Taken a-back in Seattle

So you know how my last post was about Denise and her back surgery she had last Tuesday? Well, this post is sort of similar, except it wasn’t on Tuesday, it was Wednesday…. and she didn’t ride to the hospital in a friend’s SUV with the seats laid down, it was in an ambulance… and when I saw her I didn’t set off fireworks in celebration. Are you getting the idea? Yes, Denise had to have another surgery on the 4th!!

I know, such a bummer. She said she moved a little wrong trying to re-position herself more comfortably on the couch when the searing pain in her leg started up again. This time, she could not get the pain under control. After the nice ride by the ambulance- not so much- she went through another MRI where they discovered a disc fragment that was protruding into her nerves that go to her leg. She was able to get into surgery today- Happy July 4th, Mr. Surgeon- and is feeling much better.

So the other sister-in-law, Tia, is on her way to Seattle to take care of Denise for a while. I’m so glad she can go.

While I’m at it, I thought I would recap a few experiences I had while I was out there. I know Seattle is an awesome place to visit with lots of things to do. I didn’t do much because I went out to be with and take care of Denise, even if it meant only letting out her dog and doing some laundry but I did get a few things in.

Of course, I sampled some Starbuck’s coffee. I didn’t visit the original place. I’m totally fine with that. I bet it tastes just the same as the one I found in the Albertson’s near Denise and the one by Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines, the one the grocery store in Denton, TX where Steve and Tia live and the one in Super Target in Ankeny, or Ames, or… If you think Starbuck’s is in a lot of places where you live, then I’d say they are at least twice as prevalent in Seattle area. If you don’t like buying from “the machine”, not to worry- there are coffee shops galore there. There are two little coffee shacks two blocks from Denise, one block from each other! I didn’t buy from them because I didn’t know what I was going to get and since I was going to spend money, I wanted it to be good. Starbucks, if nothing else, is consistent, reliable.

The Wednesday I was there turned out to be the clearest day of the week. 70^o, no rain, it was really nice. As I drove to the hospital to pick up Denise, I could see Mt. Rainier. As I drove around later doing errands, I caught of glimpse of the Cascade mountains to the east and the Olympic mountains to the west. In the evening, Denise’s co-worker, Vicki, took me down to Richmond Beach along Puget Sound. I also got to see where Denise and the whole Christian Veterinary Medicine group work at. The building and site share several different groups along with a school. (I don’t remember it’s name, but it was built by a man for his child who had tuberculosis. The old morgue is now the Science building for the school. *gulp*)

I spent the next day cooking up some freezer things for Denise to have later. Friends were already bringing her meals and by the looks of their portions, she was going to have enough food for quite a while. I suggested she spread out her meal schedule to every other day.

The day I flew out, I got to see the Space Needle a bit closer up as we drove by on our way to the airport. It was overcast otherwise Diana would have taken me to a great lookout. I hopped on a puddle jumper of a plane that would take me to Portland. I’ve always thought the term puddle jumper was not very nice. I’ve always flown on a fuller size aircraft and just one time have I ridden on a 4-seater, which I didn’t think should rightly be called that. But the moment I saw this one, I felt that the name fit aptly. (I could be totally wrong on the whole name to which plane thing- so just ignore me.) The poor stewardess barely got our complimentary beverages served before she was collecting them and preparing for landing. It was her 5th flight of the day and she had two more to go!!

Now I’ve got a 2 hour layover in Portland (why couldn’t it have been Dallas and then I could have seen the TX cousins?!) and I’m starving. I take a little time to cruise up and down the different concourses and see the options. I decided on the Laurelwood Brewing Co. and ordered their Free Range Red and Brewer’s burger. Um, yeah, it was awesome!! All of it! I can’t tell you what I detected in the beer that made it great (my palate isn’t really that defined) but I’m pretty much a sucker for a burger with melty cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce and the fries were THE BEST FRIES I THINK I’VE EVER HAD!! Maybe it all tasted good because I was hungry. Not sure. Don’t care. Don’t care either about the two young twenties guys checking me out as they ate their basket of fries only and drank a pitcher of light beer and one guy kept repeatedly scratching his chest under his shirt. Mature. I texted Bill the whole scenario. He didn’t feel threatened but did offer to come out and and beat ‘em up.

If I had time, I would have loved to see more of the area. And take in the tastes. One of Denise’s friend’s husband has gone to culinary school and is now in wine school and oh, boy, I was drooling at the thought of spending some time with them. Then when I got home, I found a foodie blog by a Seattle resident with some restaurant reviews! That would have been a delicious time. But I’m not even going to say when it’s my turn to go out… I just thought you’d want to add that to your little travel information stash.

One last thing I noticed about Washington, there aren’t that many different state plates there. Excuse me?!

We’re down to one last plate- Vermont. I know the chances of a Vermont plate showing up in Washington are pretty slim, but a plate is a plate no matter where it’s found. (Dr. Seuss anyone?) I saw 2 Cali plates, 3 Oregon ones, 2 Canada and 1 Idaho plate. The rest were Washington. I thought it weird. With exception to Hawaii, where we mailed Ben out flat to, we have found all of them in Iowa!!

Okay, so to wrap up. Denise, post-second-surgery is starting to feel better so let’s pray for a continuation of healing for her. I’d rather not visit her under these circumstances again. If I ever do go back to Seattle, I know there will be plenty to see and taste!!

Tell me, have you ever been to Seattle and what was your favorite thing?