Weekend Excursion

Installment 1: Expect the Unexpected
Any post about "unexpected" occurrences, or "excursions" of any kind runs a high probability of involving our good friend Ryan. This one does, among other things...

For a few months now, Ryan has been planning a gathering of many friends from across the country. This gathering (which was planned for and occurred in Seattle, WA this past weekend) turned out to be a feast of renewed friendship. But it almost didn't happen.

The plan was to leave for Las Vegas (where we'd deposit Lucy to over-night with her grandparents and cousins) Thursday morning. After getting Lucy settled with family members, we'd depart for Seattle from the LV airport.

By 7:01 am Thursday morning we were merging onto the freeway. Not bad. A good, early start.

The drive to Vegas was relatively uneventful. Lucy was tired and uncomfortable but behaved admirably well as Disney songs danced from the car stereo and Baby Einstein favorites flared from our lap-top screen (I wholeheartedly choose this kind of twenty-first century traveling convenience over the covered-wagon conveyances of days-gone-by. I can't imagine the combination of desolate Utah landscapes and crabby two-year-old travelers. Bless those pioneers.)

When we got into Vegas, we could tell Lucy was tired. I was happy when she just up and crashed on grandma's carpet...

...but as I watched her sprawled on the floor (Lucy RARELY sleeps anywhere but in a bed) and as I took mental note of her day-long unwillingness to consume even her favorite foods, I seemed to hear something screaming in the back of my mind "Irregular! Uncharacteristic! Abnormal!"
Sure enough, minutes after her nap, she reproduced the items she had consumed that day in a few heat-breaking, stomach-wrenching moments.

Unexpected. This did not mesh well with our plan to kiss her good-bye and hop on an airplane. It's hard to leave a child under normal circumstances. But leave a sick child? I would just as soon have eaten the contents of her unsettled tummy.

So we didn't leave for Seattle that night, as planned. We didn't really think we'd make it at all. But thanks to Ryan and his airport string-pulling connections, we managed to fly on a stand-by flight to Seattle on Saturday morning, two days later than originally planned, which allowed plenty of time for Lucy's symptoms to subside and her fever to fade. We left confidant that she was seated comfortably in the lap of loving attention, that she would have the time of her life...
and so would we... The only down-fall was that the trip would be shorter. Since we were already leaving so late, we'd have to return the same evening. But we were excited anyway. We boarded our airplane, not bothering with a single piece of luggage (that's the way to travel!).

We met our friends at the airport, drove to a classy and famous glass art museum, dined fashionably on some fast food, and tried to do all the catching up we could fit in to a couple of hours. We expected to head to the airport again as soon as our picnic conversation wound down. But then we caught Ryan on his cell phone. "Tomorrow. yeah...We've got a place for them to stay. I even think we have an unused toothbrush." When I heard him mention "Lucy..." I knew that he was in the middle of negotiations with our baby-sitters. Of course Wes's parents were willing to keep Lucy as long as we wanted, but Wes and I were hesitant to give our consent - knowing that if we stayed in Seattle until Sunday, we'd be hard pressed to make it back to Vegas and then to Provo for school/work on Monday.

Dang, we have persuasive friends! And yes, we had a GREAT time! We did spend an unexpected amount of money: bleacher seats to that evening's Mariner's game were sold out, but Wes had never had the all-American-experience of a professional base-ball game...

and we thought it worth the splurge....

(although, as a side note, and to risk offending some of the know-baseball-loving readers of this blog, we determined that base ball is a pretty slow (dare I say boring?) sport to watch. The experience of the stadium and the field is phenomenal...boosted by the occasional good run (which you're most likely to miss because you've been occupied with another form of entertainment-like the wave- for the preceding ten minutes). Ryan noted audibly that you know something is a little lacking when the fans are watching clips of a basketball game on the stadium projector.)

And then we crashed at our friend's apartment and Wes and I shared the one unopened toothbrush in the apartment (if Lucy's vomiting didn't do you in above, that one is sure to get you!) - and I slept in my husband's-high-school-buddy's scrubs - and we LOVED every minute of being with our friends.

We probably have more to say about this trip. I've allowed us a "revisit" privilege by titling this post (novel) a first "installment" of our weekend excursion. To you faithful few who find your way here at the end - stay tuned!

I will also say, in closing, that Wes's mom gave us a book to read on the drive home. I hesitate to admit that I am now 85-pages into, rather gripped by, and anxious to continue turning the pages of a vampire book. Gasp! But the plot line is rather outstanding! On that most unexpected note, I will end this post.