Trip to Seattle and Vancouver

I started writing this post in my hotel bed in Seattle, Washington.  That's right - SEATTLE.  As in, WASHINGTON.  The place I've wanted to go since I saw Sleepless in Seattle in middle school, then Frasier in high school, and every Thursday night since 2005 when Grey's Anatomy comes on.  One of the last places on my top US wish list.

It started about three weeks ago when David came home and said, "I know you've always wanted to go to Seattle, but is Vancouver close enough?"  Turns out he had a meeting on a Monday in Vancouver and was asking if I wanted to go up the weekend before with him sans kids.  My first reaction was yes!  Then, "Hey, that's got to be close to Seattle, right?"  Then, "Let's go Friday afternoon, drive to Vancouver Sunday afternoon, and come back Monday night", then "What?  We can't come back until Tuesday night due to flights and time zones?" Then, "We'd have to fly out Friday morning?"  Then, "NO.  That is entirely too long away from the kids.  Let's just do Vancouver Saturday and Sunday and I'll fly back Monday."  Then, "Wait, what if..."

And so it continued for about four days with major stressing and sleeplessness in Atlanta.  I prayed and fretted.  We talked to our parents.  I talked to my sweet friend Lex.  I went over the whole ordeal with her as she listened patiently.  Finally, I stopped talking and asked, "Any words of advice?"  "Yes," she said, "Just one:  GO."  She reminded me that there will never be a good time to leave the kids, but we have to take the opportunity anyway.  She pointed out that it will actually get harder the older they get when school, sports practices, church activities, etc. are involved.  She didn't know it, but she sealed the deal for me:  I was in.

That's when the real work began.  We'd decided to keep the kids at our house for a sense of comfort and familiarity and have the grandparents come and go there.  I'll tell y'all, Donald Trump didn't have to do as much work to take a vacation as I did.  Or at least, as much work as I wanted to get done so that I could get on the plane and feel comfortable leaving my children for FIVE days.

First things first, we updated our will and had it notarized.  Then, I created the Grandparent Handbook.  This was to be the handbook to beat all handbooks. I typed up schedules and routines down to the minute for each day.  I put in emergency contact info, including addresses and directions to their doctor and closest ER and a page full of medical advice for different ailments.  That binder held everything - our detailed itinerary, a permission to treat letter, a list of "outside-the-box" playtime ideas, and an envelope with cash to hire a sitter in case it all went to pot.  I topped it off with a "Top Ten Tips for Success" on the front cover.  Yes, really.

Then I started preparing the meals.  Multiple casseroles and a big container of soup went in the freezer.  I did a huge grocery store run for breakfast, lunch, and side items (and grandparent treat items) and labeled everything with post-it notes.  Once I knew they wouldn't starve, I turned my attention to the house.

Not only were we going away for five days, but three different shifts of people would be staying overnight in our place while we were gone.  I cleaned and organized as much as I could so it would be easy to find everything.  I created microwave, oven, washer/dryer, and TV remote instruction cards.  I laid out the kids' clothes for each day and labeled them.  I stocked diapers, wipes, paper towels, and toilet paper.  I cleaned out the van (sort of) and filled it up with gas.  I made a toiletry basket in case a grandparent forgot their toothbrushes or deodorant.

Last but certainly not least, I wanted our separation to be as easy as possible for the kids.  I knew there wasn't much I could do for Luke since he's so little, but I wrote daily notes to Audrey with a little activity page in each one.  David made a paper link chain for her to tear off a link each day.  We talked and talked and talked about the "Great Grandparent Sleepover Weekend".  She was stoked.

After all of that, I packed myself for the trip.  It seemed incredibly easy after I'd just prepared the house for the apocalypse.

As I got on the plane, I was tired, but I was relieved and at peace, at least about how I left things.  It's like I told each grandparent - I didn't care if they didn't use a thing I left them, a meal I cooked, or follow the routine.  I wanted them to have the information at their fingertips if they wanted it.  I knew that the better I could leave things for them, the better the time away would be for me.

So now that you understand what went into this to make it possible, here, below, are some details of the extremely well-worth-it trip of a lifetime:

Friday, August 23rd

We woke up at 5:00am and got ready.  We had decided to tell the kids goodbye the night before since we'd have to leave so early.  I knew Audrey probably wouldn't go back to sleep after us waking her and didn't see the sense in Nana starting off a long day with a very grumpy and tired four year old.

We pulled out of the driveway right on time at 6:30am.  I had a lump in my throat so big I could barely swallow and every ounce of my mommy-being was screaming, "DO NOT DO THIS."  David asked me a question and I burst into tears.  I sobbed all the way to the interstate as he held my hand.  Once I calmed down, I put on my make-up (I knew there was no point in doing it before leaving the house.)  We got to the parking lot, left the car, and rode the shuttle.  We checked our bags for free thanks to David's medallion status and headed towards security.  We waited for about 15 minutes in line and went through without incident.  Then, as I grabbed my purse off the conveyer belt, I reached in to get my watch and earrings and pulled out a clump of Audrey's barrettes that I'd stuffed in there over time.  Cue the waterworks again.

We rode the train to Concourse C for Chick-fil-A breakfast then rode back to our gate at Concourse A. David asked the gate agent if there were any upgrades to economy comfort and sure enough, he put us in two such seats right next to each other for free.  The hilarious thing is that about ten minutes later, they called his name because he'd gotten upgraded to first class.  That never happens to the guy but of course it did on the trip that he was traveling with me!  He turned it down to slum it with me in coach.  Afterward we realized one of us should've just ridden in it or taken turns, but oh well.

The plane ride was nice.  There was a time in my life pre-kids that five hours on a plane sounded like a boring eternity to me.  Now, however, it is very much part of the vacation.  Five hours of sitting down with no one asking me to do anything for them, get anything for them, or wipe anything for them?!  Yes please!

I edited pictures, worked on stuff for my small group, watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's", listened to music, and typed up a kids' packing list that I'd been wanting to create for at least the past year.  The time flew by (pun very much intended).

We landed around noon and as I stepped off the plane into the airport, a gift shop caught my eye.  It was full of Seattle memorabilia and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I let it sink in where I was.  Once we got our rental car, we drove straight to a local place called "Tat's Deli" for lunch.  The weather was gorgeous - sunny and low 70s.  We split a cheesesteak and fries.  The food was just okay, but the local feel and ambiance was perfect. 

After we ate, we walked around downtown for about an hour and half.  We strolled by the water and saw a lot of ferries, a few shops, and the big ferris wheel.  We hiked back up the Harbor Steps and peeked in a big toy store to see if there was anything we wanted to get the kids.  We left empty-handed and walked back to the car.  We drove to our hotel and got checked in.  The room was so nice and had a great view of the city.  

We called the house to check in and speak to the kids and after some cell signal problems, finally got to talk to them.  Hearing Audrey's voice made me tear up immediately.  She sounds so tiny and yet so grown over the phone.  She told me she was having a great time with Nana and that they even went to feed the ducks at our neighborhood lake, but explained that they weren't all there.  I made her laugh as I joked about how some of them and the turtles must have been on a trip.  Luke held the phone for a minute and said "Jes" (Yes) to a few questions I asked him.  Precious.  We told them how much we loved them and promised we'd talk the next day before hanging up.  

After a quick catnap and some restaurant research under our belt, we headed out to dinner.  
We chose a pizza place called Zeek's that was within walking distance and on our way to Seattle Center.  We got salads and split a small "Wood Butcher" pizza.  It was very tasty and felt like another great off-the-path choice.  

From there, we walked to the Seattle Center, which is home to the Space Needle, EMP (Experience Music Project - a pop museum), the science center, Chihuly Glass Gardens, and the main monorail station.  We bought tickets to the 7pm ride up the needle, hoping it would let us catch a glimpse of sunset from the top.  While we waited, we strolled the loop around the center and checked out what we could see of the glass gardens from the outside, which were very impressive, enormous blown glass art structures amid pretty flower and tree landscapes.  There was a free concert getting set up on a lawn area, but we didn't get to stick around to hear anything.  

A few minutes before 7pm, we got in line for our trip up the Needle.  There wasn't a wait at all and we quickly boarded the elevator for the 41 second ride to the top at a rate of 10mph.  We stepped off, found a door, and went out to the observation area.  It was gorgeous.  The sky was very clear, though not quite clear enough to see Mt. Ranier or give us a pretty pink sunset.  Still, we could see the skyline of the city, Puget Sound, Lake Union, Capital Hill, the stadiums, and all the other surrounding areas for miles.  We walked around, took pictures of the sights, took several pictures for other people, and got a few taken in return from them.  It was a little chilly as the sun was going down, but we stayed as long as we could stand it to soak up the view.  I couldn't believe I was actually standing there!  And to now get to say we've stood atop the Empire State Building and Seattle's Space Needle - how awesome is that?!

After riding back down the elevator and perusing the gift shop for a minute, we walked back to our hotel by way of a quick stop at Walgreens for water and two tiny cups of ice cream.  We blissfully ate them in bed while talking about our day and turned out the lights at 9pm.  

Saturday, August 24th

I woke up at 4am on the dot.  After a few minutes of tossing and turning, I managed to get back to sleep until 5am, then woke up to blog for about an hour before getting ready.  We had originally thought we'd go for a jog, but after feeling how tired our legs were from all the walking the day before, we decided to save our strength and energy for touring.  We showered, got dressed, and headed to Top Pot Doughnuts for breakfast around 7am.  It's an adorable local chain that has very yummy doughnuts, tasty hot coffee, and two stories of shelves full of books.  We chose a table on the upstairs loft and took the obligatory food pictures.  After realizing that the Pike Place Market didn't open until 10am, we debated about what to do next.  We knew nothing else would be open until about then, so we decided to stroll around town towards the general direction of the market and see what we could see.  

The city was pretty quiet so early on a Saturday, but it was neat to see all the little breakfast places.   When we got to the market, we took several pictures of the landmark Public Market sign.  We met two ladies from Atlanta who asked us to take their picture and took ours in return.  A homeless man informed us of where the real first Starbucks was located, since we were standing outside of one looking confused about the lack of sign or fanfare.  We gave him some money in appreciation, walked down to it and waited about fifteen minutes in line so I could say I got my favorite Starbucks drink at the original flagship store.  Totally worth it.  

As we walked out, we realized a lot of the market vendors were already arriving and opening up their shops, so we started our exploration.  We strolled past rows and rows of delicious looking fresh produce and then stall after stall of the most beautiful flower arrangements you've ever seen for prices that were pennies on the dollar of what they would be elsewhere.  It was killing me not to buy a huge arrangement, but of course we didn't want to lug it around all day. 

After a couple of hours of taking in every sight they had to offer, including watching a few of the famous fish tosses, and buying our traditional Christmas ornament souvenir, we headed to the spot we'd chosen for an early lunch.  When we got there, we found out that they didn't start serving lunch until noon, which was going to make us late for our 1pm Harbor cruise departure.  We decided to walk down to the pier the cruise was departing from, buy our tickets, and eat near there. 

We settled on a spot called The Crab Pot that we'd read about and had actually wanted to eat dinner at the night before but it was too far from Seattle Center at the time.  The server escorted us to a table outside along the water and it was such a nice view.  The weather was once again perfect - sunny, low 70s, with a cool breeze.  I ordered the crab cakes and David got the crab melt open-face sandwich.  Halfway through, we swapped food and both dishes were really tasty.  

We left the restaurant and headed over to get in line for our Harbor cruise.  We chose to do the 2.5 hour Locks cruise, which took us through the Puget Sound into the Ballard Lock, up to Lake Union to dock and then ride a charter bus back to the starting pier.  We wanted this one because it allowed us to actually experience going through the Locks system - a dream for my engineer husband.  

After boarding the boat, we picked a couple of seats on the bow.  We started off and the hilarious narrator did a wonderful job of pointing out all of the landmarks along the way.  We saw the two stadiums, the cargo ship port and cranes, the famous Edgewater Hotel (where the Beatles once stayed), a lighthouse, several marinas, The Wizard ship from Deadliest Catch, tons of gorgeous houses and beaches, and of course the most wonderful view of the downtown Seattle skyline.  We passed under several bridges, including one where we only had 6" of clearance!  Once we got to the Locks, we had to wait for a few minutes to be cleared to load.  When they gave the signal, we were told to go into the small locks, which had less than a foot clearance on either side of our boat.  The captain did a wonderful job pulling in, though, and we waited as they closed the huge gates behind us.  Slowly the water began to rise and everyone around on top of the locks waved and took pictures as we got closer to their level.  Huge salmon were jumping in front of our boat as the gate opened and we moved into Lake Union.  It was a really neat experience!  

Once on the lake, we learned about other cool companies and sights nearby.  By far the best one to me was the house they used in Sleepless in Seattle.  We found out that the film, which was supposed to take place in December through February, was actually shot during the summer and they happened to be going through a record-breaking heatwave at the time.  They also didn't get nearly enough rain that summer to do all the rain shots, so they hired the Seattle Fire Department to bring in their boats and spray down the house for all of the rain scenes.  Our narrator told us to be sure and look for extras in the background running around in shorts and all of the green trees that should've been leafless.  I'm dying to watch the movie again so I can pay close attention to all of that and see Tom Hanks sweating it out in his heavy winter coat!

We docked, disembarked, and made our way to the charter bus that was waiting to take us back to the pier.  On the way back, David and I had to keep from laughing out loud at several old couples around us who were having too much fun giving each other a hard time. When we got to the pier, we began the walk back to our hotel, stopping just long enough to take a few pictures in front of the famous "gum wall" (yup, it's just a huge wall with a million pieces of gum stuck all over it.)  I found a quiet corner and called home to talk to the kids before it got too late.  Audrey said they had been working hard to clean up so Daddy and I wouldn't have to do chores when we got home.  I took that to mean she was probably cleaning up after dinner.  We told them goodnight and walked back to our hotel.  I napped while David read and then we got dressed for a nice dinner out.  

After walking who knows how many miles all day, we opted to drive to Ristorante Machiavelli.  When we got there, it was about a 40 minute wait, but we weren't starving and put our name in.  They called us to our table and we enjoyed a really tasty Italian meal. It was good food, but the restaurant itself was small and really loud.  Still, it was so nice that our kids weren't the ones being the noisiest for once!  We ate, talked about our day, and made plans for the next day's excursions before heading back to the hotel and to bed.  Day two was most definitely a memorable success.

Sunday, August 25th

I woke up around 5am Sunday and blogged a little more before getting in the shower.  We decided to go ahead and hit the road, so we packed up and checked out of our hotel.  We stopped by one bakery that wasn't open yet then drove back down to Pike Place Market.  We decided to try Le Panier, a French bakery that got great reviews on several websites.  We chose some pastries and I got some coffee.  We sipped and ate while watching the vendors pull up and unload their beautiful flowers.  I kept thinking how incredibly surreal it all felt.  Here I am with my husband in a French Bakery in Seattle Washington watching people unload the most gorgeous plants in such an amazing little market!  Just awesome.

David was ready to hit the road, so I very reluctantly said goodbye to Seattle and helped him navigate our way to Vancouver.  It took us about two and a half hours to drive there, including getting through border patrol.  We were curious what that would entail, but we just handed the lady our passports, answered a few questions about where we were from, why we were there, and where we staying, and she sent us on our way.  The view was very scenic, with mountains all around us and a few lakes scattered in the valleys.  

When we cleared the border, we headed straight to lunch at a place called The Flying Beaver Grill.  It sits on a waterway where float planes take off and land, so we had quite a cool view while we ate.  The food was pretty good and gave us the energy boost we needed to continue to our next destination, which was Granville Island.

Granville Island is a former industrial area turned hip with lots of galleries, shops, a kids' market and water park, and a public market.  It was slammed busy, but we weren't sure if that was normal given the nice weather or if the "Wooden Boat Festival" they were having added to the crowds.  We ducked around people to walk through shops and then found a place to sit on a bench by the docks.  The water was very clear and there were, you guessed it, lots of boats pulled up.  The skyline in the near background was full of mostly white skyscrapers and there were several huge bridges spanning the water.  We enjoyed the sights for a moment and then walked around some more before heading to our next stop, Stanley Park.  

Little did we know that they were having a huge anniversary celebration at the park this weekend and everyone in Canada would be showing up.  The traffic and crowds were insane, but we decided to make the most of it and stick around.  We drove the whole outer loop and then found a place to park and get out and walk.  The view of the Pacific Ocean was amazing, with sailboats and large barges mingling together and another coastline full of suburbs just across from us.  The water was so close, we couldn't miss the opportunity to veer off the seawall and go stick our hands in it.  We had someone take our picture there and then carefully navigated the rocky shoreline back to the walking path on the wall.  We strolled some more, but the crowds (specifically the crazy number of cyclists you had to dodge) were getting the best of our tired selves, so we found a shady bench and sat and observed before heading out.

David wanted to explore some more of Vancouver before heading to the hotel, and he ended up kind of accidentally driving into Gas Town, an area of downtown with tons of shops and restaurants and great views of the cruise ship port.  We elected to stay, parked the car, and checked everything out.  We found a Vancouver ornament and a few other goodies and took in such sights as the famous steam clock tower and a gigantic Celebrity Cruises ship docked in port.  As it got later and we grew more exhausted, we decided we weren't hungry enough to eat down there and went back to the car.  Neither of us felt up to eating out anywhere, in fact, so we stopped by a Subway on the way to the hotel and ordered some sandwiches to go.  

It had been a long, full day that had followed two other long full days and our bodies were still wondering what time zone we were in as we were getting up around 6am and going to bed around 9pm (or, 9am and 12am EST.  Not our usual habits, for sure!)  So, we unashamedly checked into our room, changed into pajamas, watched a little TV, and, after laughing until we cried about trying to find the lights, the phone chargers, and turn the air on in the dark, we fell asleep around 8pm local time.  Another amazing day in the books.

Monday, August 26th

This morning I ran 10 miles in Vancouver, British Columbia.  I just have to rewrite that sentence because I will never, ever get to type or say those words ever again:  This morning I ran 10 miles in Vancouver, British Columbia!!!  Every part of that sentence is awesome!  And I did it in 1 hour 55 minutes, which is an average of 11:30 minute miles - a big deal for me.  

The night before, we asked the man at the front desk for a good running spot.  He told us there was a great path along the river just about a block from the hotel.  We looked it up online and it seemed like a perfect option.  So, David and I woke up around 6am and waited for it to get a bit lighter outside before heading out.  He ran two miles in one direction with me and then turned back to go get ready for work.  I kept going, promising to turn around if it got sketchy.  The views were unbelievable.  I ran along the Fraser River and saw planes taking off and landing at the airport, then turned a corner and went a little more inland and ran along marshland with mountains just off in the distance.  I stopped for a couple of seconds to snap a picture with my phone, then continued to 4.5 miles before turning around.  My stomach began complaining around mile 6, but I ignored it and kept pushing, going past our starting point and doing a few loops on the short end of the trail to make it to a full 10 miles.  

I got back to the hotel just before David was leaving for his meeting and wished him luck.  After I showered, I went down to the lobby for the breakfast buffet.  My stomach was still complaining about the beating I'd given my body when it was likely already dehydrated.  Still, I ate a decent size meal because I knew I'd be skipping lunch unless I wanted to walk somewhere and get it.  We were in a very Asian-influenced part of town (to the point that I'm not sure I could read off a menu or communicate an order well), so I'd decided I was just going to skip lunch and eat early with David.  

By the time I got back to my room, I was not feeling well at all.  After several loud and clear protests by my body, I laid down to watch some TV and ending up falling asleep for about an hour.  I got up, blogged a bit, then began packing up some of our stuff. 

David got in around 1:30pm.  We rested a little longer and then, since I was feeling better, decided to go into Vancouver again to explore some more.  We drove into a part of town called Yaletown and walked around there and Robson Street.  They had a lot of shops, but it's always hard for me to get excited about spending money elsewhere when we live so close to two major outlet malls and the biggest mall in Georgia.  Everything you could ever want is at your fingertips at home, or at least within a 20 minute drive of them.  So, we just enjoyed strolling and people watching.  Then, just as we were about to walk into a shop, David got a call from Delta saying our 8:30am flight had been delayed until 10:30am, which was going to cause us to miss our connection flight.  He then spent almost 45 minutes on the phone with them, trying to switch to a different flight so we could get in Atlanta earlier.  Finally, he was able to secure us seats on a 8:50am flight to Seattle and then an 11:30am flight from Seattle to Atlanta.  That being handled, we moved on to the more pressing matter of food.  

We decided to eat dinner at a nice restaurant called The Cactus Club.  I had the most delicious fajitas I have ever eaten, though I'm still not sure if that was just because I hadn't had a bite since 9:30am that morning.  Either way, they were very tasty, as was the molten chocolate lava cake we devoured after our entrees.  We'd decided to splurge and end on a sweet note and it was definitely the right choice.

After dinner, we walked around a little bit more and headed to the water.  There were a lot of people out jogging and walking.  (We had come to realize that Vancouver is a very health and exercise-conscious city!)  We made a big loop back around to the parking garage and drove a different route back to the hotel.  After packing up, we hit the sack early (by West Coast standards), hoping to get a full night's rest before our alarm.

Tuesday, August 27th 

We woke up at 5am, got ready, and checked out of our hotel.  We had gassed up the rental car the night before, so we headed straight to Hertz to turn it in.  After standing in line at Delta, we were told to head down to Alaska Airlines' counter to check-in only to find out there that they had us booked, but all pertinent information was missing from our records.  So much for spending all that time on the phone the night before.  After a very frustrating back and forth, the agent finally printed our boarding passes and sent us through to the security line.  We got through all that and US Customs without issue and made it the long walk to the gate in time to grab some breakfast.  We walked out on the tarmac to board our tiny 19-row plane and the proceeded to wait there on board for over half an hour before take off.  

Fortunately, we made it in time to get to our connection in Seattle, which was kind of a miracle given the multiple trains and crazy walk we had to do to get to our gate.  They weren't able to print me a boarding pass in Vancouver for that leg, so we had to wait in line (again) to deal with that.  They bumped David up to first class and this time, we wised up and didn't turn it down.  Because I have the most awesome husband ever, he gave me his boarding pass and this gal got to ride first class from Seattle to Atlanta.  Talk about a way to end a great trip!  It was awesome.  Every two seconds they're coming by to see if you need something and taking care of you.  Snacks abound and endless free entertainment options (or a comfy nap option) are right in front of you.  I imagine it's kind of like being a toddler.

We landed (a little too soon for my liking) and got off the plane.  I waited for David and we began the looong trek/train ride to baggage claim.  We found our carousel and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  David had made the comment earlier in the day that the only time he'd ever had a bag get lost was on Alaska Airlines several years prior.  

Welp, make that twice.  We filed a claim with Delta, who assured us it had been tagged in Vancouver and would make its way in from Seattle on the next flight, and hurried to catch a bus.  By this point I was in tears because I was so tired and so desperate to get home to see the kids before they went to bed.  I had previously texted his parents and told them to put the kids down at regular time, but after realizing I wouldn't be able to sleep that night without seeing them and after verifying that they'd both had good, long naps, I texted them back and selfishly asked them to keep them awake until we got there around 9:15pm.  

Great call.  They were so precious waiting in their little pajamas and running to hug us.  I got to hold my baby girl tight and then rock my baby boy to sleep.  My oh my, is that a priceless blessing.

So, in summary, the trip was incredible.  Just in case you didn't glean that from the novel above.  I am so very grateful to all of the grandparents for stepping in and making it possible.  I feel physically tired and drained, but very much mentally and emotionally recharged.  As I told a friend and my mom: yes, I'm exhausted, but boy is it nice to be tired from something other than motherhood.  

Thank you, Jesus, for keeping watch over all of us while we were away and bringing us home safely to the grandest adventures we'll ever have: our Audrey and Luke.

P.S.  The luggage got delivered to the house around 1pm the next day.  Guess that means I should do some laundry.

P.P.S  PICTURES ARE UP IN THE GALLERY!  GO - NOW!  

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