Oktober Trip 2009 Day 3
I was up a little earlier today but not by much. I made sure that I got ready for the day before doing anything else so I didn't get behind for the day. I got online for a while then around noon Bo and I headed out to Arctic Circle for one last lunch there before they closed for good.
I asked dad if I could borrow the camera to get some good last pictures of the place. He was ok with that so Bo and I headed out to lunch. The place was busier than I had ever seen it. But I also think that might have been because it was Sunday. There seemed to be at least two big groups there eating lunch. I asked when I ordered if it was ok to take pictures and the girl behind the counter said it was fine. She said a number of people had been doing the same thing.
We found a seat at the far end of the restaurant and I got as many pictures as I could of the place and close-ups of things like the counter. After lunch I took a picture of the empty lobby and then some pictures around the outside of the building.
I then drove down the road and decided to take some pictures of Chico's too. I don't like the place anymore but it's a staple of Moses Lake and as iconic here as Arctic Circle. After that we stopped by Arby's to see if mom and dad were still there. Well as you might have guessed, at 2pm they weren't even there yet. -_-
So we drove back home and I worked on getting the pictures off the camera and getting packed at the same time. Thankfully Bo helps a lot with the packing so I was able to direct here and there and help out when it was something I had to do personally. I managed to get the pictures up and we got the packing done. :)
I told my parents before they left that I needed to head out of town at 3pm because I needed to be in Federal Way by 6:30. Well naturally they didn't pay any attention that time frame and got back just after 3. So I had to rush the kids through packing up the rest of their stuff (that I didn't get already) and looking around for things they might have missed.
We didn't make it out of town by 3pm but we did get going by 3:30. The last thing to do after packing up was to get gas in the car. I rode with my dad in his SLK while mom rode in my car while my son drove. Dad didn't say much but thanked us for coming to visit. I hate to leave early but it's getting hard to stay later anymore with the attitude both parent's have. That and I wanted to have dinner with Erik. :)
So we were on our way in what is probably the earliest time ever at 3:30. My son drove while I had planned to sleep. Well that went by the way side when I decided, instead, to write out the journal entries for the weekend. I got through almost all of them too!
I thought we would make it in record time to Federal way but I forgot about all the construction on the east side of the pass. -_- That traffic diversion we passed on our way over was going to be a bitch this time around since it was a typical traveling day for people heading home. -_-
It actually ended up being easier than we though but it still slowed us down a bit. I took some pictures with my camera and attempted to send them to Erik to show him what we were up against. I called him too to let him know that we would probably be late. He asked that I call when we were at North Bend so he knew when to leave.
Besides being slow the traffic was pretty much steady moving. We actually made it to North Bend in the time I thought we would. I we got a few things but for the most part opted to wait until dinner. I called Erik to let him know that we were just leaving North Bend and he decided to head out.
My son continued driving and we got back on I-90. I told him that he needed to take the exit to Auburn Tacoma. Well he was so fixated on the fact that the sign didn't say Tacoma that he nearly hit the Honda in front of us that was stopped for the light. -_- The rest of the ride was uneventful but both of us were on edge. -_-
We got off I-90 heading north so we could catch the Federal way exit and continued on. It's been a while since we were at Jasmine Mongolian Grill so I didn't know exactly where it was. As soon as I saw where it was I told my son to take a left turn and go through the parking lot. Well I meant right turn and when we realized this he hit the breaks and did some serious skidding to a halt! _~_ Thankfully there were no cars behind us.
With some arguing about whose fault it was we got turned around and going the right direction. Just as we parked in the parking lot for Jasmine, Erik texted me to tell me that they had arrived. :) We headed inside to join them.
Dinner was awesome as I expected. I love that Jasmine offers tofu on their food bar. :) I had a good meal and was completely stuffed before we were done! We had good conversation with Erik, Darren and Nick.
It wasn't too long before the restaurant wanted to close so we agreed to head out and re-group at Erik's house. I drove from the restaurant. We gathered at Erik's for awhile talking. Darren shared some of his pumpkin pie and I showed everyone the Slap Chop Rap. Hehe. :)
It wasn't long before it was getting late and we needed to head towards home. I believe we were actually out of Tacoma around 10pm! That's also record time. :) Bo drove on the way home while I slept.
I had a great weekend and was sad to be heading home but glad that it all went well. I can't wait for my next vacation though. :)
I asked dad if I could borrow the camera to get some good last pictures of the place. He was ok with that so Bo and I headed out to lunch. The place was busier than I had ever seen it. But I also think that might have been because it was Sunday. There seemed to be at least two big groups there eating lunch. I asked when I ordered if it was ok to take pictures and the girl behind the counter said it was fine. She said a number of people had been doing the same thing.
We found a seat at the far end of the restaurant and I got as many pictures as I could of the place and close-ups of things like the counter. After lunch I took a picture of the empty lobby and then some pictures around the outside of the building.
I then drove down the road and decided to take some pictures of Chico's too. I don't like the place anymore but it's a staple of Moses Lake and as iconic here as Arctic Circle. After that we stopped by Arby's to see if mom and dad were still there. Well as you might have guessed, at 2pm they weren't even there yet. -_-
So we drove back home and I worked on getting the pictures off the camera and getting packed at the same time. Thankfully Bo helps a lot with the packing so I was able to direct here and there and help out when it was something I had to do personally. I managed to get the pictures up and we got the packing done. :)
I told my parents before they left that I needed to head out of town at 3pm because I needed to be in Federal Way by 6:30. Well naturally they didn't pay any attention that time frame and got back just after 3. So I had to rush the kids through packing up the rest of their stuff (that I didn't get already) and looking around for things they might have missed.
We didn't make it out of town by 3pm but we did get going by 3:30. The last thing to do after packing up was to get gas in the car. I rode with my dad in his SLK while mom rode in my car while my son drove. Dad didn't say much but thanked us for coming to visit. I hate to leave early but it's getting hard to stay later anymore with the attitude both parent's have. That and I wanted to have dinner with Erik. :)
So we were on our way in what is probably the earliest time ever at 3:30. My son drove while I had planned to sleep. Well that went by the way side when I decided, instead, to write out the journal entries for the weekend. I got through almost all of them too!
I thought we would make it in record time to Federal way but I forgot about all the construction on the east side of the pass. -_- That traffic diversion we passed on our way over was going to be a bitch this time around since it was a typical traveling day for people heading home. -_-
It actually ended up being easier than we though but it still slowed us down a bit. I took some pictures with my camera and attempted to send them to Erik to show him what we were up against. I called him too to let him know that we would probably be late. He asked that I call when we were at North Bend so he knew when to leave.
Besides being slow the traffic was pretty much steady moving. We actually made it to North Bend in the time I thought we would. I we got a few things but for the most part opted to wait until dinner. I called Erik to let him know that we were just leaving North Bend and he decided to head out.
My son continued driving and we got back on I-90. I told him that he needed to take the exit to Auburn Tacoma. Well he was so fixated on the fact that the sign didn't say Tacoma that he nearly hit the Honda in front of us that was stopped for the light. -_- The rest of the ride was uneventful but both of us were on edge. -_-
We got off I-90 heading north so we could catch the Federal way exit and continued on. It's been a while since we were at Jasmine Mongolian Grill so I didn't know exactly where it was. As soon as I saw where it was I told my son to take a left turn and go through the parking lot. Well I meant right turn and when we realized this he hit the breaks and did some serious skidding to a halt! _~_ Thankfully there were no cars behind us.
With some arguing about whose fault it was we got turned around and going the right direction. Just as we parked in the parking lot for Jasmine, Erik texted me to tell me that they had arrived. :) We headed inside to join them.
Dinner was awesome as I expected. I love that Jasmine offers tofu on their food bar. :) I had a good meal and was completely stuffed before we were done! We had good conversation with Erik, Darren and Nick.
It wasn't too long before the restaurant wanted to close so we agreed to head out and re-group at Erik's house. I drove from the restaurant. We gathered at Erik's for awhile talking. Darren shared some of his pumpkin pie and I showed everyone the Slap Chop Rap. Hehe. :)
It wasn't long before it was getting late and we needed to head towards home. I believe we were actually out of Tacoma around 10pm! That's also record time. :) Bo drove on the way home while I slept.
I had a great weekend and was sad to be heading home but glad that it all went well. I can't wait for my next vacation though. :)