Last Tuesday, Dan flew to Seattle on business. Joe and I joined him on Wednesday despite the fact that I had been feeling pretty lousy since the past weekend. (Right now Tuesdays are our only “nanny” days and therefore the only days I can work.)

Getting to the airport was a little challenging. (I really need to relearn how to pack light. I used to be so good at it.) Thankfully we discovered that we live all of 5 minutes from a major RTD transfer station with a direct bus to the airport. Faster, easier, cheaper. Can’t beat that. (A great option for visitors too…hint hint.)

Joe, as usual, was an angel on the plane and was zonked out before we got off the ground. Ditto the return trip, despite the brood of screamers behind us.

The trip was a nice getaway even if I was laid out in the hotel room the first couple of days. We still had the chance to order terrible (and terribly overpriced) room service food and watch Lost.

When I did feel better, we strolled the waterfront and compared dive fish-and-chips joints. (Yeah, those sushi bar plans flew out the window when we realized how difficult it would be to take Joe into a nice restaurant.) We took the obligatory (and fun) jaunt through Pikes Place Market and watched the fish throwers. We walked around the grounds by the Space Needle. Joe was pretty active and wanted to push the stroller anytime we weren’t en route somewhere, so we tried to indulge him as much as possible.

On Saturday, we stumbled across a great “Spirit of West Africa” event at the Seattle Center. Joe was absolutely captivated by the Nigerian drummers and stood on Dan’s lap — dancing and clapping — for a good 20 minutes. Anyone with boys knows how rare it is for an 11-month-old to do *anything* for 20 minutes straight, so now I’m absolutely convinced that we need to start taking Joe to music classes…and soon.

Overall, a good trip. I’m just not sure Joe is going to make it until age 2 as a “lap infant.” He’s going to need his own seat soon. Man, that kid weighs a ton!

A random aside: I’ve traveled to Seattle in the past and really loved it. But if this had been my first trip, I’d be singing a different tune. I’m not sure if this trip was tainted by my lousy disposition since I was under the weather or if we had bad people karma or if the ever-present downtown construction had everyone’s panties twisted in a wad or what. Folks were generally rude and grumpy…locals and tourists alike. There were several instances where people completely ignored me visibly struggling with luggage, strollers, and doors. No one offered help except one guy walking into the grocery store opened the door for me and the paid staff at the hotel we stayed at did too. (Other people cut me off and would get in my way as I was trying to push the door open and get the stroller through at the same time. Incredible.) I had a really bad experience with the shuttle driver from the airport. (I should file a complaint with Grey Line, but probably won’t; the driver on the way back to the airport was really nice.) I hesitate to say that the transracial nature of our family had anything to do with it given the diversity and liberalism in Seattle, but we did get an unusual number of scowls.