Two years late, but we are finally doing it: Seattle. We were supposed to make this trip in Aug 2020, but then 2020 happened. And then 2021 happened, too. So, today, August 13, 2022, we are finally getting on a plane and heading to Seattle for the 20th (22nd!) anniversary of geocaching.

And in what is becoming an all too common occurrence, we kicked the trip off with a bang. We planned for months, prepped for weeks, and packed for days. Then, while doing the last minute steps of emptying the kitchen trash and loading the car, the mud room door got left open and Alley disappeared. Cue urgent search of every stupid hidy hole in the house and around outside. No damn cat! Unfortunately, our flight was set to depart in less than 2 hours; we gotta go! So I messaged our cat sitter to let her know what’s up and we headed out.

We made it to the airport on time and got our bags checked in. Getting through security went pretty well until they got to Carson. To his credit, he went through every pouch in every pocket of his carry-on before we left home to make sure he took out anything remotely questionable. However, it was his geocaching hiking pack and it has a lot of weird stuff in it! So, of course, TSA took his bag aside and started digging through it. Ultimately, the culprit item: a matchbox car 🙂 I mean, yep, it looks really weird on the X-ray machine!

Anyhow, we made it through to our gate with plenty of time before our flight. Carson spent part of this time messaging one of our neighbors about the cat, in case they might be able to see her on any of their video cameras.

The first flight was uneventful. We made the short hop over to Chicago in what felt like record time. Now we wait. And wait.. And wait… our connecting flight isn’t for another 4 hours.

To pass the time, we attempted a leisurely lunch at an O’hare restaurant. Yum…? Then we made our way to the next gate and got comfy. Card games, puzzle books, and dot to dots can only last so long. So, after a couple of hours, Carson and the girls took our new friend (ie: the really nice lady sitting next to us chatting in the terminal) to the popcorn place down the concourse. About the time they returned, the airline had started organizing for boarding.

Once on the plane, I sat in the back with Mackenzie and Carson sat with Ellie across the aisle and a few rows up. I’m not sure about Ellie, but Mackenzie was over the moon when she realized she got to pick out her own shows and/or movies, and the airline was giving her a headset! OMG! Such a happy kid at that moment!

Also, as I was about to turn my phone to airplane mode, I received a message from our cat sitter, the missing cat had been located. Apparently, in all the chaos of us getting out of the house, she had snuck downstairs and was likely hiding amongst the storage/construction mess. Such a relief to hear she will not be living outside for the next week.

4 hours later, we landed at SeaTac. Ellie is the only one who slept at all on the plane, and that was only the last 10 minutes of the flight. So by now, we are all absolutely exhausted and starting to hit the tired mood swings. Everything from uncontrollable tears to uncontrollable giggles.

Picking up the rental car was fast and easy. Then a quick dinner in the car on the way to our accommodations.

For this trip we opted for a little more space than a regular hotel room. We ended up with a one bedroom apartment a few block south of Seattle Center with a full kitchen, in-unit washer/drier, and pool access. We met our host’s representative by the back door and he showed us where to park and how to get into the apartment.

Less then an hour later, the girls were passed out on the futons in the living room and Carson & I were unpacked and headed to bed ourselves.