In the Evergreen State

Yesterday was a good, but very long day. We were on the road by 4:00am, and it's a good thing that we gave ourselves plenty of driving time(Watertown's airport is so small that people straggle in 15 minutes before boarding time, and still get on the plane- I'm far too anxiety-ridden to cut it that short- but I don't feel the need to be there 2 hours early, either). We'd gotten a little snow overnight, which wasn't such a big deal, but the wind blew from the south, which was.

The highway was icy for the entire 75 miles, and the snow that our usual North winds had piled on the south side of the roads, all blew back, much of it staying on the road itself. It's a good thing that The Hub decided that he needed to visit the Menard's in Watertown, because I would never have made it if I had been driving (those drifts came up suddenly, and they were the kind that if you slowed down or hesitated at all, you'd stall, or worse yet, end up in the ditch). He just plowed right through them. It was a white-knuckle drive, fer shure. And luckily, traffic is low at that time of the morning, and the deer were asleep.

After that, the day was a breeze. We left Watertown on time, and for a change, I didn't have to sprint through the Minneapolis airport to my connecting flight. I also didn't have to buy a scone (my usual airport treat). My homemade ones are better, and I baked some on Sunday and brought a couple along. Like all larger flights these days, the plane from MSP to SeaTac was full, so full that those of us who boarded in Zone 4 (which is my fate) had no room in the overhead bins for our carry-ons, so we had to check them. I wasn't thrilled to do that (skipping baggage claim is one of the reasons I don't check), but it wasn't the end of the world, as the lady behind me, who bitched constantly for the entire flight about it, thought. Good grief- we enter a metal tube in Minneapolis, and 3 hours later, exit in Seattle. Checking a bag is barely an inconvenience when you consider the magic.

The flight was late taking off by about 30 minutes (takes time to wrest carry-ons from complaining passengers), but otherwise smooth. I couldn't see much beyond snow and clouds, but at least when we landed in Seattle, it wasn't raining. Nor was it snowing.

I was met by my sister Jacque and my niece Tiffany, who whisked me to Red Robin for fish 'n chips and a Blue Moon, which were both wonderfully restorative.

From there, we went to Jac's house. We spent the afternoon playing with beads and wires (Tiff is amazingly creative, and she's going to teach me to solder this week), and I conked out at 7:30 (which would be 9:30 my time, and since I'd been up for 18 hours, it's not so surprising that I was pooped).

Today we're going to play, and tonight I speak to the Snohomish Knitter's Guild. I'll take lots of pics!