Tales from the Road Trip: The part where I pull a bait n’ switch on you by not actually getting to the road trip part yet. (Sorry.)

WARNING: This post may contain peanuts. And a picture or two.


A few weeks ago, Wednesday and I boarded a plane and flew 2000 miles from Chicago….

….to Seattle….



….to get some tasks done and to hang out with my family for a little bit before packing up my car with our pet frogs (whom my mom has been babysitting for the past year) and driving them back home to Chicago.

The joke was on us though. The family went camping instead.

*blink*

(Okay.)

(Wow.)

(Do we offend?)

Seriously. Wednesday and I were left home alone in my mom’s place for a week, which actually ended up being a lot of fun, unexpectedly…. despite the fact that we missed “our dude” Scope like a couple of big, pathetic crybabies.

*sniffle*

We had Wednesday’s friends come over; we went shopping (Oh, Hallmark’s ridiculously cute, yet offensively expensive Keepsake Ornaments, how I love thee!); we went on hour long walks up hills; we plotted mammoth plans involving thousands of photographs and Windows Live Movie Maker; we marveled that Autumn is already alive, kicking, and changing the leaves of the trees in Seattle (Fall? Already? Really? C’mon!)….



….we took a zillion pointless pictures of ourselves and our new ‘dos….





….and we met up with Wednesday’s Guardian ad Litem, who will be speaking for her in court. (But I'm no longer allowed to talk about that. Sorry.)

On the 17th, my family decided to crawl back out of the woods to spend a few days with us before we had to leave. And on the 19th, Scope flew into town.

Or he was supposed to.

Thanks to Mother Nature throwing a temper tantrum on the east coast and grounding his flight, his plane ended up three and a half hours behind schedule. He FINALLY landed in Seattle at 1:00 am on the 20th.

*shaking my fist menacingly at Mother Nature*

It had dawned on Wednesday and me that in all his visits to Seattle, we have never shown Scope Seattle’s beaches. Our favorite beach in Seattle is Seahurst Park. I have been going there since I was a wee, runty, obnoxious kid, as has Wednesday. So, Saturday the three of us loaded up into my car and went to the beach….

Sunday we met up with my mom, my sister and her brood at I-Hop for breakfast….




….where my littlest niece showed off her new walking skillz (which Scope got an uber-cute video of which you can see HERE)….



….and then Wednesday, Scope and I met up with Callista and her hubby at Mourning Market, a spooky, gothic-themed craft fair, which was fantastic!




There were hearses parked outside….




(Yeah, that’s right. It’s the Barbie Dream Hearse. Fabulous!)

And there were all kinds of creepy crafts and ghoulish goodies to purchase inside….






My favorite were the Siamese twin ragdolls….





But for $30 a doll? Ouch! The cheapskate in me said, “I don’t think so.” However, the cheapskate in me applauded enthusiastically and even did a backflip or two for the free bat-shaped chocolates they were handing out….



(FREE chocolates?!?! Yes, please!!!!)

Sunday night, Scope, Wednesday and I went to my dad’s house to visit him. Three days before, he had started cringe-worthy cancer treatment (I’ll spare you the details of what was done to the poor fella) and was still in some pain, but he really, really wanted to see us before we hit the road the next morning. And we really, really wanted to see him too!

He showed Scope the massive model train track layout he is building in his backyard….




….and then when Dad said he felt well enough to go out for Mexican food, we all piled in his van and went out to dinner….




After dinner we went back to my mom’s place to start packing up all our scattered belongings for the Road Trip (*insert vacation-y fanfare here*) back home to Chicago the next morning.



Up next: Day 1 of our Road Trip, where we peed in a town called Ritzville! Stay tuned.

© Coracabana