Travail of travel

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving"
~ Lao Tzu

Clearly I am a good traveler, or at least America West assumed that I am. Today was the second* worst unnecessarily long travel day that I've ever experienced. I can understand that, from Seattle, it takes 23 hours to fly to Taiwan or 6 hours to fly to Pennsylvania. They are far away. But 9 hours to fly to Las Vegas? That's a bit ridiculous.

I arrived at the airport at 12:30pm, giving myself plenty of time to check in and make it through security for a flight at 2:43pm. I had plenty of time, all right! Due to all kinds of issues (including sitting on the tarmac for 90 minutes while we were de-iced during a blizzard), we finally took off from Seatac at 8:48pm. The actual flight only took 2 hours, plus some additional time as we waited for the ground crew to get ready for us. By the time I got my bag at baggage claim, I'd been travelling for over 10 hours. For some reason, the complimentary drink on the flight didn't quite cut it for me.

*The worst was a 15-hour trip from San Francisco to Phoenix during Christmas

Snow day!

Wow, la nina/el nino/global warming is wreaking havoc on our weather this year. First, we get a drought over the summer. Then we have the rainiest month ever recorded in Seattle. Then, we actually get SNOW in the city! In November! Crazy. But it still doesn't beat that time at MIT when I looked out of the studio window late one June night...and it was snowing.

Too big

I have problems sizing the hats I knit. Here is the latest is my line of rasta-hats.

Crystal

The record rainfall is good for something, at least. We headed to Crystal for our first ski day of the season, and what a day it was! The weather was clear and sunny and the snow was AMAZING. Light champagne powder -- the stuff that's so rare in these parts. There were a lot of people out on the mountain (it was Thanksgiving weekend, after all), but most of the terrain was open so the crowds could spread out pretty easily. It was a fantastic way to start the ski season!

Of course, now I'm sore.

Turkey time

We flew back to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with my dad, Joan, and family. As always, it was a fun (loud) time filled with family and dogs. Gaia has grown up into such a nice young lady, and from what I hear (and saw, while we were taking a walk and she practiced her moves), she's quite a talented dancer! I'm looking forward to seeing her name in lights when she's a famous ballerina.

I'm amazed whenever I see Alison -- I remember going to Summer's Best Two Weeks with her when we were in grade school, and now she's the kind of mother that I hope to be someday. It's similar to how I think about Ginger and her little girls. Sometimes I feel like everyone else grew up while I wasn't looking.

My dad's dogs are a little less mortified when we're around. Mindy, Momma and Chaos actually come into the room and don't bark the whole time. Sophie is as beautiful and skittish as always, and Connie is...Connie. Up down up down around around in out up around up down in out...

My dad and Joan seem to be doing really well too. My dad is starting to think again about what he wants to be when he grows up. I'm pushing for "ordained minister" because I've always wanted to be a PK.

Although it was a quick trip, it was a good time. It was really nice to see everyone and hear what they've been up to. Also, I got chip-chop ham for TWO meals. Yum.

Sunday dinner

First, a much-coveted reservation at Chez Garner and now this? A real, live English Sunday dinner?? We've been eating well (we'll ignore that Dominos pizza we ordered at the bowling alley last night)!

Ben and Carrie invited us over for Sunday dinner - prime rib, veggies and yorkshire pudding. Matt and Linda brought a cheesecake for dessert, and we brought...ummmm...Cowboy? As entertainment? Regardless, the meal was DELICIOUS (and that's not a word I often associate with English cooking)! Unfortunately, we did not get to enjoy the cheesecake, as the Broncos were about to play and we needed to escape to the privacy of our home to watch the game.

Next time Ben wants to cook another Sunday dinner...give us a call!

We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll...

...we're gonna bop, we're gonna BOWL!

Mark, Erin, Chris and I headed to Sunset Lanes for a long night of waiting for a lane to free up. We had some beers, we ordered some pizza, we chatted, we wandered around the bowling alley... Finally, at long last, we got a lane! So it was a lane that had a penchant for keeping all of our bowling balls. So what? At least it was a lane. We slipped into our bowling shoes and alter-egos, and Miss Cleo, the Pinner, Switters and Cinnamon Girl hit the lanes. Switters hit the lanes in more ways than one (see last picture, below). We bowled two games, and we were surprisingly evenly-matched. The Pinner was the most consistent, but Switters managed to pull off several highs along with his lows. Miss Cleo and Cinnamon Girl focused on having fun (after all, girls just wanna have fun).

Results: The Pinner won the first game, Cinnamon Girl won the second.

Magnuson Park

In this, Seattle's rainiest month EVER, Cowboy and I enjoyed a rare sunny day at Magnuson Park. The trees are in full color and the mountains (including the mountain) are out in all their glory. Such a beautiful day. It's also my dad's birthday -- Happy Birthday Pa!

Chez Garner

Chris and I were lucky enough to score a reservation at the very exclusive Chez Garner! We even got to sit in the main dining area (they did not hide us away in a dark corner, although we were seated right next to the kitchen...). Unlike a previous reviewer, we found the service to be stellar, and the food was outstanding. We started with a tasty Northwest salad (complete with pears and candied nuts), followed by a bowl of scrumptious French onion soup. The soup was paired with the best cornbread this side of the Seine, and the cook graciously packed some up for us to take home. We ended with blackberry pie a la mode that had just the right balance of sweet and tart. Our dinner companions were lovely, and the evening was a success all around. I give it a hearty 5 stars.

Keepin' the Cow down

Now that Cowboy is famous, we are unleashing an unprecedented attack on his self-image in order to ensure that he remains disempowered (and thus under our control). Here are a couple pictures of his torture, ranging from Halloween poses to dancing to forced lap-dog status. I've also thrown in a shot showing how thrilled he is with his new ride.

That's my boy!

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