Dream Trip

Halloween with the Edwards.

Where do I start? Several months ago our friends Holly, Ryan, Zane, and Anika surprised us by presenting us with a wonderful gift. They arranged a trip to see the Seattle Seahawks play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On Saturday we loaded up a big black Suburban that we rented and drove over to Snoqualmie Pass where we stayed at Ryan's uncle's ski cabin.

On the way over we stopped at Moses Lake for lunch and ate at one of Ryan's favorite Chinese  Food stops. Ryan bragged about the Jello that you could buy, therefore we had to give it a try. I have to admit that I have never eaten Jello at a Chinese restaurant. It was good and we enjoyed our meal.

Ryan's uncle's cabin is huge! It has everything you could think of in a large cabin setting. Commercial-sized kitchen stove and refrigerator, big screen TV and projector system, beds everywhere, and plenty of bathrooms for all.

Saturday evening we watched Cast Away with Tom Hanks on the big screen while we snuggled up to a cozy fire in the woodstove.

GAME DAY!  ANIKA'S BIRTHDAY! We were up and about early. Breakfast was a combination birthday and food celebration. Anika was turning 9 and so we celebrated while getting ready to go.

Everyone had their Seahawks gear on and loaded into the Suburban for the drive to the game. Traffic was relatively light and we were able to get a fairly close parking spot for a slightly expensive $30 price tag.

We tailgated for a while tossing the football around while the adults had a couple of beverages. We walked to the stadium and checked everything out. It was super cool to be able to move down close to the field and watch the teams warm-up. I can't tell you how excited we all were. Linda geeked out when she saw her favorites, Tyler Lockett and Russell Wilson.

Our seats were in section 333 way up toward the top of the stadium. We were almost exactly on the 50-yard line and could see the game surprisingly well.  The spectacle of a Seahawks game and all that goes with it is something everyone should witness at least once.

With all the pre-game pomp and circumstances over, the game began. Seattle got the ball first and that was exciting, but when Tampa Bay took over, the sound level in the place went out of this world. I was blown away by the volume level the crowd produced whenever the Buccaneers had the football. At times it was so loud that all I could do was laugh.

The game was a good one too! Seattle won in overtime putting a big cherry on our weekend cake.

After the game, we walked down and around the area watching people. We tried to go to dinner but gave up on the idea because there were so many people everywhere we went. We walked back to the rig and drove to Lake Sammamish and found a fast food joint where we had burgers and fries; no jello.

By the time we finished up and drove back up to the mountain we were worn out. Everyone watched some TV and then went to bed.

The next morning we got up and drove home.

This was one of those bucket list events that Linda and I had always wanted to do. It was such a wonderful trip. Holly and Ryan really did a great job of putting it all together.  It is hard to express to them how much their friendship means to us and how we love their whole family. We are so lucky to have them as part of our world.