The Northern Isles Day 1
The Northern Isles
Day 01 - Thursday, July 10, 2003 - Monument to Seattle
EARLY, TOO EARLY! We woke up on our own, without the alarm around 2 AM and finally at 2:30 we got up and got ourselves ready to go. We took our time and the cats were wondering why they were woken up so early. Once we fed them, they were pleased.
We left the house at 3:25 and the trip up I-25 to Denver was so easy. I had the cruise control on all the way and we made the trip in less than 55 minutes to Denver International Airport. We parked at the Pikes Peak lot and took the shuttle to the terminal and Alaska Airlines.
We were the third group to check in and we were told that we needed to check with the gate person for our seat assignments as we were traveling on a space available ticket from Alaska. Our luggage was taken from the counter and specially X-Rayed while we watched. They did open Gennie’s suitcase as the Europe book by DK publishing triggered a warning.
Once at the gate we were given seats so we knew we were on the 7 AM flight. We sat in a three across row with the center seat being open.
It was a nice flight with the air so crisp that we could see Yellowstone, Tetons and then Mt Rainier as we approached Seattle. We arrived in Seattle at 8:20 PDT and at the baggage area my cousin, Susan Dersé, met and welcomed us to Seattle.
We left the airport and went to Susan and Bob’s house where we sat and caught up on family news. After a bit, we settled in front of her computer and sent a note to our son Eduardo to tell him that we had arrived safely and all was well.
I was able to help Susan with a couple of programs (IrfanView) to assist her in working with all the digital pictures she has and will take. Around 11:30 we left the house to take a short walk and have lunch.
Today has been beautiful in Seattle. The sky was all blue and the temperature was in the high 80s. The humidity was a little high for my taste, but Gennie really enjoy it.
We walked up Admiral Way to the upscale Thriftway and had a nice lunch. Gennie and Susan had excellent salads and I had a tomato and mozzarella Panini. We walked back to the house by a different route, stopping briefly at Safeway.
The three of us took a power nap and after an hour we were ready to go again. We drove to downtown Seattle and dropped in on my brother Eduardo, an executive with Starbucks Coffee at their corporate headquarters.
We announced ourselves at their 8th floor reception and when they asked who I was, I said his brother. The receptionists and security looked at me with a startled expression and then said they saw the resemblance. I am certainly the younger and better looking of the two Garcia boys.
Ted was very surprised to hear that we were there, initially expressing some doubt that his brother was there. He came down from his 9th floor office and greeted us with a great deal of enthusiasm and good will and took us upstairs.
I was amazed at their offices and facilities. Everything is wide open, with communal areas where people “work” and discuss their business and projects. Every hallway had coffee machines to provide their employees the wonderful Starbucks coffee. We met and were introduced to many of the people Eduardo work with and all said that there was a great family likeness between us.
We grabbed a coffee and went to Eduardo’s office to sit and chat. As we got there, Eduardo’s administrative assistant, Liz, saw and recognized Gennie, Susan and I immediately. She is a beautiful woman and very outgoing and well spoken. We had met her several years ago at an Urban League dinner when Eduardo had first arrived at Starbucks.
After we sat down, we chatted for a long time, getting caught up with the family news. Eduardo’s wife Jane keeps everything in the family running smoothly and their two children, Grant and Erin (a senior and sophomore at Mercer Island High School), are excelling in their academics and swimming.
About 4:30 we decided that we had taken enough of Eduardo’s busy time (he also had to go to a swim meet) and we left. We went over to 4th Street (Avenue?) and drove to COSTCO to look around. While there, and remembering that Susan had mentioned the need to try to network the DSL connection so she and Bob could work on their computers, I bought them a wireless D-Link router and wireless card so that I could install them before we left on our trip.
As soon as I got home I went to their computer room/office, disconnected their desktop and all the wires and hooked up the router to the modem. I then configured the desktop to recognize the new connection and waited for Bob to bring home his laptop.
Unfortunately, he had left it at work so I was not able to finish the full set up. But I told him how to do it and showed the wireless connection on my laptop. It is so handy to have such a connection as one can go around the house and be hooked up to the internet. My computer immediately had recognized the wireless node as soon as I had plugged everything in - even though it had originally been configured for my house in Colorado. AH, THE WONDERS OF TECHNOLOGY!
We then went out to dinner at the Pegasus Restaurant on Alki Beach. We shared a Caesar Salad, Cheese Bread and a Greek Pizza - YUM! After dinner we took a long walked on the Alki Beach promenade, seeing the multinicity of the people in Seattle. The warmth of the day and the cool breeze from the water was very pleasant and refreshing.
After our walk, we went back up Admiralty Way and returned home. I brought my computer down and showed Bob and Susan how the wireless network reached the whole house. We were able to see the e-mails from our son Eduardo and then were able to reply. We also took time to organize our suitcases to be ready for the early morning departure.
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