I have about 15 minutes to write so I will make this quick...
Well, today is the day. I am meeting my mom in the Seattle airport and we will fly to Beijing nonstop this evening. I am pretty pumped...this morning it finally set in.
I flew into Seattle on Saturday morning after getting a ride to the Atlanta airport the previous night, which was a fun adventure in itself. I got to Atlanta around 11 PM and my flight wasn't leaving until 5:30 in the AM. So I just woandered around a bit. Funny thing happened; I ran into an old friend who went to Covenant who just returned from Costa Rica with a buddy and they gave me all the rest of their fruit bars (which was a real blessing because I was starving). So that set the tone for my trip...I knew God was going to bless it and some cool things were going to happen. I slept for about 3 hours in the airport, then got on the plane to Charlotte and from Charlotte to Seattle.
In Seattle I was picked up by an good friend of my dad and uncle's, (they lived together in Portland for a while) Andy, whose family I was staying with while I was in town. It was an incredible blessing to get to spend time with Andy and hear awesome and hilarious stories of my dad and his brother in Hawaii or in Portland. I greatly appreciated the entire Northrop family for taking me in and giving me a great experience.
On Saturday Andy and another friend of my dad's, Dave, took me through West Seattle to Alki Beach where we had some fish and chips at Spud's. It was a gorgeous day in Seattle...no clouds whatsoever. The Olympic mountains were gorgeous that day. And tons of people were out. I loved that atmosphere at the beach. Then that night we had a great dinner cooked by Terri, Andy's wife...after I fell asleep for a couple of hours on the couch.
Sunday morning after church I went with Anna (their daughter) and her boyfriend, Jeremy, to a Seattle Mariners game...forever my favorite sports team. And it was awesome! Safeco field is amazing and the Mariners won! From there we hung out a bit and went bowling that night. The next day I slept in a bit and then went with Anna and Jeremy to the Waterfront downtown and the famous Pike Place Market which was pretty sweet. I really loved the Market and the environment that it brought. And the weather was still beautitful! Warm and sunny. tons of people were out, many street performers, the fish tossers were throwing fish around, the hippies were selling their art, the produce was fresh and amazing, etc.
And one really cool experience was the gum wall. A huge wall where everyone has put their gum over the years.
Today I walked around the marina here in Des Moines and spent some time on the Puget Sound. Terri made some amazing salmon for us. And now, I'm about to head out the door to the airport. So, here we go...next post will be coming from the Orient.
-b garrison
