We started out our trip to seattle on a pretty OK point.  Arriving to MSP earlier than needed as usual, because I’m not going to be missing a flight on my watch, we checked out bags and made it thru the TSA checkpoint with little issue.  This was one of the first flights in many that I haven’t needed 4 tubs for all my crap, so I guess I really packed light this time only needing one tub.  I guess seeing as my luggage was only 28lbs vs. the normal 45 I guess I packed light this trip.  No need for business and casual attire, no need for jeans, long sleeves or anything.  I could have gotten away with a carry on roller bag, but now I have room to bring back any goodies I might find out here.

We decided to find some food before getting on the plane and stopped in at O’Garas right near out gate.  Seeing on the flight board that the 5:20 flight to SEA had been cancelled, we noticed a hoard of people milling around our gate for the 7:05 flight that had been bumped.  We ordered our food and a drink, Mer got a burger and a glass of wine, and I got a tall glass of Red Hook and the Selby Chicken, cajun style.

As the clock ticked on, we were still waiting for our food and decided to get it to go and go down to our gate as it was quickly approaching the boarding time, and since we had Exit row seating, we’d be first to hop on.

We paid our tab and gave our Waitress a decent tip as she was very nice and quick with the service and to make sure we had everything we needed.  Not have eaten at the real O’Garas in St. Paul before, I don’t know if the service was on par or not, but I was happy, and that’s good for me.

We took our food out to the seating area and I was less than pleased with appearance of my food.  I was hoping for a decent size chicken breast with some cajun seasoning to it.  What I got, was a medium size wad of chicken, that looks like it was sprinkled with the 5lb jug of generic cajun.  The seasoning was only on one side and not evenly spread out.  The fries on the other hand, were pretty good.  Nothing to write home about (I guess I’m doing that anyways) but they weren’t greasy or overly salty so I was happy with them.

As it ended up being, we could have eaten out meal in the Pub, because they didn’t start boarding until 10 minutes before the flight was supposed to leave, oh well I guess.  We ended up leaving only 20 minutes late which I guess is OK.  First time I’ve left late for a flight in many flights, so considering the cancelled flight, I can’t complain too much.

Photo by Tim Dachtera

We arrived into SEA about 20 minutes beyond schedule, oh well – We got our bags and were shuttled off to Enterprise to pick up our car.  We had reserved a full size sedan, and were offered a Kia Optima… I asked what else they had – Mainly because I’m not a fan of Kia, and I wanted something a little more.. American make (or more american made)  We ended up scoring a 2008 Malibu.  It was nicer than I expected with great pickup, a smooth ride and decent options for a rental, and at 25-30 miles to the gallon we should be good to only need a tankful of fuel this weekend.

I fired up the new Garmin Nuvi200w I picked up this week and punched in the address for Mer’s grandparents in Olympia and headed down Hwy 5.  We pulled in about 11pm Seattle time, 1am MN time, and after saying a quick hello we headed to bed.

We woke up today in Olympia to a cloudless day and warm weather, so it should be a great opportunity to get out and about, hopefully all weekend.  The last time we were here in Nov. 2006, we visited during the rainiest month in recorded history.

I think for today, we are going to check out a local restaurant/pub with their own brews if I recall correctly, and try to get down by the Capital tonight for some photos.

Saturday will bring us thru Bremerton to pick up our friend Lori and take the ferry over to Seattle for the until Monday.  more photos, food, a ball game and Pike Place.