This last weekend Roman and I hopped on a plane and surprised Erin in Seattle. Rick and I have been plotting this for almost a month, so I was SHOCKED that she never caught on! Erica really deserves credit for the idea; after she visited Erin she told me to buy plane tickets and get my little tuckus up there. I had been trying to find a good time, and we all decided that I should just go up and surprise her as a belated b-day gift, so that's what I did. I have to admit that I was really nervous flying with Roman by myself. I knew that I could do it, but I had figured that Marc would be there for his first flight, so I was a little worried since I didn't know how he would handle it, but he did just wonderfully. We got in just before lunch on Thursday. Rick picked us up, and we headed for Erin's office. They had already planned to go to lunch that day; so when he went to pick her up, I hid in the street. As soon as she came out of her building I walked up behind her and asked, "Excuse me miss, do you have the time?" Well Erin turned around and had this look on her face like "why is this person talking to me," and then she paused and said, "Heh, hey, HEY, what are you doing here??" It was pretty funny. She was in total shock, and I don't think the fact that I was there to see her really sank in until well after lunch when we went shopping downtown. The flagship Nordies was everything I thought it would be and more... Unfortunately, Roman and I were sharing one big bag, so I had zero space to take anything back with me, except for one little headband. Next time I am bringing another bag. OOH! And then they took me to get cupcakes... they were so good! We had Lavender, Salted Caramel, Chocolate with Cream-cheese Frosting, Carrot, Lemon, and Toasted Coconut with Lime. MMM. Erin and Rick both had to work Friday, so Roman and I headed out for a little bit on our own. We walked down to the Locks, which are directly across the water from their place... Their view is BE-A-UTIFUL. I am totally jealous. I grabbed some lunch at the fish and chip shack, found a snowsuit for Roman for our hike on Sunday, and then we headed back. I think Roman and I needed to just relax for a bit before the weekend really got underway. We spent the rest of the day watching the boats from Erin's window... did I mention that I'm totally jealous??
Let's see... Erin and Rick showed me around their area some more when they got home, and then we started our Risk game! I have not played Risk in YEARS, so we had a game going all weekend long. On Saturday Erin and I headed out to the Arboretum... but things didn't really go as planned. First let me say that I was in Seattle on one of the nicest weekends they have had. It was easily 75 degrees out and not a cloud in the sky. So I, of course, was waaay over dressed, and so was Roman. So we were a bit hot, and I realized that Rome's little panda hat was never going to protect his skin from the sun. Erin and I also realized that we had the wrong shoes on. We both had flats on, but the marshy area that you can hike through to get to the arboretum was too wet. So we decided to just grab a pair of shoes from the first store we found. This of course sent us on what seemed to be a wild goose chase, but I did at least find a wide-brimmed hat for Roman. We realized that we had been searching for some cheap mud shoes for so long that we might as well head back to Erin's to grab the shoes I already had and change into something cooler. But in doing all that driving I got to see sooo much of Seattle, and we stopped at this place called Gas Works Park which was really pretty. Okay... a funny little story. While we were at GWP we noticed that there was a wedding taking place. And then we noticed that all of the bridesmaids were wearing rain boots and holding big umbrellas, which is a cute idea in Seattle, except for the fact that there was not a cloud in the sky and it was 75 degrees out. Even worse: it poured the next day. That poor bride. We did finally make it through the marsh and into the arboretum, and both places were amazing.
Easter Sunday was a lot of fun. Rick surprised Erin and me with an egg hunt in their apartment, and then we headed out to Olympic National Park to do some hiking. Rick's brother Nick joined us for the day, and we all had a great time. We took a ferry across the Sound and then an hour or so drive up into the mountains. It was beautiful, and I totally felt like I was on the moon of Endor and an ewok was going to jump right out. I didn't help that Erin was also wearing a hat that made her look like Leia. Aaah. We are such nerds! OH!! And in reference to another great movie, we grabbed some peperoni sticks at the gas station, and Erin totally looked like General Zolo! It was hilarious. I have included the picture so you can see for yourself. That night we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the apartment where Rick made some fabulous pulled pork sandwiches, and we taught Nick how to play Catchphrase. It was a great way to spend Rome's first Easter.
Monday was basically my last day, so we headed out to do downtown stuff. I saw the original Starbucks, Pikes Place (and I saw someone throw a fish), and Pioneer Square. We tried to do this cool underground tour of downtown during which they discuss the founding of the city and all the naughty/silly things that took place, but Roman just wasn't having any of it. So we left the tour a bit early and then headed back to finish our game of Risk. Since we only had one night left, I went on a massive attack and was the first one off the board. Rick "won," but really, I want a rematch when we have a proper amount of time. We realized when we got back that we didn't take any pictures that day... I think that that was because we were on a mission to see some things, and we had to make sure that we were back in time to play our game and get some rest before Tuesday. It was a great trip, but it seemed sooo short. Erin and I haven't ever lived this far apart, and we have spent most of our lives in the same city, so it's a little weird and sad that I can't just hop in the car and go visit her, but she and Rick seem to be really happy where they are, so I will either have to move closer to her or sign up for a credit card that has a good air-miles reward program... for now it will have to be the latter.