So, here's vacation...
Fly from Arkansas to Seatac, drive Budget rent a truck from Seattle to Arkansas via Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. For those who don't know, my dad died from Emphysema last April. My mom has always wanted to see these two things, so I figured that I'd bring her with and she could see them for the first time in her life.
So... my younger brother was bringing me to the airport this morning. We had to be there at ten to five to get our six twenty flight. Problem? Getting up at 3:30. Didn't get to bed until about 11 last night, and then slept badly all night... unfamiliar room, unfamiliar bed and the neighbor's pet WOLF howling on and off all night (I am not kidding).
So, after a good solid two hours or so of sleep, my alarm went off, and I got up more or less bright eyed and kind of bushy tailed. Excited to fly again (first time in nine years), excited to be back in Washington. My kid brother... not so much. He slept until a little after four and still looked like he could use another several hours. I also realized that I had forgotten to write down the address of the rent-a-car place. No prob, I thought. I'll Google them on my cell phone at the airport and get the address.
So we get to the airport, brother drops us off, we go in and I scope out the check-in procedure. Went back to my mom and discovered that she had forgotten the letter from her doc that would allow her to carry medicine and oxygen concentrator on the plane. So my poor, tired bro had to turn around and come back. Fortunately, he hadn't gotten far. He brings it back, obviously anxious to get back to bed.
Check-in goes smoothly, 35 minute flight to Memphis goes smoothly. Guy meets us at the gate at Memphis airport with a wheelchair and takes us straight to the gate for our connecting flight. Check in goes smoothly, flight was... simply amazing, for someone who loves to fly but hates what the government has done to it. We flew so close to Mount Rainier (highest peak in contiguous United States) that it pretty much filled my window.
When I was a kid, and I tried to smile, I would wrinkle up my eyes. Felt like a smile, but apprently didn't LOOK like a smile to anyone else, who would always ask why I never smiled. So I watched other people smile and practiced it in the mirror until I developed one that didn't creep people out. Not too much, anyway. So I smile my good fake smile when I'm happy so people know that I am.
I realized, as I saw Mount Rainier and knew that I was home again... I was smiling for real. And I couldn't stop.
When we got on the ground in Washington, things went a little wonky for a bit.
All was going smoothly until my mom ran out of air when we tried to walk from luggage to the cab stand. It took them about a half an hour to find a wheelchair and someone to push it for us. Then, I found not one but THREE Budget rent-a-trucks in Renton. The telephone numbers for all three turned out to be disconnected. So as we're in the cab on our way to none of us really knew where, I finally got Budget's 800 number and got the address.
Then things went smoothly again. Went to the Costco location that I worked at locally before moving to Missouri, and was heartened by how many people not only remembered me, but expressed warm affection. Got to introduce my mom to some of the guys that love and consider some of my best friends there. My mom got comments ranging from “Randal's a good guy” to my favorite, from my friend Sean, who said “You've raised an interesting man there.” Backatcha, Sean. I miss talking to you. Got a case of water so we don't have to worry about finding any on the road, and Cattle Drive Chili con Carne, which we don't sell in the midwest. Delicious stuff. If your local Costco doesn't carry it, request it. It rocks.
Took my mom past the last apartment that I lived in here to show to her, and then headed for the storage unit. Only took me about 30 minutes to load up the truck, but, I'm sad to say, I lost a treasured possession. About nine years ago my friend Tami gave a neon sculpture of the Space Needle to me. Over the years, and through many moves, I struggled to keep it in one piece and succeeded. Today, as I moved a box, my neon Space Needle crashed to the concrete floor. It will be missed.
So we got on the road, me still feeling full of piss and vinegar. I figured four or five hours on the road and we'd be in Spokane, where we'd spend the night.
That was, of course, until the lack of sleep and long day caught up with me. So as I type this, we are at the Stewart Lodge in Cle Elum, Washington.
Peace.
Rev Randal
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