Sittin' on the dock on the bay...wasting time....

I'm sitting at the dock of the CoHo ferry, waiting for my ride to Washington. This last week has been AMAZING. And I won't be forgetting it for a long time.

Hopefully I've left Canada with the impression that not all Texans are assholes, and I'm taking home the knowledge that not everything there is made of maple syrup.

Mad props to jessie_c and Jean for giving me a place to crash (and congrats to Jessie on her Change of Life), and huge huge huge heartfelt thanks to salamanders for not only giving us a bed, but for helping out much much much more than she needed to when my finances collapsed (Thank you Esso and Enterprise Rent a Car)

The lines moving, see you statesside. Huge post coming.

Sittin' on the dock on the bay...wasting time....

I'm sitting at the dock of the CoHo ferry, waiting for my ride to Washington. This last week has been AMAZING. And I won't be forgetting it for a long time.

Hopefully I've left Canada with the impression that not all Texans are assholes, and I'm taking home the knowledge that not everything there is made of maple syrup.

Mad props to jessie_c and Jean for giving me a place to crash (and congrats to Jessie on her Change of Life), and huge huge huge heartfelt thanks to salamanders for not only giving us a bed, but for helping out much much much more than she needed to when my finances collapsed (Thank you Esso and Enterprise Rent a Car)

The lines moving, see you statesside. Huge post coming.

(no subject)

I brought my ID with me, which was a good idea. I read I should bring my birth certificate with me to verify citizenship. I brought my name change papers, and expected trouble since they came from a different state. I expected so much trouble, I brought my Voters certificate as yet one MORE form of ID.

No one ever even asked my name. :)

Going or coming.

(no subject)

I brought my ID with me, which was a good idea. I read I should bring my birth certificate with me to verify citizenship. I brought my name change papers, and expected trouble since they came from a different state. I expected so much trouble, I brought my Voters certificate as yet one MORE form of ID.

No one ever even asked my name. :)

Going or coming.

(no subject)

At the SeaTac airport.

(no subject)

At the SeaTac airport.

Spider pig, spider pig...

Friday, August 3rd

---

The morning of the 3rd began with a grand total of 30 minutes of sleep. By the time I fell asleep it was time to wake up. I trudged to the airport with almost no time to spare.

The plane was almost finished loading when I got there. You'd think after all the time I've flown I would have realized that "Departure Time" is not "Time You Should Get There."

The flights were mostly uneventful, other than the Tina Yothers lookalike boarding in Phoenix. The views of the Cascades, though. WOW. They were gorgeous. Mount Rainier is MOST impressive, especially when your flying right next to it. I took tons of pics of it, which where lost...hopefully I can get them back on the way out.

We touched down and I was shuttled to the rental car where I got my first lesson in Nickle-N-Dime-ing and the first of the financial catastrophes. The $400 rental car balooned to $810 with all the tack on fees and deposits. This left me feeling mighty low, but an emergency loan (Usually she just gives me the cash, but this was a SUBSTANTIAL amount). I went to the hotel, got settled in and began making the evenings plans.

Well, I tried. Turned out the room wasn't ready, so I explored around Kirkland, where we were staying. Kirkland is really gorgeous...lots of hills and trees and a gigantic strip of farmland just down from the hotel. I hadn't eaten all day and needed some caffiene, so I hit Wendys. I broke a cardinal rule - no chain storess on vacation. But I was tired, punchy and trying desperately not to fall asleep. I at least had something I couldn't get in Texas, but damned if I remember what that is now.

When the room finally became available, I gave a call to everyones favorite webcomicker, Erin, to find out if they wanted to do something sometime while we were in Seattle. We had both figured we'd have dinner sometime that weekend...didn't expect her tocompletely rewrite her plans and show us out all three days.

We decided to have some Pho in Redmond after picking up Emily at the Edmonds Ferry terminal. I then got to learn the horrors of the Seattle grid system.

Grid systems are a good thing. But they're only good if the roads GO STRAIGHT. They don't. And then they change names in the middle of curves and then there are double numbers and...well...its Chaos.

I did manage to fight my way into the Edmonds Terminal...and after a heart pounding few minutes where I couldn't find Emily, we were on our way back home.

Seeing her again...mmm.... It was literally like I'd just dropped her off at the airport for the afternoon, and picked her back up. I miss her terribly right now.

A quick nap and freshening up, and we were off for Pho with Erin Lissa and Loren. Emily had her first Pho, and we all had an excellent dinner.

After dinner, we all ran off to see the Simpsons movie. That movie is...its wow. Totally. We didn't stop laughing the whole movie...the jokes just went on and on and kept rolling. It was time WELL spent.

We parted ways with Lissa and Erin and took off for the hotel...when I realized my wallet was missing. After a frantic punchy sleepy search we found out it was at the movie theater. One quick round trip and a milkshake later we collapsed. I'd been up 36 hours...I could have used the rest.

Spider pig, spider pig...

Friday, August 3rd

---

The morning of the 3rd began with a grand total of 30 minutes of sleep. By the time I fell asleep it was time to wake up. I trudged to the airport with almost no time to spare.

The plane was almost finished loading when I got there. You'd think after all the time I've flown I would have realized that "Departure Time" is not "Time You Should Get There."

The flights were mostly uneventful, other than the Tina Yothers lookalike boarding in Phoenix. The views of the Cascades, though. WOW. They were gorgeous. Mount Rainier is MOST impressive, especially when your flying right next to it. I took tons of pics of it, which where lost...hopefully I can get them back on the way out.

We touched down and I was shuttled to the rental car where I got my first lesson in Nickle-N-Dime-ing and the first of the financial catastrophes. The $400 rental car balooned to $810 with all the tack on fees and deposits. This left me feeling mighty low, but an emergency loan (Usually she just gives me the cash, but this was a SUBSTANTIAL amount). I went to the hotel, got settled in and began making the evenings plans.

Well, I tried. Turned out the room wasn't ready, so I explored around Kirkland, where we were staying. Kirkland is really gorgeous...lots of hills and trees and a gigantic strip of farmland just down from the hotel. I hadn't eaten all day and needed some caffiene, so I hit Wendys. I broke a cardinal rule - no chain storess on vacation. But I was tired, punchy and trying desperately not to fall asleep. I at least had something I couldn't get in Texas, but damned if I remember what that is now.

When the room finally became available, I gave a call to everyones favorite webcomicker, Erin, to find out if they wanted to do something sometime while we were in Seattle. We had both figured we'd have dinner sometime that weekend...didn't expect her tocompletely rewrite her plans and show us out all three days.

We decided to have some Pho in Redmond after picking up Emily at the Edmonds Ferry terminal. I then got to learn the horrors of the Seattle grid system.

Grid systems are a good thing. But they're only good if the roads GO STRAIGHT. They don't. And then they change names in the middle of curves and then there are double numbers and...well...its Chaos.

I did manage to fight my way into the Edmonds Terminal...and after a heart pounding few minutes where I couldn't find Emily, we were on our way back home.

Seeing her again...mmm.... It was literally like I'd just dropped her off at the airport for the afternoon, and picked her back up. I miss her terribly right now.

A quick nap and freshening up, and we were off for Pho with Erin Lissa and Loren. Emily had her first Pho, and we all had an excellent dinner.

After dinner, we all ran off to see the Simpsons movie. That movie is...its wow. Totally. We didn't stop laughing the whole movie...the jokes just went on and on and kept rolling. It was time WELL spent.

We parted ways with Lissa and Erin and took off for the hotel...when I realized my wallet was missing. After a frantic punchy sleepy search we found out it was at the movie theater. One quick round trip and a milkshake later we collapsed. I'd been up 36 hours...I could have used the rest.

(no subject)

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA693

Track the flight as I fly on it!

(no subject)

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA693

Track the flight as I fly on it!