Yesterday’s flight to Seattle was relatively uneventful. While we took a United-branded flight, it was actually a USAirways gate and plane, staffed by USAirways employees. Still, other than departing about an hour-and-half late, the flight was okay.
What really got me was that they sold first-class upgrades for $150 each. We actually bought two of them, and that was okay. But what really ticks me off is that I have a stack of e-upgrades in my account, but even though there are free seats in first class, I can’t use them because we didn’t have the right kind of tickets. That’s just stupid. The airline would rather extort customers for $300 than provide some sweet customer service. That’s dumb.
So we arrived in Seattle a bit later than we intended, but it was still early, so we started to drive. Our first stop was the Meeker Mansion in Puyallup, an 1890 era home under restoration. The home has been in the restoration process for years, and still has a way to go, but it’s a nice job, and a beautiful house lies under all the extra paint. Ezra Meeker was a pioneer on the Oregon Trail, traversing the trail 5 times, the first a 2-year journey that started when he was 76 years old! That’s just incredible.
We made a couple of stops for snacks along the way, then we made it to our ultimate destination, the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, a 715 acre park not too far from Mt. Rainier. It appears that admission to the walking portion of the park may be free – though that isn’t advertised, it is mentioned here and there on signs, and admission isn’t tightly controlled. However, a small fee gets you onto a one-hour tram ride through another section of the park where animals roam free. Several types of bison, deer, elk, goats and (allegedly) moose are just outside the open-air cars, allowing for a sort of safari feel. I wish we had seen a moose, but it was cool nonetheless.
For dinner, we stopped at the Steel Pig BBQ (we went to the original one on Roy Street), where I had a relatively tasty chicken sandwich and my wife had a chicken meal with macaroni and cornbread. I liked the sandwich, though it was on the pricey side. Notably, the sweet tea wasn’t really sweet tea, and in fact I’d rather have the pre-packaged sweet tea available from almost anywhere in Charlotte.
I’m not sure what today holds, but it should be interesting. Anyone who is here, or who is going to be here, for Gnomedex, should drop me a line or give me a call.