Seattle SX- and more

For once I am actually writing about the trip I just took. Seattle Supercross is about 12 hour drive north for us, and free tickets were enough to get us on the road. 1,360 miles just under 23 hours on the move, not counting any of our stopped time. Since the drive is a long one for one day we usually leave a day ahead of time to get there. This time we made it in one day, but got to Seattle LATE, and by the time we got settled into a hotel it was close to 3am.

The first day in Seattle I decided I should go exploring the city. The sun was out and a perfect day to go for a walk around. Two things I planned on doing was check out the space needle and find the theater/studio for Pacific Northwest Ballet, so I could get tickets for the performance that night and get myself to class the next morning before the race. I was successful in both. I found the space needle and got up to the top, I was looking down on the streets like a map trying to figure out where I was and where I wanted to go next, and I could also see the stadium where the race would be held the next day. The place was busy getting ready for the next day’s events celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the world fair in Seattle. There was a water fountain with music that I stopped at for a few minutes, and then I found my way to the theater where I was hoping to see a show that night. I knew I was on the right track when I saw a little girl about 7 years old with her hair pulled back in a bun wearing ballet pink tights, always a dead giveaway that you are near a ballet studio. With ticket in hand for the evening performance I went back to the hotel for a little while.

I wanted to go see PNB perform since they are one of the best ballet companies in the country, and they happened to be performing the weekend I was going to be in town. And with a $15 ticket price (since I am still under 25), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was excited to see Apollo performed live. I had seen clips of it on video, but video never does performances justice. The second act of the performance was Carmina Burana. Going into the theater I had no idea what that even was, but after reading about it in the program I was excited to see it. Apollo was good, but Carmina Burana was amazing! And with that to wrap up the day in Seattle I was determined to get myself into class the next morning, even if it meant a long day.

A race Saturday would normally start with me getting ready, packing up the car, checking out of the hotel and heading to the stadium for the opening of the gates at noon, but this time I decided class at PNB was in store first. The facilities they have are incredible. I took an open class with over thirty people and still had plenty of space, and that was only one of the studios in the building. A brisk walk back to the hotel to get ready and off to the races we went. As I walked I passed a man who asked “do you have a spare 82 cents?” I responded as usual, and it wasn’t until after I had crossed the street that it occurred to me how odd that request was. I might have been a little preoccupied with the thoughts of how much I love to dance. Not only was class good and fun with some other great dancers, a good teacher and a pianist, but dance is such a universal language it makes me smile sometimes

Since in typical Seattle fashion it rained during the week, practice was not starting until later on in the afternoon, so my taking class meant we missed nothing during the day at the stadium. Although the sun was shining and I was happy to see it, I was also hoping it might rain. Rain in Seattle for supercross usually means there will be a shake-up in the race and make for unpredictable and great racing. I was prepare with a rain jacket, ponchos and hand warmers for the rain, but Seattle decided to have a gorgeous sunny day instead. However, my hopes for great racing were not let down. There were new winners in both classes, the already crowned 2012 champion crashed out, the title battle in the lites class got a little more exciting, and it was a great night of racing!

On these longer trips we tend to try and get on the road out of the city after the race. That was our plan again. After making some PB&J sandwiches in the truck in the parking garage we hit the road. At about 2am we pulled over at a rest stop and took a ‘nap’ in the truck. Just as the sun was rising we filled up the gas tank and got back on the road. After a few stops, we finally pulled in at home around 5pm. Exhausted from the long trip and lack of sleep, we were both happy to be back, and to call it an early night and lazy Monday…

PS. For once I am caught up on my travel blog. I will try to post pictures from the last month or so soon. Until next time… safe travels          

Another trip around the sun

I’m getting better at just letting whatever happens to happen. This control freak is learning how to just enjoy. In typical April weather, it tried to snow. I knew it would happen and planned on getting myself to the city a day early for that exact reason… I had tickets to go see San Francisco Ballet for my birthday, but that was about my only plan. I did have to take two classes while I was there since I had already paid for them, but didn’t have a return date or real plans. I just knew I was going to see the ballet for my birthday. After two separate people canceled on me I tried to find someone to go with, but seemed that everyone was busy, and I was about to go solo. Last minute I offered my extra ticket to the wife of my dad’s friend. It was that or waste a ticket, and they had put up with me staying a few extra days when my car problems happened the last time. I saw another great show and had an overall good day.

On Sunday I got to class and had brunch, then walked around the city in the sunshine. Once I got ‘home’ I quickly made a decision to get myself to see another performance while I was in San Francisco.  LINES was performing and it sounded like a good idea to me. One more class and a drive home...

Uneventful

For once a trip went as planned, other than moving the date because of my car problems in San Francisco. A quick trip to Chico to get the old Toyota set up for my brother went about exactly as planned; there were some awesome clouds and views, but nothing too exciting. 450 plus miles in a ’96 Yota, they keep going and going like the energizer bunny.

April Fools!

Once again off to the bay area for another audition.  Not getting my hopes up but going for things. Saturday I got to take a fun dance class in Garberville before I headed south. Sunday I was oddly not nervous for the audition, probably because I had no expectations of actually having something come of it, but you don’t know if you don’t try. I was somewhat relieved to see someone I had danced with before in the room when I walked in. After a good class with sticky numbers that weren’t so sticky, I wasn’t asked to stay for more. It ended up being a beautiful almost sunny day in the city. I used the time to catch up with a friend over coffee and lunch, and then we wandered around the city for a while before I headed out.

It was an uneventful trip to Livermore, got there parked and was just about to watch a movie when the dog started barking. We looked outside to see a Mercedes across the street smashed into an old pickup truck. I will say one of my first thoughts was that I was glad she turned right not left. My car was parked across the street from the accident. The whole passenger side of the car was smashed into the rear axle of the truck. The neighbor had bought that truck new in ‘86. It was a good old, solid, Ford, so I was surprised with the damage to it and could only wonder how fast the car was going. Turns out that the Mercedes had a sensor that documented the speed at impact and it was around 70MPH!

Once again this trip was mostly just spending time in the bay area until the following weekend. This time to see some shows. Tuesday night I went to see San Francisco Ballet perform one of their mixed shows with some dancers I danced with in the last year. Once again it was good to catch up with them, and to see some more dancing.

Some yummy food and more time at my Grandma’s in Hayward for a few days and it’s time to head back into San Francisco.

I wrote the previous part of this post while I was sitting at my Grandma's. Up untill this point in my trip I figured this blog post would be mostly repetitive, my plans included heading to the city for a show or two and some classes then heading home, but in true April fools fashion my plans changed.

On march 31^st I drove into San Francisco to take class, I stopped by my dad’s friend’s house for a shower before heading to a show that night, just when I thought I was going to the theater, my car decided it was not going to start. More car problems uggg… I got a ride to the theater with the plan of trying to figure out SF public transportation to get back. I failed on that attempt, but I didn’t try until morning thanks to a friend who let me crash with them. Second attempt I was successful, made my way to a matinee performance by San Francisco Ballet. Since my car once again decided that Friday night was the good time to quit working I knew I was spending the weekend and at least Monday in the city. For car problems, it could have been worse. I had a place to stay and an excuse to take class and go see shows. Spent Monday taking class and waiting to hear about my car so I could get back on the road home Tuesday. It was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco two classes some wandering around and food with a friend, only having to pay for a battery and a running car by the end of the day, not too shabby.  All in all, even with car problems my trip ended up only being a day or two longer than planned.