow shoulders & lanes. Not fun.
2) Route 3 can be very scenic (esp. w/ nice weather) & although certainly a lot slower, it is also a lot more enjoyable, if one has the time. [an aside here, but using the same reasoning, she could have taken #106 to Skokomish & to #101 as well, though #3 to Selton is more popular]
3) #3 IS one of 'the backroads'. And here is where the fear of another traffic citation/DUI comes in (as i think a few of you have recently suggested) but i think at least as much we should consider the possible use of drugs. Personally i don't think alcohol was necessarily the only culprit or even the major one in her 'condition'. So i'm just going to throw a few things out there. I have a female friend in the SF Bay Area who has been on one or another anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety medication for a number of years. 'Selexa' is her favorite but she's been through the lot of them. If she combines one or more of them &/or has even a half-glass of wine or a 'toke' of marijuana, she becomes LOST ... completely. I've been in the car with her on a number of occasions & i've always been utterly amazed at her (lack of) decision making skills especially in regards to her navigation. On one occasion we ended up on the Bay Bridge & then in west Oakland just because she failed to make not one but several tactical decisions correctly in a row (she had had only her 'Selexa' that day). After that experience i refused to ever get in the car w/ her unless i was driving.
In Shantina's case however, there is yet another possibility to unfortunately consider & that is of some sort of opiate. Not heroin necessarily (although the Seattle & Portland areas are famous for 'horse' consumption), but possibly any of it's more accessible & available derivatives. I have more than a couple of casual friends & former co-workers in the area who just love their Percosets, to use one example for instance, & although their use is only occasional, they will use them as either a coping mechanism or recreationally. What potentially suggests the use in this case is how she stood while in the mini-mart videos, shoulders squared & ever so-slightly haunched, as if one were to sit back on a large rock to steady themselves if need be. While alcohol renders one 'tipsy' & lacking equilibrium, the inclination is to fall or sway to the side or back or down. With opiates, it's the mid-torso muscle groups that are most affected & especially the pelvis which is most impacted when one is trying to stay up.
She certainly didn't seem to be all that encumbered though at the time so it could just be suggestive of a past-history or tendency. However, there is also the issue with coordination in general ( hitting curb at pantry, 'hitting her head' possibly earlier, falling in parking lot). This type of motor-control difficulty could indeed suggest some type of opiates in her system as opposed to alcohol (from torso up & w/ eye-contact, etc. she didn't seem to be intoxicated like a drinker would normally be, or on her breath later). Could also well explain her propensity for 'nodding out'. Or yes, could just be meds plus a bit of smoke or wine.
Either way, i think it was her plan all along to take backroads down to Castle Rock. I also think that Robb knew this & it was why he was so quick & eager to leave his camp training early. I believe he knew the plan was to take backroads as per her condition, & also why he spent time on his way down in the Toledo-Vader road area. He may well have even traveled the backroads on the way down himself to check on her. It also is more than likely the reason why he & her step-dad left to go looking for her not once but twice that night. The first time only after Shantina & Azriel were merely a couple hours late. Unless they were otherwise concerned as to her 'tendencies' i don't think most people would send out a search party until early the next day. The only times i've ever known anyone to go out searching for someone else so soon is when the other people were known or expected to be impaired, or a very small child on their own. Then again i grew up in the 70's when no one had cell phones & rarely did people ever keep in touch 24/7. But yes, she didn't have her cell phone w/ her apparently anyway & pay phones are not plentiful like they used to be either, so why worry so soon ? Unless she was expected to be impaired.
The final piece of evidence here would be her insistence on trying to find a particular path. Not #5. She could have stayed on #101 (after taking #3 to Shelton, it winds up at #101) & it would have taken her right to #5. She knew that. No i believe she was looking for one or more connectors to the old hwy #199 so she could get back on the 'backroads'. The best choice would be to take Capitol Blvd south/southeast under the freeway for a few miles (which becomes #199). My own hunch is that she left the diner quickly (& leaving their dinner) when she spotted a patrol car & swung around in the opposite direction, thinking she would double back.
However, the old 'misdirection' kicks in & instead of traveling down & connecting w/ capitol blvd. on the right side of the water heading south, she turns onto what becomes Boston Harbor Rd. on the right side of the water heading north. And ultimately can't find her way back. [Ironically if she'd gone down Pacific the other way after leaving Martin Way Diner she could have eventually found her way to #199 that way as well]. After that, the next 'market' she comes to is closed. And she is then compelled, or rather necessitated to ask directions finally from a private residence, the Williams' on 46th ave.