Back in early August, Cora and our daughter, Gwen, took off for Seattle. They had some stuff to do with the ongoing court case, and it was also a chance to see and be seen by family and friends. Gwen got to see a couple of friends while she was out there, and the court stuff went pretty well.
Me on the other hand, I was a wreck. I had a week to myself, and it started off with me wandering around the condo like a sad puppy looking for it's owner. Something funny would be on TV, and I would look over to where they sat to make a comment, only to be surprised that they weren't there. It got so bad that on the second night, I slept on the sofa, because the bed just felt too empty.
But then I snapped out of that, and enjoyed the freedom of walking around in my underwear and going to the bathroom with the door open.
So, Friday the 19th came, and I went to the airport after work. Flew thru security, got a tasty sub from Potbelly's, and headed toward my gate for my 7:10 flight. After a 3.5 hour delay due to a storm out east, we got to board the plane. Aided by a free drink coupon that netted me a double rum and diet Coke, I slept a decent portion of the flight. I'd sent Cora a text long before we took off that I was going to be VERY late, and aided by one of those online flight tracker sites, she wasn't waiting too long at the airport for me. So, it's now technically Saturday, and the road trip hasn't even started and it's already just a touch behind schedule.
After we awoke Saturday at Cora's mom's June's apartment (wow, that's a string of " 's "s), Cora, Gwen & I headed over to a place on Puget Sound called Seahurst Park. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's a beach along the Puget Sound. This is not the same kind of Pacific coast beach you get in Southern California.
They are trying to restore the beach to a more "natural" state with big rocks…
Look @ me getting all artsy playing with light and shadow and shooting at an angle and stuff.
There's also what has to be the worst play lot in the Seattle area.
This also made me nervous. Were sewer emergencies that common in the area that they required a dedicated phone number, and a red flashing light? On top of a 20 foot pole? Maybe that's why the play lot looked like that!
We then went back to June's and took a nap. Oh, the glorious nap that helps set you on Pacific time, how I love you! And after dinner, we went to Shari's for dessert.
Sunday was a busy day, also. First, we had breakfast at IHOP with June & the Ridley's.
I've got them Harry Potter "apperating" skillz. Either that, or I forgot to set the 10 second timer, and just took the picture, then had to reset the timer, and run back in place. One or the other.
And as you can see, I fit into the family nicely.
And here's the little star of the show, Aspen, showing off a skill she learned a few weeks prior.
After our pancake party, it was off to Seattle for the Mourning Market. This is not to be confused with your mother's craft show in the grade school gym or the Pike Place Market. This is a dark, goth market, with some steampunk elements thrown in. It was located in the SoDo neighborhood, just down the street form Starbucks headquarters.
Not everyone came dressed for the occasion, but some did. Yes, that's one of 3 hearses that were parked outside.
Imagine trying to carry this bad boy thru the airport security line!
At the show, we met up with Cora's friend (and bridesmaid @ the wedding), Vicki and her husband, Walter. We had a nice chat with them before the show opened. At the show, Gwen bought a new pair of fingerless gloves. Her current pair that she wears ALL-THE-TIME have been sewn a couple of times, and really, aren't long for this world. After the show, the 5 of us had lunch @ Jimmy John's and then hung out for a while by the cars. As we left, Vicki's husband gave me the tub of Lego Star Wars kits that I bought off of him a while ago. (The Yoda will be getting put together soon. That's all I know right now.)
Later in the afternoon, after a round of laundry and packing, we headed over to Cora's dad Ed & Heather's house. This was my first visit, so I got the tour and the explanation of how they are going to lift the house, move it up and over a little bit, then add a story under it. Plus, I got to see his outdoor train setup.
After a good visit and the tour, the five of us headed out for dinner. A nice Mexican restaurant. It was a calm, relaxing visit, which masked the nerves over the drive to come. Having driven Cora's stuff out last fall in basically 3.25 days with no sightseeing, Ed was a bit skeptical of my plan to do it in 4 days, with a lot of sightseeing along the way.
He was right, but that's for a later post. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Cora's mom's for the final bit of packing and prep-work before hitting the road. (We should have gotten gas, too, but we were too zonked. This will skew some of our mileage stats later.)
Let the adventure begin!
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