This trip satisfied two major purposes. One was to see Fran and Duane again and to take care of their cats at their condo in Seattle while they went to Ireland on a short trip. The other was to see our daughter Susan and husband Bryant in their new location of Redwood City, CA.
Join us.
20120724 to Seattle
Up at 0430, finish the check-off list. Sunshine Shuttle showed up early (as usual) - Terry took our suitcases to the mini-van and away to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, also called the runway-in-the-swamp.
Delta checked us in, then we went to be fondled by the TSA. The flight folks showed no signs of urgency in taking us to Atlanta, possibly because ATL is such a zoo you have to get permission to take off and enter their airspace - the flight is only 40 minutes. Nice short flight, no problems.
Hartsfield airport (also called Heartless, airline code ATL) was its usual self. People scurrying all over, packed wall-to-wall. Our flight was put back 20 minutes because the inbound plane was a little late. The plane was scheduled to be full so the waiting area was packed. We’d come across a “sale” on Delta airfare for this flight; it cost a little more for first class on Delta than just plain Southwest, so we took it. So we boarded ahead of the mob and sat.
Takeoff and climbout were routine. I didn’t notice much until we went over Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers join. Then the plane went onward over Omaha and the South Dakota Black Hills. Nebraska looked like a desert with the drought in effect - I really feel for those folks bucking the bad years here. We cut across the northeast corner of Wyoming to get into Montana somewhere south of Miles City. About that time, we started over a huge bank of clouds and couldn’t see anything below - rats, I wanted to see if I could spot Custer’s final fiasco at the Little Big Horn.
Actually, the cloud bank didn’t last long. Somewhat north of Yellowstone, it cleared away. Then we started over the Rockies, some still with snowy peaks. Dolores had been napping for some time and woke up here. We plugged her iPad into the power to charge while allowing her to play a game. I played a game or ten of solitaire in between typing these notes and observing the ground going past.
Past the Rockies and into western Idaho, the ground flattens out again. Clear sky, beautiful day here.
We’re now 38 minutes from SEA, so I’ll put this away until later....
We landed and were met by Fran and Duane. We went to their condo on the ground floor on Alaskan Way, nearly across from the aquarium and ferries. Very nice condo in a great location. They led us next door to another condo they’d arranged for us to use - the owner is trying to decide whether to rent it or sell it. Not much furniture, but we don’t need much while we’re running around with F&D.
Duane took us to the Ballard neighborhood Fred Meyers store (mega-store that outdoes W*mart) for a few goodies and to show us where it is. Not at all hard to get to. We returned then and began the evening.
Potstickers and white wine on the patio watching ferries go back and forth. We gave the cats their twice-weekly shrimp treat (they’re not as off-ish as they were when we cared for them in Hawaii - perhaps they remember a little of us.
Duane split a whole fresh chicken down the breastbone, opened it, and removed the backbone. Then he could lay it out flat and rub spices into it. They put the chicken on the outside grill that has warmed to 400* and lay a heated (to 400*) iron frying pan on the chicken. It gets heated on both sides and through the body a little more quickly.
Fran made a great salad and vegetables. We ate inside with the patio door open to the breeze (75*).
After dinner we sat and talked and wined and talked. After some of this, we began to get really tired, so we begged off and went next door to bed.
What a great day!
