Todd was on call, so there was no way he could request the day off. I figured the crowds would be crazy, but I was really excited to go, even solo with Nadine, so I planned it. (I must insert, I have finally detoxed off my antidepressant, which also regulated my anxiety, so I was a bit worried how this outing would go for the newly unmedicated me. There was some divine intervention in my ability to view the entire process as an adventure. I'm never able to do that.)
To deal with the cold, and give us some needed Seahawks gear, I made really cute Seahawks hats and scarves. I'm quite proud of them.
The parade started at 11. My plan was to drive to SeaTac airport, which is about 50 mins from Olympia, and catch the light rail near the airport. Then a short 39 projected minutes later, we would be in Seattle.
Ha.
I wasn't thinking, and we left the house at 7:50. Um, someone forgot to factor rush hour into the equation. It took us about an hour to get to the Tukwila train station. It took a half hour to find an off-site parking spot, then 15 minutes to walk to the station. We got to the station about 9:45, and waited in line to buy tickets.
The area was utter pandemonium. Happy, pleasant, excited, "Yay Seahawks!" pandemonium, but still. We waited in a mass of people for about 45 minutes just to get our tickets.
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| Here's the crowd ahead of us as we arrived at the station. The crowd behind us quickly grew to this size and doubled. |
When we were about 10 people from the kiosks, a transit worker told us they decided to make the ride free, so we should go straight to the train. More pandemonium!
We waited in a huge mass of people for about 10 minutes, missing 3 trains that were completely full. Completely full, and we were only the 2nd stop on the line!
At this point Nadine was cold (did I mention it was below freezing here?) and crying, so when the next train arrived, I shoved our way onto a train. The people inside said it was full, but I told them tough. I needed that train!
To make a long story short (too late), every step of the process was packed with Seahawks fans. We finally disembarked in Seattle and found a spot surrounded by grass, on which we could see the parade route. This came after we waded through an intersection of people literally packed shoulder to shoulder.
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| Do you see how there are two BLOCKS of wall-to-wall people?! |
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| This is the mass of people waiting to get onto transit, after the parade. |
The city was expecting between 200,000 and 500,000 fans, and they estimate 700,000 were there yesterday. 700,000 fans in a city that only has about 634,000 residents. I'm telling you, Seahawks fans are nuts.
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| Photographic proof--we were there! |
It was such a fun day. I'm so glad we went, and that despite all the lines and the people and the shoving, we had a good time and enjoyed the adventure. Today at breakfast, Nadine said, "We're a Seahawks family." Apparently we are.
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| My sweet little Hawk. |
6 comments:
You're AMAZING!!!! I am so glad you went. A memory that will last forever. Thanks for sharing!
You made those hats? Awesome. I envy your skills. What a fun mom you are. It sounds like it was frustrating at times, but worth it in the end. You rock!
You truly are a cool mom! I would of chickened out at the weather being cold, way to preserver. I hope you are enjoying Seattle! What a fun time to be there.
Good for you for taking on an adventure like that!! That's awesome!! I'm so glad you had fun!
That is so many people. I think my anxiety would have been on high alert all by myself, let alone with a child. You are tough.
Also, I like your phrase "fair-fervor fan". Well played.
Way to shove your way onto the crowded train--surely people understood because you had a child! Truly, this was an adventure of a lifetime---how many opportunities like this will surface again? I'm so impressed you did this!
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