A Bit of a Rocky Start
Let's just hope this morning was an anomaly.
We were up early and finished our last minute chores. (Notice how I made it sound like we were both doing chores).
We loaded the last minute items into the suitcase. (Notice how I said "suitcase" singular). Months ago, I had this brilliant moment where I flashed on some of our previous adventures and how we never had enough room to bring everything back. In Germany, we shipped wine back to the states. In Vietnam, we shipped gifts back via the slowest boat possible. They arrived in Washington two months after we did. On our cross country motorcycle trip, we shipped dirty laundry back. So, this trip I was going to be smart and I bought these two gynormous Samsonite suitcases. The head of Nisson could have escaped Japan in these babies.
As we started to load up yesterday, I realized we'd be dragging these two behemoths around Spain half empty. So, the executive decision was made to only take one. And everything fit into one with some room to spare. That was until I put the suitcase on the scale and it was 55 lbs. Five pounds over the limit. So, now I'm on a mission to unload what we don't need. There goes the Costco size package of trail mix. Adios to the binoculars. And then I asked Sonja to see what she could leave out of her make up kit. BINGO!!! Not sure why she needed 3 bottles of hand lotion, or the face cream, foot cream, elbow cream and body cream.
A quick unload and voila, we're down to 45 pounds!! Success.
I load everything into the car, I answer Sonja, "Yes honey, I have the passports" (for the 4th time) and we're finally on the road. Tune in the radio and they tell us about a wreck on I-5. Federal Way to Seattle is an hour and 20 minutes. At that moment, I was transported to another place where some of the finest 4-letter words I've ever uttered under my breath were unleashed.
We were up early and finished our last minute chores. (Notice how I made it sound like we were both doing chores).
We loaded the last minute items into the suitcase. (Notice how I said "suitcase" singular). Months ago, I had this brilliant moment where I flashed on some of our previous adventures and how we never had enough room to bring everything back. In Germany, we shipped wine back to the states. In Vietnam, we shipped gifts back via the slowest boat possible. They arrived in Washington two months after we did. On our cross country motorcycle trip, we shipped dirty laundry back. So, this trip I was going to be smart and I bought these two gynormous Samsonite suitcases. The head of Nisson could have escaped Japan in these babies.
As we started to load up yesterday, I realized we'd be dragging these two behemoths around Spain half empty. So, the executive decision was made to only take one. And everything fit into one with some room to spare. That was until I put the suitcase on the scale and it was 55 lbs. Five pounds over the limit. So, now I'm on a mission to unload what we don't need. There goes the Costco size package of trail mix. Adios to the binoculars. And then I asked Sonja to see what she could leave out of her make up kit. BINGO!!! Not sure why she needed 3 bottles of hand lotion, or the face cream, foot cream, elbow cream and body cream.
A quick unload and voila, we're down to 45 pounds!! Success.
I load everything into the car, I answer Sonja, "Yes honey, I have the passports" (for the 4th time) and we're finally on the road. Tune in the radio and they tell us about a wreck on I-5. Federal Way to Seattle is an hour and 20 minutes. At that moment, I was transported to another place where some of the finest 4-letter words I've ever uttered under my breath were unleashed.
We get to the airport around 9am, really early for a 1pm flight. For some reason, I wasn't able to check us in online. No biggie... go to the counter, check in, give them the luggage and head to the gate, right? When I see the line, I'm reminded of the restroom line at Yankee Stadium during the 7th inning stretch. At least 100 people in line. After 20 minutes of doing the airport shuffle (move ahead 18 inches, drop the backpack and wait. Rinse and repeat). We get to the counter only to hear the girl say "oh, you're flying international. You need to be in that line over there". I look over my shoulder at the chow line for Shawshank Redemption.
Not phased a bit. We're on vacation. We're leaving the grey and rain of Seattle for sunnier skies. As we get to the counter, I'm bullet-proof against anything messing with my trip. And then, I put that behemoth of a suitcase on the scale and saw the display with it's bright, red numbers for all to see... 51 pounds!!! Oh, geez. Now, I'm going to have to do the airport counter "act of shame". Put the luggage onto the ground, fumble with the TSA locks, remove one pound of contents and transfer that weight to our backpacks. But my mind racing, I realize that if I do that, this can only get worse.
You see, for my birthday, my wife thought it would be funny to get me a gag gift. Our grand kids love Spongebob Squarepants and we've spent countless hours watching the Spongebob Squarepants movie over and over and over and over again. Sonja giggled as I opened my birthday present of four pair of Spongebob Squarepants underwear. I laughed too. I thought it was funny too. But that was then. Now, my mind flashed to the fact that there was a distinct possibility of me reaching into my suitcase and in front of everyone at Seatac airport, pulling out my Spongebob Squarepants underwear. Try explaining that to the Chinese family waiting in line behind us.
My mind racing, I decide to make friends with the guy behind the counter in the hopes he'll let us slide on the one pound infraction. "Wow Kevin. You sure are busy today." "Doing a heckuva job there Kevin." "You been losing weight Kevin?" Don't know if my attempt at charm was working or if he just thought I was gay, but down the ramp went the suitcase.
Not phased a bit. We're on vacation. We're leaving the grey and rain of Seattle for sunnier skies. As we get to the counter, I'm bullet-proof against anything messing with my trip. And then, I put that behemoth of a suitcase on the scale and saw the display with it's bright, red numbers for all to see... 51 pounds!!! Oh, geez. Now, I'm going to have to do the airport counter "act of shame". Put the luggage onto the ground, fumble with the TSA locks, remove one pound of contents and transfer that weight to our backpacks. But my mind racing, I realize that if I do that, this can only get worse.
You see, for my birthday, my wife thought it would be funny to get me a gag gift. Our grand kids love Spongebob Squarepants and we've spent countless hours watching the Spongebob Squarepants movie over and over and over and over again. Sonja giggled as I opened my birthday present of four pair of Spongebob Squarepants underwear. I laughed too. I thought it was funny too. But that was then. Now, my mind flashed to the fact that there was a distinct possibility of me reaching into my suitcase and in front of everyone at Seatac airport, pulling out my Spongebob Squarepants underwear. Try explaining that to the Chinese family waiting in line behind us.
My mind racing, I decide to make friends with the guy behind the counter in the hopes he'll let us slide on the one pound infraction. "Wow Kevin. You sure are busy today." "Doing a heckuva job there Kevin." "You been losing weight Kevin?" Don't know if my attempt at charm was working or if he just thought I was gay, but down the ramp went the suitcase.
Feeling a small sense of victory, we headed to our gate.
On our expeditions, there has always been moments where I've tried to do things to make my wife of almost 40 years smile and know how much she means to me. I've gotten us into the Delta Skymiles Lounge and so we'll have a comfortable wait. In hindsight, I probably should have told her about this and not tried to make it a small surprise, but I'm not that smart. Instead, when we reached our gate with Sonja following me, I kept going towards the lounge only to look back over my shoulder to the woman at the seats of gate S8 with that unmistakable look on her face of "Bill, what the hell are you doing? Can you not read the sign saying 'S8'?"
Didn't take her long to settle in though. Open bar at 10am? And free food? (I'm the hero again).
1- Here We Go Again
1b - A Bit of A Rocky Start
2 - 21,396 Steps
3 - Cordoba, You're My New Love
4 - Cordoba 2.0
5 - The Rock
6 - Tangier, Morocco
7 - Spanish Countryside
8 - And Then There Was Ronda
9 - Seville
On our expeditions, there has always been moments where I've tried to do things to make my wife of almost 40 years smile and know how much she means to me. I've gotten us into the Delta Skymiles Lounge and so we'll have a comfortable wait. In hindsight, I probably should have told her about this and not tried to make it a small surprise, but I'm not that smart. Instead, when we reached our gate with Sonja following me, I kept going towards the lounge only to look back over my shoulder to the woman at the seats of gate S8 with that unmistakable look on her face of "Bill, what the hell are you doing? Can you not read the sign saying 'S8'?"
Didn't take her long to settle in though. Open bar at 10am? And free food? (I'm the hero again).
And, then the day got interesting...
Flight supposed to leave at 1pm? Nah. That would be too easy. After heading to the gate at 12:15, only to find that this particular gate was tucked away in a corner of S terminal that couldn't hold any seats. And after standing in the mass of bodies, shifting from one leg to the other as the sweat began to pour down my body. After hearing the Morman Tabernacle Choir of babies crying for 20 minutes. After the gate employee gave the third announcement over a microphone that nobody could hear. After the ninth look at my watch to see that it was now 1:45, I got to meet the Chinese lady.
I don't know if she was really Chinese, I just assume she was. We weren't really formally introduced. She came from the next gate over which was unloading passengers. I didn't actually notice her as she weaved her way through the throng of sweaty people waiting to board. My first encounter with this woman was when she went face first down to the floor, landing with her head on my shoes... passed out cold. My initial thought was that something had fallen out of my backpack. It took me a few seconds of looking down at this woman, sound asleep on my Nike's, to realize what had happened. By that time, her husband had scooped her up, telling everyone that she was OK and off they went.
When the Delta employees finally got word to us that they had to "replace a part" on the plane, we headed back up to the lounge for the short 4-hour delay of our flight. Enough time to eat again, read the paper again and let Sonja have 4 more drinks.
Just a routine flight out of Seatac.
1b - A Bit of A Rocky Start
2 - 21,396 Steps
3 - Cordoba, You're My New Love
4 - Cordoba 2.0
5 - The Rock
6 - Tangier, Morocco
7 - Spanish Countryside
8 - And Then There Was Ronda
9 - Seville
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