A Long 24-Hours
We were invited to watch fireworks from Jess's place overlooking Lake Union last night. Forces were working against us from the start, though. The idea was to hop the bus for a short ride to the Flexcar I'd reserved, drive to Jess's place and get there by about 7:00 (in advance of most of the crazy traffic). HA! The scheduled bus passed us with its sign set for "Atlantic Base" and kept on going. We waited for 35 minutes before a bus actually came to the stop, and then it was packed with rowdy teens and seemed to stop at every single possible stop and traffic light along the way. (I was ready to start cracking heads when two young teenage boys decided they had to jump up and start screaming "Hobo! You're a hobo!" out the window when they spotted a homeless guy crossing the street.) Finally we made to the car, late but hopeful.
This was followed up by the most round-about and incorrect directions I've ever gotten from Google Maps. Apparently Google maps does not recognize Jess's address and sent us to the wrong part of the city (on the wrong side of a highway that intersects the neighborhoods and makes getting around even more difficult). Chris tried repeatedly to call Jess for directions but we weren't getting any cell phone reception and we drove around for a long time as more and more people crowded into the neighborhood to attend parties and view the fireworks. Even after finally getting to the right side of the highway and to the right neighborhood, I had no luck finding any parking. Eventually dropped Kate and Chris off, telling them I'd find parking where I could and make my way back.
An hour later...
I parked nearly two miles away and walked back, downhill the entire way, finding three different sets of pedestrian stairs, crossing the highway again. It was insane! I swore to myself to cab back to the car after the party if that's what it took as I had no intention of walking back up to where the car was. Thankfully, Jess soothed my frazzled nerves with a shot of icy chocolate vodka, followed by a couple of servings of his famous macaroni and cheese and topped off with some truffle-popcorn (to die for!) and some chocolate chip cookies for good measure. Throw in a couple of mixed drinks, some fine fireworks, and Miss Kate entertaining the hell out of a new crowd of adults who had never enjoyed the Kate experience before and we had a great time. (At one point Kate overheard a reference to The Tick and exclaimed, "The Tick! I love The Tick!" which prompted someone else to say "That's the coolest ten-year-old ever." At another point, close to midnight, I came in from having been out on the deck and Kate was holding court as six adults sat around in a circle on the floor playing Cadoo with her. It was hugely entertaining.)
As it turned out, we decided to make the walk back to the car and it wasn't that bad. Certainly not as bad as I feared it would be on the way down. The night was calm and cool, the worst of the post-fireworks traffic had disappeared, and Kate was happy and chatty instead of being tired and whiny (which I'd dreaded). Made it home and collapsed into bed sometime between 1:30am and 2:00am.
Had to get up fairly early in order to get Kate packed and ready to go to her dad's (which included making sure Bonnie was packed up and had everything a bunny might need, plus getting the bike rack and Kate's bike mounted onto the Flexcar). Tried to get Kate a cinnamon roll from McDonald's but even though it was only 10:25 when I pulled up they were already serving lunch, the bastards! I made it to the exchange location, only nearly losing Kate's bike twice on the freeway twice. After spending all day driving, I took advantage of having the Flexcar to take my knives to be sharpened at the farmer's market and picked up some fresh food for a quick dinner: homemade bacon and asparagus ravioli (sold to me by genuine Italian immigrants who saw me off with a "Ciao, bella!", with chopped yellow tomatoes, fresh basil and oregano, and goat cheese on top with some Rainier cherries for dessert. Chris was sweet enough to make dinner tonight so I could finally sit down and relax.
So...Kate and Bonnie to Canada. Check. Knives sharpened. Check. Dinner prepared. Check. Yep, sounds like I'm free to park myself and finish watching Season One of Lost, finally.
This was followed up by the most round-about and incorrect directions I've ever gotten from Google Maps. Apparently Google maps does not recognize Jess's address and sent us to the wrong part of the city (on the wrong side of a highway that intersects the neighborhoods and makes getting around even more difficult). Chris tried repeatedly to call Jess for directions but we weren't getting any cell phone reception and we drove around for a long time as more and more people crowded into the neighborhood to attend parties and view the fireworks. Even after finally getting to the right side of the highway and to the right neighborhood, I had no luck finding any parking. Eventually dropped Kate and Chris off, telling them I'd find parking where I could and make my way back.
An hour later...
I parked nearly two miles away and walked back, downhill the entire way, finding three different sets of pedestrian stairs, crossing the highway again. It was insane! I swore to myself to cab back to the car after the party if that's what it took as I had no intention of walking back up to where the car was. Thankfully, Jess soothed my frazzled nerves with a shot of icy chocolate vodka, followed by a couple of servings of his famous macaroni and cheese and topped off with some truffle-popcorn (to die for!) and some chocolate chip cookies for good measure. Throw in a couple of mixed drinks, some fine fireworks, and Miss Kate entertaining the hell out of a new crowd of adults who had never enjoyed the Kate experience before and we had a great time. (At one point Kate overheard a reference to The Tick and exclaimed, "The Tick! I love The Tick!" which prompted someone else to say "That's the coolest ten-year-old ever." At another point, close to midnight, I came in from having been out on the deck and Kate was holding court as six adults sat around in a circle on the floor playing Cadoo with her. It was hugely entertaining.)
As it turned out, we decided to make the walk back to the car and it wasn't that bad. Certainly not as bad as I feared it would be on the way down. The night was calm and cool, the worst of the post-fireworks traffic had disappeared, and Kate was happy and chatty instead of being tired and whiny (which I'd dreaded). Made it home and collapsed into bed sometime between 1:30am and 2:00am.
Had to get up fairly early in order to get Kate packed and ready to go to her dad's (which included making sure Bonnie was packed up and had everything a bunny might need, plus getting the bike rack and Kate's bike mounted onto the Flexcar). Tried to get Kate a cinnamon roll from McDonald's but even though it was only 10:25 when I pulled up they were already serving lunch, the bastards! I made it to the exchange location, only nearly losing Kate's bike twice on the freeway twice. After spending all day driving, I took advantage of having the Flexcar to take my knives to be sharpened at the farmer's market and picked up some fresh food for a quick dinner: homemade bacon and asparagus ravioli (sold to me by genuine Italian immigrants who saw me off with a "Ciao, bella!", with chopped yellow tomatoes, fresh basil and oregano, and goat cheese on top with some Rainier cherries for dessert. Chris was sweet enough to make dinner tonight so I could finally sit down and relax.
So...Kate and Bonnie to Canada. Check. Knives sharpened. Check. Dinner prepared. Check. Yep, sounds like I'm free to park myself and finish watching Season One of Lost, finally.
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