Lindsay's Bachelorette Party in Seattle

I got up at a fairly decent time, I had just finished my second week at my new job and I was excited for the weekend but this weekend was going to go by really fast.  One of my friends was getting married this month and I was one of the bridesmaids.  She had ran out of time and crammed as much as she could into the weekends of July.  This included a 24-hour Ragnar race north of Seattle.  She was going to be very wiped out.  She talked to us often trying to decide what she wanted to do for her bachelorette party.  She wanted something low key up in the Seattle area.  Between Nicole, her sister Nikki (who was doing most of it from Alaska) and I, we communicated very well and got a lot of stuff done.

Nikki had rented an Air BnB for one night just slightly east of downtown Seattle.  Of course they were going to have our exit closed for that weekend so we had to find alternate ways to get there.  We all conversed through text messaging and the Facebook event.  The only thing Lindsay knew was we were having her party at a house in Seattle.  I got some of the music together with Nicole one evening and Nicole got some of the party games together because Nikki lives in Alaska and it was hard to get some of the stuff together.  We helped her out and she appreciated us very much.

We all decided to carpool to minimize the parked cars in the street.  Nicole and I would be carpooling with Celeste and the rest of the people joining us were going to ride with Nikki in her van or drive themselves.

I got up after some glorious sleeping in before gathering up my stuff for the short stay in Seattle.  I headed into Rainier so I could mow grandma's lawn for the week.  I guess it was getting pretty long and we couldn't wait another week.  I was there for about an hour, headed to mom and dad's house clean up and shower.  Mom was going to drop me off at Salon 507 in McKenna, where Celeste works, so I didn't have to leave a vehicle in their small parking lot.  I needed to stop at Walmart for ice so the stuff in my cooler didn't get warm and go bad.  Mom, of course, did more shopping than what we came for.

We got to Salon 507 and mom helped me move my stuff into Celeste's car.  It was going to be a hot weekend because it felt like death inside her car.  Luckily her AC works pretty good.  Mom told us to have fun and be safe.  We left shortly after mom.

We headed into Spanaway to pick up Nicole at the Denny's at the junction of Hwy 7 and Hwy 512.  She had spend the night at Del's house the previous night and it was just easier for him to drop her off with us.  As we waited for her something on Celeste's car started smoking.  She said it was the power steering fluid, it leaks and smokes when it hit the really hot parts.  Nicole showed up soon after.  We piled her stuff into the car, she said her goodbyes to Del and we were on our way to Seattle via 512, 167 to 405.

It was slow at first but we soon got some miles behind us.  Our first real slow down was at the 167/405 junction...lots of construction.  It wasn't that bad but it did slow us down quite a bit.  The S-curves through 405 were a little slow but not too bad.  We continued following the GPS (because none of us have ever been to this part of Seattle before) and got off at our exit and continued towards the house.

Along the way there, we were stopped near an intersection with a guy sitting in his car...not moving.  We immediately thought he was dead.  Another car that was in front of us, a guy got out, and knocked on his window, he was startled and continued on with wherever he was going.  I guess maybe he passed out?  Or fell asleep?  We will never know but it was a weird experience.

We got to the address and parked almost too far away from the building.  I had to make two trips to the car.  Celeste went with me and we talked about Pokémon Go and Geocaching.  We wondered if there were any nearby.  I checked my phone really quick and saw there was one nearby within walking distance.  I might have to nab that one before we leave tomorrow.

We unloaded our bags, coolers, personal items into the house.  We utilized the fridge, the counterspace and took a tour around the house.  Nikki and Amber had gotten there before we did and noticed that the beds were not as clean as they would have liked so they ran a load of sheets and blankets while they waited for us to arrive.

We got updates from Stacia on when Lindsay was to arrive at the Mukilteo ferry terminal.  The group at the house decided that they wanted to go for some food so we looked up the closest restaurant and found a couple of the a few blocks away.  We could totally walk there.  I originally thought we weren't going to go out for dinner and that's why we brought food, drinks and snacks.  Oh well.  We all got ready and put on our bridesmaids tank tops Lindsay wanted us to wear and headed down the street.  It was a short walk.

When we got there we all weren't really sure what we wanted to eat.  I had just started a new job so I was going to be a penny pincher this weekend.  We decided upon a place called Reckless Noodles and it was definitely a place I probably wouldn't have eaten if I were by myself.  I wasn't really into this type of food but I went with it anyway.  I tried to find something somewhat normal on the menu that I would eat.  I found a bowl called Reckless Fried Rice with most of the ingredients I recognized.

We spent a good hour or so eating, visiting and getting updates on when Lindsay would arrive.  About half way through our meal Stacia texts us stating that Lindsay's ferry arrived and they were on their way to the house in Seattle (with a detour to get ice cream.)  Amber and I didn't eat all of our dinner so we combined it to take back with us to see if Lindsay would want some.

We walked back to the Airbnb with a detour at Walgreens for some extra stuff.  When we were done and walking back to the house, some lady asked us for our food leftovers and we told her no and she yelled at us for not sharing our food with her.  She wandered away mumbling to herself.  We settled in a bit more before Lindsay arrived.  Nicole went over how the night would unfold.  We were going to have an undergarment guessing game, wine tasting, some games she created for us to partake in, there would be Lindsay's favorite music going in the background, snacks, drinks, stories, laughing and so on.

She walked through the door and wanted to take a quick shower and put on some clean clothes.  I didn't blame her.  She was wearing those clothes for at least 24 hours.  Nicole decided we should play some games first.

We played this one where we tied hotdogs to a string and the other to our waist.  On the floor were our cups with a hole in the top.  We were to insert our hotdogs into the holes.  First one to do so moved on to the next round.  There was more laughing than inserting.  Celeste and Amber both battled it out in the end and Amber just squeaked by with the win.

After composing ourselves after that fun game, Nicole moved us onto the guess who brought you the underwear game.  Everyone else brought "romantic" underwear and I was the only one who brought comfortable practical underwear.  She guessed mine right away and I knew she would because I am really not that girly.

Since I do not drink wine I decided to be the person who poured the wines and wrote down which was which when they guessed them.  Overall everyone did terrible at guessing the wines.  I think everyone got at least one right.  I don't understand wine very well so I'm glad I didn't participate in drinking it.  I actually didn't feel like drinking at all honestly mostly because I didn't want to feel like garbage the next day.

The rest of the night we ate some snacks, told jokes, told many stories, played a couple more games (Lindsay and Justin are terrible at the newly wed game) and some of the girls thought it would be funny to tie hotdogs around a teddy bear they found and hang it in the neighbors yard.

It was getting pretty late and Stacia was passed out on the couch so we all decided it was time for bed.  Lindsay was fading fast after her long day of running as well.  We all wandered around deciding who was sleeping where.  Sido left and went to her house back in Bellevue, Stacia ended up sleeping on the couch, Amber was on the air mattress, Nikki and Amber slept in the downstairs room, Nicole and Celeste slept in one of the upstairs bedrooms and Lindsay and I got the master bedroom with the air conditioning.  We were up until at least 2 a.m. and we were tired.

The next morning we all got up at a pretty decent time (I think we had to be out of the house by noon) and all started getting ready for the day.  I packed up all of my stuff and staged it in the living room.  Everyone else got their stuff ready and we would have to come back after lunch and pack up the stuff from the fridge.

We all walked the few blocks to the same area we ate dinner at the night before.  We decided BBQ sounded pretty good and ate at The Woodshop BBQ.  They literally made it to order.  They had a smoker out back and they used flavored wood to cook it.  I got the pulled pork sandwich and chips.  It was pretty good.  I enjoyed the food and will probably go back if I am ever in the area again.  We all ate, chatted and enjoyed the last day together until next weekend when it was going to be super busy.

We walked back to the house so we could pack up the cars and leave.  Nicole and Celeste walked with me to my cache, Stairway to Lane (GC7TBD5) which was on a staircase that led to the next street up above.  I had to answer some questions on my phone to figure out the hint.  Once I got my hint I found the cache really quickly.

I thanked Nicole and Celeste for coming with me.  We loaded up the cars, thanked Nikki for making the reservations, gave out hugs and told everyone we would see them on Friday.  We had to drop off Nicole at the theater in downtown Seattle so she and Del could watch a Star Wars musical.  Del was on his way to meet her.  Celeste and I got onto I-5 and headed back towards home.  Celeste dropped me off, I thanked her and told her I would see her on Friday.

I packed up my stuff into the Escape, said hi to mom and headed home.  I did a few chores and got ready for the work week.  I was so excited that my work week was only going to be four days long.  Until the next time someone gets married and has a bachelorette party.

Next Adventure:  Traveling to Kingston and the Wedding Rehearsal

Seattle Reign vs. Houston Dash

I got a phone call from Shauna a few days ago asking me if I wanted to go with her to the Seattle Reign game in Seattle.  I actually had to look up who that was because I had no idea we had a professional women's soccer team in Seattle.  I said sure!  I'm not doing anything.  She told me to meet her at her house around 2.  I told her to see her then.

I got up that morning around 9:30ish, ate some cereal, started some laundry, cleaned the house a bit and watched Brooklyn 99 for a while.  Ben went to work at 4 am that morning and would get off at 1 p.m., just before I was suppose to leave for Shauna's house.  I got ready to go and made sure I had everything with me.

I left just before I left I drove past Ben just before turning onto the main road in our development.  We both pulled over and I gave him hugs and kisses and told him I would be back later.  He said to have fun and he went home and took a nap.  I continued the 10 minutes to Shauna's house via Yelm Highway and 510.  I got there and remembered there was a gate I had to get out for and press the button.  You could see all the dogs getting really excited that someone was driving down the road.

I parked out of the way and BJ came out to tell me Shauna was finishing up with the shower so she took me around the yard and showed me the new animals, the pigs and ducks.  We had a little small talk before Shauna came out of the garage.  I grabbed my stuff out of the Escape and we took their hybrid car.  We left as soon as she got all of her stuff together and reminded me that we were leaving earlier because she wanted to stop at the commissary on Fort Lewis for some key chains for some friends.

I made sure I had my license handy when we got to the gate.  The guards checked us in and asked why we were on base, Shauna just told him we were going to the commissary.  We parked and went inside.  The last time I was in here was many many years ago.  We walked in and it reminded me of a very small mall.  We went into the store and found the key chains and Shauna hadn't eaten yet so she grabbed a sandwich and some fries.  When we got to the car I helped her with her French fries.

When we got into Tukwila, we got off the freeway and stopped at the Southcenter Mall to look for Skyline socks...no one seemed to carry them anymore like they used to.  I told her she should try looking online.  We went back out to the car and headed to Seattle.  I asked her where we were going for the game and she said something like near UW or something?  I didn't think it was so I looked up the address and it was the field near the Key Arena.  The one stadium I actually have not been inside yet.  Shauna knew where she was going to park.  We plugged in the car and headed towards the Seattle Center Armory where the bathrooms and the food court was.

We used the restrooms first and then went upstairs to find out there was a Polish Festival going on inside the food court area.  I only know one person who was Polish at WSU and that was our friend Izzy.  There were lots of people.  Shauna said we should probably eat here because she didn't know what the food situation was once we got into the stadium.

For some reason pizza sounded good and I haven't had MOD Pizza in a while.  No matter where we went there were lines and we would just have to be patient.  Meanwhile, Shauna noticed two women who needed help so she helped them the entire time from waiting in line to sitting down with their pizza.  They were from out of town visiting friends and one of them had a broken leg and was using crutches.  Neither of them had been to MOD Pizza before.  I sat at a table to hold it but eventually had to give it up so I could get in line and order my pizza.

I just got the basic personal size with pepperoni, olives and sausage on it.  I got a drink and situated myself over where pick up was.  I didn't realize Seattle wasn't doing straws so I went lidless.  Our names were finally called and Shauna and I went outside to eat our food.

We found a table and noticed there were a lot of people outside.  I looked it up really quick and found out the International Beer Festival was going on and Nicole's proximity on my phone popped up.  She and Del were at the beer festival.  I texted her and told her we were at MOD Pizza and getting ready to go to the soccer game nearby.  She said hi and to have fun.

Shauna and I headed back to the car to put our stuff away we didn't want to bring inside the stadium with us and for Shauna to check the status on the car's battery.  Along the way I found a free International Beer Festival glass so I took it to the car with me.  Free stuff, sure!

I grabbed my wallet, a sweatshirt (just in case) and one of her blankets to sit on since we were going to be sitting on bleachers.  We walked back over to the Seattle Center and past the fountain with tons of kids playing in it.  We handed our tickets to the stadium crew and they handed us a program and a poster with Sue Bird and Megan Rapoine on it.  They also told us that some of the members of the Seattle Storm were going to be here.  Shauna and I wandered around the stadium for a bit.

We heard the Storm were here so we grabbed our posters and got them signed.  Then we wandered over to the lame UW tent and got thumb casts.  It sounds weird but it was cool at the same time because I had never worn a cast on any part of my body before.  We walked back over to the other side of the stadium because Shauna wanted a shirt.  She found one but not the color she wanted.  She paid and we grabbed some water, used the restroom and made our way back to our seats.

The beginning of the game was in the similar format of the Sounder games.  They all come out with children, stand for the National Anthem and we start chanting songs.  They were all pretty much the same as the Sounder songs but a tiny bit different.  I knew most of the melodies and sang along with some of them.

The beginning of the game was pretty ruthless by both teams.  However, something was going to give eventually.

The Dash scored first but the Reign matched shortly after and they went into half time all tied up with one each.  I got up and used the restroom during half time.

The game was dominated mostly by Seattle in the second half.  We scored off of a penalty shot shortly after the second half began.  It gave us momentum for the rest of the second half.  The third and final goal came just before the end of the game near stoppage time.

We beat Houston 3-1 and it always feels good going to a winning hometown game.  We got up just before the end of the game to get in line for autographs.  Shauna and I were both hoping to get Megan to sign our poster since she was on the front.  We got down to the field and our poster was signed by the entire Seattle Reign but Megan...she kind of ignored her fans after the game.  We were disappointed.  A lady that stood next to us told us she came up from California to get her poster signed by Megan.  It was her poster night and she didn't even make time for her fans.

We eventually gave up and headed back to the parking garage.  Along the way Shauna started talking to some on duty cops roaming around the Seattle Center.  It was fun talking to them as we waited for the cross walk to change.

We got to the car, paid our ticket and got onto the freeway.  The ride back home was pretty uneventful.  We talked about some random things and I told her about some of the stuff I had planned for the rest of the summer.  The next few weekends were going to be really busy.  It actually exhausted me thinking about it.  We got back to Shauna's house and I thanked her for inviting me out to the game with her.

I got in the Escape and headed home.  I got home a little after 11, told Ben about my evening, took a shower and we went to bed.  I was tired after the week I've had.  I was actually looking forward to a lazy Sunday.

Next Adventure:  Lindsay's Bachelorette Party in Seattle

Rockies vs. Mariners

Before the season started mom wanted to go to the May 18th game with the Detroit Tigers for blanket hoodie night.   I am glad we held out as long as we did because of Grammie's stroke she suffered the Wednesday before.  We didn't end up going because we were in the hospital most of that week.

A few weeks ago, mom found one for a Friday ladies night out and asked if I wanted to go.  I said sure.  We got a free tank top and drinks with our ticket.  We planned our day accordingly.

I went to work the full day while mom had her half day and met me at L&I so we could leave from there and we could see I-5 from my parking lot.  I placed my parking pass in her vehicle just in case since we took the Escape to Seattle.

We got on the freeway at Tumwater Blvd and the traffic was terrible!  I am so glad I don't have to drive the freeway everyday like some commuters.  I would be mad all the time and would be trying to find ways around it.  It didn't clear up until we were after the military base and near south Tacoma.  I was utterly surprised there was not traffic in the most notorious places there usually is traffic.

There was zero traffic from Tacoma to Seattle.  I was in shock.  Luckily I always plan for crappy traffic when we drive north.

We parked in the same lot we did for the Seahawks game last December but because they were Mariner games (not as popular) we only paid $5 instead of the $20.  I made sure all of my "stealables" were hidden underneath stuff in the back or under my seat.  We grabbed the stuff we would need and decided to walk a different way to the stadium because I wanted to get the new Ken Griffey Jr. statue virtual.

The Kid...My Oh My!!  (GC7B7XQ) was one of the simple virtuals; you basically take a picture with the statue and attach it to your online log.  We waited until it was our turn to take a picture.  I didn't really want random people or kids in my picture.

We walked over to the security booth, got in with ease (because we didn't need a whole lot of stuff in the summertime) and handed the lady our tickets to scan.  They wouldn't scan for some reason...almost like it didn't recognize the bar code.  She told us we needed to go to customer service and that she would escort us so she could explain to the teller what happened and so we wouldn't get lost.

We thanked the lady for explaining the situation and she went back to go take tickets.  The customer service lady basically told us that the tickets had a problem.  I immediately thought mom bought like counterfeit tickets or something.  The lady said no.  This problem happens often when someone is trying to print the tickets multiple times.  The bar code changes to prevent many people from printing the same ticket (to counterfeit them.)  This is why mom should not be in charge of printing out tickets.

The lady printed us out ones that actually worked and handed them to us.  We thanked her and got back in line.  Our tickets were scanned and this time they worked!  We headed up the stairs and into the stadium.  We had to dodge around everyone in the corridor.  My favorite is when people stop in front of you or cut you off and then walk slow in front of you.  Move out of the way if you can't handle the flow of traffic.

We headed to section 103 where we got our tank tops and drink vouchers.  We waited in line about a half hour.  We got our tank tops and coupons and wandered around the stadium.  Mom was given a $50 gift card so she was checking out visor because hers got ruined in Ecuador this last time by bleach.  She used her gift card to purchase a new one.

We used the restrooms before wandering around to the King's corner to grab drinks with our coupons, mom got a water and I got a Pepsi.  It was nice that we didn't have to pay.  Earlier I had seen a post on Facebook about my friend Annette (Peach&Pete) working the 100 on the 3rd base side.  I told mom we were going to walk by to see if we could find her.  I saw her helping someone trying to find their seats so I waited a couple seconds to say hi.  She was happy to see us and we chatted with her for a few minutes.  It was almost time to go find our seats.

I asked mom if we wanted to get our food first and then sit down because Ivar's was along the way.  She said sure and we stood in line to grab our 3 piece fish and chips from Ivar's.  I get to have this maybe twice a year and it is delicious.  We took our food and drinks to our seats on the foul side of the right foul pole.  We had perfect timing too, we got to our seats before the first pitch.  To date, we had never sat here before.

We ate our food and noticed we were sitting with a lot of Rockies fans.  The beginning of the game did not go in our favor and the landslide continued through the end of the game.  We could not recover however we did score a run to make it look less bad.

We got up in the 6th inning and went to the team store about the end of the 7th inning.  I couldn't miss the 7th inning stretch and take me out to the ball game.  I got a few things and then we went back to the game to see if anything improved and it hadn't.

Since we were down 7-1 in the 9th inning mom decided it was time to go and head back to the Escape.  We usually don't leave any game early but we were both tired and wanted to just go home.

When we got back to the Escape we turned on the radio to see how we did.  We got the last play and we did end up losing 7-1.  Bummer.  We drove back to L&I and I dropped mom off with her vehicle.  I went home, took a quick shower and headed to bed.

Next Adventure:  Seattle Reign vs.  Houston Dash