Days 10 (and 11) - SeaTac, WA - Conway, AR

We purposely booked a midday flight home so we wouldn't have to be rushing around in the morning to get to the airport.  Even with the extra time, we arrived early and buzzed through security without a hitch.  Near our gate, a cellist who plays (or played) with the Seattle Symphony was set up in a common area playing her electric cello.  It was so soothing and relaxing that I nearly dozed off right there in an airport seat (NOT the easiest thing to do).

Our inbound plane from Dallas was delayed due to weather and thus our outbound flight to Dallas was delayed too.  Our connection time was already a little tight, but this made it even more so.  I kept an eye on the weather and the timing and decided to just go with it and not worry about rebooking anything at that point.  We were soon boarded and on our way with Mount Hood and Adams off to our right, still covered in snow, but gleaming under the sun.  Even the mountains of Idaho were pretty!  I was able to see the Great Salt Lake before clouds obstructed further views.  Dallas was still dealing with weather/storms and by the time we got close, the pilots slowed us down just enough that we could sneak into our final approach just following a storm.  It did provide some really cool photos from my window seat, but quite a bit of turbulence too.

Upon landing, my American app notified me that our flight to Little Rock had been cancelled and we had been rebooked on an 8:30 pm flight Sunday night.  Gah!  I had no intention of spending and entire day in Dallas for no reason.  After getting off the plane, we stopped and some friendly gate agents where we struck up conversation and made the best of the situation.  After about 20 minutes, we figured out the best we could do was an early flight the next morning on United to Chicago, then an American flight to Little Rock.  Not great, but at least we were going to be home by noon.  We walked to the Hyatt Regency at the airport (being on-site sold us), got two rooms, and soon settled into a dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Before heading to bed, I checked to see the status of our bags (we checked them) and they had made it to Little Rock where they would be waiting for us the next day.

We both had to set alarms at 3:45 am in order to get to the airport in time to get checked in and get boarding passes.  Our flight for Chicago left at 5:45, which is really, really early folks.  We hit some bumps over Missouri as we flew over thunderstorms that had parked in the air, but we were soon on the ground at O'Hare.  Unfortunately, the helpful gate agents in Dallas made a snafu on Carolyn's ticket so we had to fix that with the ticketing agents in Chicago.  All was well in the end, but when you're running on little sleep and you're ready to be home, it just added to frustrations.  Finally with boarding passes in hand, we got on the plane bound for Arkansas.  Again, the storms over Missouri caused us to have some roller coaster fun mid-air; even our descent into Little Rock was fun.  We deplaned and then retrieved our bags from the American baggage office (faster than the baggage claim!).  Our parked car was ready and we were soon headed over the river and back to Conway.

This was an amazing trip.  Such sights, such fun, and such food!  I'm a traveller at heart and whenever I'm on the road, I'm often at my happiest, especially when I'm there with family and friends.  And when I return from trips, I'm always re-energized and ready to tackle the daily grind.  Time to start saving up vacation time again, but I'm already thinking, "Where to next?"

Day 1 - Conway, AR - Seattle, WA

There are only a few reasons for me to willingly get out of bed at 5:30 am.  A vacation/trip is certainly one of them!  I'm lucky that Carolyn Scott, one of my dear friends with whom I traveled to England in 2015, has a conference in Seattle and that she was willing for me to tag along.  We left Conway bound for the Little Rock airport at 6:45 am and after a nice drive, easy parking, and breezing through security (thanks TSA-Precheck!), we found ourselves waiting to board our first flight at Gate 3.

After our plane landed at DFW, I learned that some passengers (Carolyn) need some extra guidance regarding their seat belts:  "Lift the flap to release the buckle."  Once Carolyn's seat belt was released, we made our way to the SkyTrain and Terminal C where we decided it was time to grab some food.  Chick-Fil-A fit the bill and we were soon happily full and waiting for our larger plane bound for Seattle.

 

Our flight was routine, comfortable, and included newly graduated flight attendants that were extra perky.  The flat topology of the Texas panhandle soon gave way to the beginnings of the Rockies and Pike's Peak.  Unfortunately, clouds obscured the view for most of the rest of the flight.  As we descended to about 5,000 feet, the cloud layer finally broke and we had some excellent views of downtown Seattle on our final approach.

Believe it or not, the sun greeted us as we grabbed the shuttle to the rental car facility.  A short time later, I was behind the wheel of a brand new (26 miles on the odometer) Mercedes GLC300 and making our way north to our bed and breakfast.  The variety of green flora and fauna is amazing.  Conifers, aspens, moss, and ivy are plentiful, even near the interstate.

Our lodging is in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and upon checkin, our wonderful host took us to our rooms.  Wow!  What a very pleasant home away from home for a few days.  After unpacking, we summoned an Uber and made our way down to the Pike Place Market where we stumbled upon an amazing French restaurant:  Cafe Campagne.  We fueled up on some after dinner coffee and then wandered around the market area and near the waterfront with the sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains and Mount Olympus to the west.  We even stumbled upon the Market Theater Gum Wall!

We turned in early this evening as our bodies are still on Central time.  A good night's sleep will help us adjust overnight. Looking forward to visiting Pike Place Market tomorrow when all the vendors are present.  And, of course, rain is forecast to return tomorrow.

Cheers from the Emerald City!