Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Our Weekend in Seattle---Part 2, Heading North

So, now that my purse was packed, as our suitcases.  I thought that we would be able to get away with taking one suitcase, however after packing what I needed (for anything that could happen), I realized that there wouldn't be any room for my husband's clothes.  So I dug out another suitcase.  It was smaller than mine, but I've noticed that men don't pack as many things as women do (I went on a trip with my dad once, and all he packed was his shaving kit, a coffee maker and a fresh shirt and underwear for the next day......just the necessities).    Women pack for any occasion or weather change that may come up, so I needed that larger suitcase for myself :)

I was up late the night before, making sure that we had everything we needed, and that the kids would have everything they needed for their stay at my friend's house, and making sure that the cats would be taken care of etc.  I think that I finally went to bed near midnight (all of that hard work and stressing paid off too because we didn't forget anything!  I was a very good packer).

I woke up at around 5AM as to get a shower in.  We have 4 people and a water heater that needs about an hour to heat the water between showers.  The ladies go first, because we have hair and we like to kind of fix it up a bit, kind of, sort of (well maybe not for a road trip, but I wanted mine to be clean and dry at least, I didn't want my spouse offended by the filthy chick in the passenger's seat).

We took the kids to my friend's house, said our good-byes, thanked my friend again for taking them for the weekend, and headed off to find some fast food breakfast.

Our first stop was a McDonald's.  Since we don't eat meat, we usually order the Sausage McMuffin with Egg, minus the sausage.  We apparently only ordered the Sausage McMuffin minus the sausage (we didn't ask for the one with egg I guess because what we discovered, once on the road again, was this:
That's right, a grilled cheese English Muffin.  We had a good laugh about that and figured that it was probably the equivalent of what we'd normally eat at home.









Then we found a local coffee stand for our "morning fuel"














And we were headed North...

I lived on a dairy farm when I was little, so I like to see cows grazing in the pasture.















Then there was the rain of hay and it's source (windshield wipers are of no use here)











Once in Portland, we found the sign leading to our destination!  Excitement is building!  And apparently, so were rain clouds, because once we crossed over into Washington, the rain started coming down.











Not only was excitement building, but so was the need to use the bathroom.  So our first stop in Washington was at a Winco in Vancouver...........to use their bathroom.  My apologies to Winco for not buying anything, but thank you for the clean bathrooms!  Just a recommendation or two.  A door on the bathroom would be a good idea, and duct tape isn't adequate for holding hand dryers on the walls.



We finally made it to our hotel in Federal Way, with about 2 hours before needing to leave for the show.  As soon as we entered the lobby, we noticed other fans of the group.  Other than the time that we went to Portland to see a documentary about this band, I hadn't seen so many fans in one place (and that was about to change later in the evening).  I forgot to take pictures of our room and by the time I thought to do it, my husband was already napping in the bed and I was putting on my contacts and sprucing up for the show.   However, it was a really nice room!   

So, that was the trip, and my next post will probably be about the show............

Ep

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Our Weekend in Seattle---part 1, Packing the Purse!

Kevin's favorite band was planning to perform near Seattle, last weekend.  For the first time, he asked me to if I'd like to go.  So I said that I would.  Before I married my husband, I had never heard of the band.  I remember seeing a record album cover at some point in the 80's but had no idea or interest to know whose record it was for.   So when I married my husband, he was no longer listening to them, or really any other secular music. So I didn't hear or see anything related to them.   So, since then, things have changed, and he listens to this group again, as well as several others.  So, in the past 7 years, I've heard more about this band and it's members.  So, when he talks about them, I have a better idea as to what or who he's talking about.  I've heard their music, and they play really, REALLY well, however, it's not really music that I listen to.  If I listen to anything secular, it's usually something that I listened to in my highschool/college years.................or, the Jonas Brothers (thanks to my daughter, lol).  Mostly what I do listen to is on the Christian radio stations.

I never went to that many concerts and most of them were Christian.  The last secular one that I went to see was for Weird Al Yankovic at the county fair.  The last two Christian shows I went to, were in enclosed buildings, and they were so loud that the bodies of the audience absorbed the volume, and some of the opening acts, literally screamed at us.  I had heard that the venue for this latest show was open on the sides and back, so I felt that I probably wouldn't be blown totally out of the place, and I learned that even though this group did scream out their songs in the early years, they really didn't do that anymore.   But, in any case, I thought that I would make sure that my purse was ready for almost anything during the show (my husband wasn't so sure that I should bring it, but most men aren't carrying the things that we women are.  A purse is our home away from home as it has the basic necessities to keep our lives from falling apart..

So, here's what I packed, and who knows, it might help other future inexperienced concert goers (one never knows............)

Yes! Earplugs.  I wound up not using these because I was concerned that I might not hear anything at all.   The gal who frisked me and checked my purse (before I boarded the shuttle to the venue) laughed when she saw these.








Ok, don't laugh at the brand of granola bars that I bought.   They're low cal, and a nice substitute for the fried food at the venue, if one is trying to trim down. 









How did we survive with out this stuff when we were kids and went to the lake and the only bathrooms were not the kind with flushing toilets or running water?   Always good to have when you go to a venue and you don't know if maintenance has adequately filled the soap dispensers in the bathroom.






I was wearing my contacts to the show, that's the only explanation I need. 












I didn't take any pictures of the show with my phone (I used my camera to take about 4.............my husband took many, many more).  I carry this everywhere so my daughter can text me if they need me (but she was having too much fun with her friends to send me anything, so she didn't need me after all).





It's summer, and I assumed that it would be sunny, and that I would need these.  However, once we crossed the border from Oregon into Washington, the sky became cloudy, and it started to rain, and continued to do so off and on for the rest of the day (and the day after that, so I didn't need these after all)






Hey, I may be in my 40's, and the rain kind of flattened my hair, but a girl still wants to look cute & pretty for her guy at a concert!










More posts about this trip to come!

Lp