I awoke and made plans to meet with Michelle Murray for lunch. I had to hustle to prep all my stuff so that as soon as I got back I could head right to the airport. I was supposed to meet with Christian later to go there and Danielle was coming from work.
Nonetheless I navigated my way down to where Michelle was and we had lunch at a solid little Italian place known for their meatballs. It was pretty good. I couldn't remember the last time I saw Michelle but it was great to catch up with her. I always enjoyed her zest for life and energy she could bring to any room in seconds. Lunch was short due to me having to get moving to get to the airport.
I boogied back to Astoria to get my bag and meet Christian. However he was running behind and that left me to navigate my own way to the airport. So I took my bag in hand, with wheels mind you, and headed for the right train. I did a great job all day knowing which train to take, which was an express, I was in a train zone not usually seen by a Vermonter with limited experience in mass transit. Soon I was boarding an air train for the airport as I texted Danielle and Christian the whole time. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race. I won.
My bag weighed in at 52 lbs but they didn't charge me extra. I think I'm finally getting the pretty person treatment because I'm no longer a big tub of goo anymore. While in line I found myself behind two ladies from Egypt. I actually made small talk with them when they weren't talking to each other and I was amazed to learn that Egyptians walk just like everyone else. What's up now Bengals?
After I got through the screening I waited for Danielle who was not too far behind me in line. We headed for the gate and awhile later Christian joined us.
I feel this is a decent time to mention this. Danielle was mad stressing about a lot of stuff on this trip. Not sure whether it was feeling like she had to "mom" for Christian and I ( She didn't need too we were capable) or just wigging out about her wedding duties... I don't know what was up, but I was going to be glad the minute these kids said "I Do" cause I figured maybe then she'd chill out. We often made reference to a long email that was sent to everyone involved with the trip which seemed to itemize every moment of the trip. Not how I like to travel. This caused me some stress the day it came through but I was determined to play ball when I needed to, but also carve out my fun.
As we settled on the plane I was quickly introduced to the magic screen in front of me. Delta had an awesome array of games, movies, music, and more right in front of me to play with. After watching the best safety video I've ever seen (it had some comedy) we soon were in the air and heading west! I dug in to the magic screen and watched The Amazing Burt Wonderstone. It was hardly amazing. I also could track where we were with a feature that let us know how high we were, where we were, and so much more. Being a stat geek I loved it. I even filmed when we flew past the Minneapolis area putting me further west than I had ever been before.
Sidebar... I've always wanted to travel to every state in the U.S. and sadly I'm 34 and hadn't been any further than the Central time zone. A big part of this trip, for me, was to see some new territory. I was uber excited to see the Pacific ocean, have jet lag, and scope the left coast!
Eventually we landed, retrieved our bags and headed for our rental car. Danielle drove us towards Michelle and Ryan's place (the couple to wed on Saturday). Danielle's driving was... lets say erratic, and made me very nervous. But I instead tried to focus on all the new territory I was drinking in visually. I tried to take some night pics of Seattle as we drove by but they didn't really take. Soon we were north of the city at the apartment of Michelle and Ryan, which I labeled the Northwest Hideout (tribute to the Hideout in NYC).
I knew Michelle from her trips with Danielle to Vermont and a couple times when I went to NYC while she lived there. Ryan I had never met but quickly I realized this was a cool cat. They opened up their pad to us and at this point it was about midnight local time. This guy was hungry. A walk to the nearby store provided me with my first west coast surprise...
As I self-scanned some items I started to put them in a paper bag. I noticed I didn't see any plastic bags which I thought was odd for a city known for being wet. Then Danielle asked me if I scanned the bag. I was dumbfounded. Then told that I would have to pay for bags. PAY for bags! I understand the idea is to get people to bring their own, but what are we doing Seattle? And like I said before if I'm shelling out for a bag make it a quality plastic one that won't fall apart in the rain!!! Anyway I could go on but I won't.
We got back to the apartment and were awaiting the arrival of Danielle's mom and step-dad. It was now in the 1:30 range local time putting my clock at 4:30am. This guy was tired! Finally I regretfully had to excuse myself from the conversations and announce that I'd be laying on the floor and might sleep.
I awoke and was looking down the front of the UVM Zamboni. I was insane. I turned to face everyone in the living room asking what the hell? Turns out they had started watching my entire YouTube library while I passed out on the floor. Still for a second I feared I was right back at work and I still had vacation work to do!
Not long after everyone finally went to bed. I had gotten my first dose of jet lag whether I wanted it or not.
Day 4 comes your way soon! It's the most epic day where I'm led around town by Cara Greenwalt, and get to see Seattle's best tourist spots. Some you've heard of, and some you haven't. There's a lot of pics coming in Day 4 so don't be disappointed by the lack of pics today.
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| Shot of NYC down by where I met Michelle for lunch |
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| Grainy pic of me and my wings I got for being a great passenger |
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| Less grainy shot of me and the wings |
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| Blurry shot of Safeco Field as we passed. |
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