It took me a quarter of a century, but I finally ventured west of Minnesota. After completing the marathon, I decided to knock out another item on my 2012 to-do list by taking a vacation. Seattle (and the rest of the Pacific Northwest) has always been an area of particular interest to me, so I finally made the journey out west. In the vein of my “Year in Review” posts, here is a day-by-day synopsis of the trip with some thoughts about the Pacific Northwest following. In the next day or so, there will also be a personal reflective piece concerning the trip, so watch for that as well.
Monday: Not exactly what I’d call a great day. I picked up exactly where my last vacation ended. The flights were good (and the flight to Phoenix was actually enjoyable). On my way to pick up the rental car, my luggage got lost because someone took mine. I was without pretty much everything for four hours. Thanks to the fact I got almost no sleep the night before, this experience made me very emotional. Thankfully, I reclaimed my luggage four hours later, but it threw a serious wrench into my schedule. I was able to see the History of Flight museum that afternoon, but everything else had to be moved around. I was able to meet up with Rex for dinner that night, which is always a pleasure. Still, it was a rough day, and I felt very homesick.
Tuesday: This was still a pretty emotional day. I was worn out from the events of the previous day and from my decision to forgo the trip to Idaho. I still saw a few things this day. I was able to see the view of Seattle from the top of the world (the Space Needle), experienced the eclectic Pike Place Market, and checked out the very interesting EMP Museum. Dinner was lonely by myself, but it was a better day than Monday.
Wednesday: I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of setting foot on CenturyLink Field, the home of my beloved Seattle Seahawks. I was able to tour their facilities early in the afternoon. Fortunately, this was the only day it did not rain. We had a small tour group, so we were able to get an in-depth tour and experience many of the stadium’s amenities. After the tour, I got a doughnut at Top Pot and explored the city of Seattle. It’s a pretty neat place. Wasn’t able to meet up with a couple people, but that happens.
Thursday: This was a pretty awesome day. I conquered the rain during my drive to Portland. I picked up ZB, and we headed to Portland. While in Portland, we encountered the gloriously creepy yet delightfully delicious Voodoo Doughnuts and the very serene International Rose Test Garden. Though I am far from a botanist, I enjoyed the peaceful landscape. After that, we headed back to Seattle to meet up with another GameFAQs user, Jon, for dinner at a restaurant in the UDistrict. It was a very enjoyable dinner, and it was full of excellent conversation.
Friday: My primary objective for the day was to make it back to Chicago without a hitch. Most people would take that for granted, but given my travel history, I did not. Thankfully, everything went extremely smoothly. I traded the Seattle rain for the balmy Chicago weather and made it home in one piece.
Assorted Observations
• Some of those hills are absolutely disgusting to drive on. They are fine to look at and even to walk on, but as for driving, I do not approve.
• If we classified Seattle as a 25 year old hipster just getting his/her feet wet in the world, then we would have to classify Portland as its creepy 14 year old sibling who shops at Hot Topic.
• The area that Voodoo Doughnuts is located might be the sketchiest area to which I have ever voluntarily travelled.
• My tour guide for the Seahawks tour was a Steelers fan. It made me a bit uncomfortable.
• I don’t know why the top of the Space Needle is orange. It should be the same lime green shade that the Seahawks and Sounders use.
• My hotel room was the first I ever encountered that not only was bereft of a clock but also of a Gideon Bible. However, it had an analog microwave. Apparently, I’m a high roller when I travel.
• The Pacific Northwest is a nice area, but I don’t think it’s a place that I would ever call home.
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