hi

hi

Saturday, August 18, 2012

A Return to Washington

Kind of amazing how eight hours of travel, through many different means, can take a person from Santa Cruz, California to Seabeck, Washington. My alarm went off at 5:30. I got up and showered at 6ish. Packed my things up. Prepared an avocado creme cheese sandwich to eat on the road, and at 7:00am, off I went to the San Jose airport! The roads were not crowded in the slightest, and it was really easy to get into parking. I arrived two hours before my flight, but I could have been way later, as I was not checking a thing. Got my boarding pass, got through security, and walked up and down the terminal hoping for a frozen yogurt place, but settled for a hot chocolate and muffin from Starbucks.

The 10:00am flight was uneventful. I'm a really unanxious flyer. I just get to my seat and all is well. Take off is fun, the bumps along the way don't worry me. An hour and a half later and we were touching down. Got off the plan quickly, and strolled to the light rail, and it pulled out of Sea Tac at around 12:30. I've never ridden the light rail train in Seattle before. It is new. Part of the way I sat next to a guy who was browsing Reddit on his phone. We struck up a conversation about the various subreddits we subscribe to, and he asked me if I liked banana slugs, which is a pretty effectual pick up line when it comes to me and my way of going about life. Not that I think he was picking me up, because the ride was too short and I live in Santa Cruz. Shame. But nice to remember that I can easily chat up someone when I notice a big common interest like a shared favorite website.

Walked from the University Street stop down to the ferry, and just in luck the Bremerton ferry was unloading! Hopped on the 1:30pm ferry to Bremerton. Read from the drudging tome that is Shadow of Night. I was so enthusiastic for the book, and it has been such a let down. Gah! Oh well. I am determined to finish it before I start any more books (exception being Neuromancer, which is for a book club I have joined). Ma and Pa were there with hugs, and we ate at the Bremerton Bar & Grill. My steak dip sandwich was good eating, and we caught up and chatted. At 4:00pm I was in Seabeck. The house is looking really tidy and squared away. Things are all organized. And there is an influx of cool Mats Mats things. Too bad the Bingo box is full of Bingo, because it is a really cool box, I just am not going to trash its contents, ya know?

We walked the dog. I met the new outdoor kitty, thusly named Salvador. Helped dad with the arbor. We hot tubbed. Then went to see ParaNorman.

As we pulled into the theater, I saw Jared and Jamie and waved frantically and hugged them. Ahhh! How great to see friends randomly like that. This visit is a very short one, so I haven't agreed to meet anyone save for the wedding and my parents. We chatted briefly and parted ways.

ParaNorman was great. I only wish it were longer, but the animation was so beautiful and obviously time consuming. It didn't treat kids like morons, the humor was great, and did I mention the amazing animation? It was amazing. So much creativity and thought and technological awesomeness.

Back at home, I sorted through my library and pulled a few choice books. Tomorrow, before I head to the wedding (which isn't till 5 in the evening) I want to check out the sizes of the frames in the house, and go through my left behind things a bit. I didn't check baggage coming up, but I will when I return.

A long day, but not wholly exhausting. I got through many different types of transportation effortlessly and with confidence. That seems like something worth noting. Airport navigation? No problem. Getting off at the right train stop and knowing where to walk to get to a ferry terminal? Also no problem. Were I a tourist, it would be much more difficult. Proud of me. Go me!

1 comment:

Jared MacKenzie said...

Glad I got to see you, however briefly.