I’ve been really burned out here lately and was in desperate need of changing things up by getting out to visiting the crew in the PNW on Friday. Coincidentally, this was the same weekend that Alex flew to BOS to co-drive with Hilary across country (see: here and here). A smarter person would have put off the trip for a week, but boredom and wanderlust was getting the best of me. So, I only got to hang out for an hour or two with Alex before he left (sorry!). Afterward, we swung by to visit JP & Gwyn.
On Saturday, Victoria and I kept ourselves occupied by driving down to Paradise. Of all the dozen or so times I’ve been to SEA, I’ve never been out to Rainier yet. It was exciting to see how huge everything was there. Huge mountain, huge trees, huge drop-offs on the side of the road with no guard rail. There was also still several feet of snow on the ground. Behind the visitor center was an open snow field which the masses were playing on. We got the idea to go climb up a ridge to get a better look of the Muir snow field where all real adventures start. My feet were cold from the snow, and due to the clear sunny day I was drenched in sweat from the knee up after the hike. (Victoria notes this as well in her post on Adventioneering.) It was a fantastic view, and revived my interest in climbing to the summit. It’s also worth noting that during this trip I got to experience one of the few Sonic Drive-ins in the SeaTac area and enjoy my 44 oz iced tea.
Sunday we spent running errands, experiencing Trader Joe’s, having posh apartments and condos pointed out to me, feasting on donuts and lounging around the apartment. Later that evening we had awesome thai birthday dinner for JP.
Flying back was practically an adventure on its own. I’ve never taken a red-eye flight, much less on a work day, and wasn’t sure how well it’d work. Victoria dropped me off and I left SEA at 12:30 AM. Despite a completely full plane, middle seat, with a upset toddler right next to me I managed to sleep in some capacity the whole way to Houston. However, I didn’t realize my flights overlapped until I landed. My AUS flight boarded at 7:00 AM, and I got off the SEA flight at 7:20 AM. I took off on a sprint with my backpack from C terminal to E terminal and was one of the last two people on the plane before it departed. That’ll wake a person up in the morning!
I survived the last leg and got into Austin at 8:30 AM, then made it into the office at 10:00 AM to start a whole new week.
Photos from the Paradise trip are available on Adventioneering’s flickr feed.
Ugh overlapping flights are a drag. I’ve had that happen a couple times before, and it’s never any fun.