The alarm went off at 7 a.m. and I laid there thinking that it's going to be a very long day. I rolled out of my comfy bed and started getting ready. I got on what I was going to wear and tried to neatly organize everything else inside the suitcase the best I could. I really do need to get a new suitcase or just not bring back a lot of stuff every time I go on vacation.
We went downstairs and ate some breakfast with Amy. We had yogurt, granola, toast, strawberries, bananas and this time bacon. The bacon hit the spot. The food was delicious and hit the spot. Amy and Josh are great hosts, and we wish they didn't live so far away. We sat at the dining room table eating and chatting about how our day was going to unfold.
We helped Amy clean up the table and we went upstairs and finished packing up our stuff. Mitch and Josh took our luggage out to the Chevy Malibu, and we followed so we could unlock the trunk for them. We stood out there for a couple minutes getting in our last chance of in person conversation until the next time we get to see them in person. We gave out some hugs and thanked them for letting us stay with them and hang out. They said we were welcome any time as long as they were home.
We left around 9:30ish, put the address to the airport into Nuvi and had to turn around before getting into town because Mom forgot her phone charger. We got back to the house and Mom retrieved her phone charger and we got back on the road again. We literally followed the same roads we did coming up to PA as we did down to DC. There wasn't that much traffic which was nice. It really didn't take us long to get there. We did have to get gas before we returned the rental car but made a bad decision by stopping in Rosslyn thinking there was an easy place to fill up. Haha, there wasn't.
We got back on the highway and ended up getting gas before the airport exit to Ronald Regan. We should have known they put one here. We filled up and it was still cheaper than getting gas at home. We got back on the road and found the exit we needed to turn in the rental car. We walked in, dropped off the keys and they told me I would get the final bill in my email. I thanked them and we continued on to the airport.
The hallway we walked to was very long. I felt like we walked over a mile just to get to the check in area.
We already had our boarding passes, so they told us to wheel our bags upstairs and drop them off. It was kinda weird. We waited in line, got our bag tags, they checked our boarding passes, dropped off our bags with a guy who took them and put them on a conveyer belt, and we walked back downstairs to get in line to go through security.
This time I wasn't pulled aside to check the protein bars in my backpack. However, I did get stuck behind a lady in a wheelchair a head of me. Mom had to wait a bit for me to get through security because it took a long time. I finally got through security, grabbed all my stuff, put on my shoes and we walked to our gate just to see where it was. From there, we found a good spot to hang out for a while. We got situated and then I got hungry.
I walked down the corridor and around the corner to Qdoba for a chicken bowl and then grabbed a Pepsi Zero from one of the Hudson places on the way back. While I was there, I asked Mom if she wanted anything, and she said just a water. I got back and handed Mom her water and set up shop at a table near our gate.
A little bit later, Mom figured she should probably eat something as well. I told her there were several options and she settled for a burger and fries from the Smash Burger, which was just across the way from our gate. I still have never tried Smash Burger. I called Ben to let him know where we are in our day and told him that we were waiting for our flight to Boston-Logan for a quick layover. I was really hoping that it would go smoothly and have no issues. We picked this flight because it ate up the most money in our JetBlue bank...normally, when I had to get a layover flight, it would have at least two or three hours...for the wiggle room.
Unfortunately, we boarded our flight late because they were waiting for a plane from Orlando to get there. Some of those passengers needed to be on our flight to get to Boston. So, we are waiting for a plane that is late so you can make us late to our flight in Boston? Uh oh! That makes no sense. Are they going to wait for us if we're late?
We got on the plane about a half hour late. That ate into our hour of layover time. The flight to Boston was going to be about an hour.
I was getting anxious...that anxiousness made me tire, and I closed my eyes for about 20 minutes. I usually read or write in my journal but there wasn't enough time to get everything out for that short of a trip.
We were in our descent and touched down in Boston. I wanted off the plane so bad so we could get to our gate on time. Of course, it took everyone forever to get off the stupid plane. Once it was our turn, I found out what gate we were supposed to be at, and it said it was currently boarding and the gate was closing soon, so I ran. I didn't want to be stuck at the airport because they waited for a flight from Orlando to make us late getting home.
I got to the gate out of breath and told the lady that I had to run to the gate so they wouldn't leave without us. I told her that Mom was coming right behind me. The lady told me I was fin and had plenty of time. Well, I didn't know that when I looked at the board. Mom soon arrived, the lady scanned our boarding passes and we walked onto the plane. We found our seats and hoped our luggage made it onto the flight. It would have been nice to have a longer layover so we could use the restroom and relax a bit before heading on our last leg home. Oh well. We made it and now we're headed to Seattle.
I was so glad to be on this part of our trip. This was the last part of our trip we had to do except for getting back to SeaTac, grabbing our luggage and going home. I was ready to get a shower and sleep in my own bed. Don't get me wrong, I love traveling, seeing and experiencing new places but I was just ready to be home to relax for a bit before I had to go back to work again.
I spend the majority of the flight time writing notes in my notebook about the trip while Mom watched movies. I shared my headphones with her because she didn't bring her plug-in headphones. I looked out the window a few times to see the landscape change.
We were getting closer as we saw the Cascades. We touched down, let Doug know we were and that we were waiting to get off the plane to get our luggage.
We finally got off the plane and made our way to the luggage carousel. We didn't think it would take this long. But we had to wait a long time. Doug actually came inside wondering why it was taking a long time. We didn't know why. I asked him if he paid to park and he said no, Ben was with him. Oh, I was wondering how he was inside with the car parked outside in the arrivals area. Eventually, our luggage came down and we wheeled them out to the Escape. We threw them in the trunk, Mom and Doug got in the back and I got in the passenger seat. We left the airport.
I wanted some food. The last time I ate it was almost 1 p.m. east coast time, about 11 a.m. our time. It was now almost 9 p.m. our time. We stopped in Federal Way to get McDonald's since it was pretty much the only thing open. We tried going in, but they said their dining room was closed for the night. So, we got back in the Escape and went to the drive thru. There were a lot of people in the drive thru. Someone cut off everyone and we all got mad. When it was our turn, we relayed what we wanted to Ben, I handed him money and we got our food. It was actually the correct order too. We ate food, drove down I-5, had to drop Mom off in Rainier with her luggage and then went home to Lacey.
I was so glad to be home because that day was super long with the time zone changes. I unloaded my suitcase, I got in a shower, unloaded some of my luggage and finally gave up and went to bed around midnight. I was tired. I slept like a rock, and it was nice to sleep in the next morning without having a schedule to adhere to.
Notes:
I have always wanted to see the Twin Towers since I was a little kid because they were so fascinating to me. I was hoping to go to NYC when I was able to afford it (when I became and adult and could get a job), obviously, we had no idea 9/11 was going to happen and that dream died that day. I was so heartbroken. When I finally did get to come to NYC, over 20 years later, it just wasn't the same. I was robbed of the true NYC experience, and it was hard visiting the landmarks without the Twin Towers in the background. I was glad we came but it just wasn't the same vibe.
Before 9/11, the Twin Towers make up the foremost souvenir postcard subject of the city. You stop by any retail store in the city that places revolving metal racks of postcards out on the sidewalk and examine the selection. What do you find? Among with the obligatory cards of the Statue of Liberty, there are cards of various museums and attractions and the overall New York skyline by day and by night. And always there is the World Trade Center with its Twin Towers. A trip to New York City was not validated until one purchases that card, because it shows the one structure that people back home will instantly recognize as standing for New York. (Twin Towers, 1999 and reprinted with post-9/11 information.)
I actually had a hard time finding souvenirs with the Twin Towers on them. It was almost like NYC forgot it happened or didn't want to remember it happened or the progress of new and shiny things such as One World Trade Center was taking over. Obviously, people born around and after 2001 will never know how magnificent the NYC skyline was.
We found that the best form of transportation in NYC was the subway...only if you are willing and able. We never felt unsafe traveling this way. In fact, many New Yorkers asked us if we needed help and were happy to do so.
If you are not from the east coast and you rent a car, make sure you get the rental package with the tolls. It will save you a lot of money going through tolls.
I brought my Nuvi GPS with me and I was glad I had it since I am not from the east coast and had no idea where I was going.
Mom and I are big fans of Nathan's hotdogs and watch the annual hotdog eating contest from Coney Island. We had to stop there and have a hotdog.
I took Mom to an east coast light house, Sandy Hook.
Mom and I saw and touched the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The west and east coastlines are very different.
We drove to Atlantic City just to see it. We are not gamblers. We've both been to Las Vegas and Reno and had to see what Atlantic City was like and it was definitely not what we thought it would be like. Very underwhelming but fun to see it.
Took Mom to a Wawa for hoagies and she laughed every time I said Wawa.
Mom had never been to DC, but I had several years ago with my fastpitch team. She had fun walking around seeing the historical landmarks. She said you almost need several days to see everything which is true, but we only had a day to see has much as we could.
We got to spend time with Amy and Josh and visit southern Pennsylvania. We walked along the Appalachian Trail, saw Gettysburg and experienced Carlisle.
We walked 201,000 steps on our entire trip which is 38.07 miles. This includes NYC, DC and PA. Our feet were very tired, and I felt bad for our shoes.
We found 73 caches in total.
- 25 were Adventure Labs
- 30 were virtuals
- 13 were traditionals
- 2 were earthcaches
- 1 puzzle
- 1 letterbox
- 1 webcam
We got 5 new states, 6 in one day, 13 new counties
- New York, 3 new counties
- New Jersey, 2 new counties
- Delaware, 1 new county
- Maryland, 2 new counties
- DC, 1 new county
- Virginia, 1 new county
- Pennsylvania, 3 new counties
The Castle (GC4D82) was my 12,500th cache
This trip allowed me to fill in part of my Jasmer and I have 4 remaining:
- July 2000
- August 2000
- September 2000
- May 2001
Our next trip to the east coast will be in October/November when we go to Salem, Mass. with Mom's friends to experience the witch trials. I am going to try and book a tour at Fenway Park while we are in Boston. We also hope to hit up the rest of the states I don't have and visit their friend Mindy in Maine.
Next Adventure: Celebration of Life: Remembering Helena M. Wilson
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