Manifest Destiny

Today I flew out west to Seattle. I have to first start off by saying that I am not much of a fan of flying. I hate all the waiting - bag check, security, loading the plane, take off etc. It also bugs me how tense everyone is. I'm not a terrorist people. The lady at security asked me why I looked so happy "I'm going on a road trip" I cheerfully informed her. Her reply "then why are you flying?" She made me walk through the metal detectors a couple extra times because she said there was a skip in my step. Sorry lady for being excited. bitch. I flew Alaska Air which wasn't bad. I chatted up the older man next to me because he was watching me take notes in my Pacific West Coast travel book. I told me some good places to go and check out.

When we landed I was surprised how cold I was. Brrr! It's in the 60's here (which is awesome!) I put on my hoodie and headed to the newly opened light rail that takes you from the airport into town. I thought the light rail would be more crowded but I basically road it by myself the whole way in. It was amazing. I felt like if I was in a movie, that train ride would have been a happy montage of me looking out the windows of the train in awe. Seattle is beautiful! There is art everywhere. People paint murals and mosaics on the side of buildings and have sculptures everywhere. I felt like I was riding a train in one of my dreams.

Michelle, a longtime friend from high school, lives in Seattle and opened her family's Tex Mex restaurant in downtown Seattle, Pioneer Square. She and Ed, her mate, have been generous enough to invite me (and tomorrow my sister) into their lives for a couple of days. I road the light rail all the way to their restaurant. Then we headed back the direction I had just come in to go to their house and get a bite to eat. They live in a cute area in South Seattle called Burien. It's sort of a suburb but their house is big and Ed built this enormous water slide in their back yard. If it gets warmer in the next couple of days, I will try it.

If I can remember correctly, Manifest Destiny is the idea the US was "destined" to expand to the west side of the country in the 1800's. For the jaded East Coasters and Middle-Americans, the "west" embodied all the hopes, dreams of success and happiness. It's day one of my west coast travels and so far so good. Seattle feels like it could be this magical place where anything can happen. I don't really believe in destiny but I'm glad this city was settled. Tomorrow I get to wonder around the city by myself and explore. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. This will be the only day on the trip that I will exclusively be by myself. Jessica will be getting into Seattle around dinner time so we might get some people together and go out.

I'm not sure what else to say but I'm giddy. Hopefully I can get to sleep.