LEFT COAST TRIPPIN'

So today, I traveled across the country for the first day in my journey to bring home Washington State for Kerry and keep it in the blue column. For those who aren't familiar with the situation, I left my job in New York City because I accepted a position with AFSCME where I am assisting in organizing the state. So I'm formally back in the game, back in what I would consider my element.

But you wouldn't know it by looking at me. I suppose I could do it much easier when I was slightly younger (I'm really not that old), but I'm exhausted from the travel and the orientation and the jet lag. Not a big surprise, but I was hoping that it wouldn't be this bad.

So at around 6am this morning, I hopped in a car (the seven sevens of Tel Aviv for those New Yorker paying attention) and headed to La Guardia for my first leg of the trip, an 8am flight to Denver.

Now, keep in mind that I drove to Syracuse Sunday morning, spent some time with family, got up at 4am to catch a Jet Blue flight back to NYC (it took an hour and we arrived shortly after 730am) so that I could finish (start) packing and cleaning up my apartment. So not only am I already pretty tired as hell, I've also been spoiled by my Jet Blue ride. For those who haven't flown Jet Blue, if you can, I highly recommend it.

Not to mention that cleaning and packing took me almost all night. I haven't slept in days. Oy.

So I get on the full plane, sitting in the middle seat (yikes) and am in the back of the plane. Not terrible, but not great. I'm not complaining, though. Oh, except for that screaming child two rows behind me. Given the time change, I'm not paying much attention at all to how long the actual flight will be. I passed out soon after take off only to wake up to the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Hmmm, this flight is longer than I anticipated. After the movie ended, I was definitely in and out of conciousness - and all I know is that it felt like the flight was about five hours long. I know better than that, but it exhausted me, being in an extremely cramped place, and very uncomfortable. I don't remember ever being that uncomfortable in a plane - has anyone else had their buttocks fall asleep on them? Yeah, if you have, get back to me, but I seriously was uncomfortable for about 90% of the trip. I also had to use the bathroom really bad considering all the coffee I drank, but what is the protocol when the aisle person is completely passed out next to you? Yeah, that might have kept me a little bit more awake than I would have liked.

Which brings me to another question - when the hell did they start charging for meals on the plane? I was hoping for a nice airline breakfast. Instead, I get a stewardess wielding Au Bon Pain boxes asking if anyone wanted to "buy a sandwich." Um, no thanks, I'm not buying a bagel for $5 - especially since I'm from NYC.

Which brings me to yet another question - when did airline stewardesses become surly? Aren't they supposed to be cheerful and nice? Yeah, definitely wasn't feeling that this morning at all. So I'm hungry, exhaused, uncomfortable, and to top it off - my stewardess has a permanent puss on her face. But I'm too tired to care.

So we get into Denver and I have about twenty minutes before we board the next plane, which was also completely full of passengers, complete with screaming baby two rows in front of me. Now, I heart babies. But I did not heart them very much today.

I'm luckier on this leg, though, I have a window seat. However, I am seated next to a mother and her extremely fidgety child. He kept kicking the bottom of the chair. Awesome. By the way, it's about 11am in Denver, so I'm not really sure how long I've been flying, except that I'm still pretty beat. At least I had a good book to read, so I was engrossed in that before passing out. Not long afterwards, the extremely sarcastic flight attendant is crusing the aisle with the beverage cart and brusing elbows along the way. It's still close to 11am and the mother next to me orders a Bloody Mary. I began to wonder if I should have one, deciding against it since it was still early - when I realized it was afternoon in NYC - and she proceeded to then pass out, her little boy still kicking the seat. Whatever, I can see the Rocky Mountains from my window and I'm fairly content.

Too bad I still had to pee. Seriously, what do you do when the person next to you is passed out and still has their drink on the tray table?

So this is the very long way of telling everyone that I arrived in Seattle at around 2pm, Pacific Time. I assume that I'll be able to make my 2:45 orientation meeting.

I was wrong.

My supervisor here was right, it takes forever for the baggage claim. After twenty minutes of squinting at a conveyor belt for my suitcase (smartly, I took a bag that doesn't look like anyone else's or else it would have taken longer), I stop by the Avis desk to pick up my rental car. I'm here for two months, so the Avis desk sends me to the Northern desk where I am again relocated to yet one more Avis desk. Forty minutes later, I finally have the rental car and am definitely late for my 2:45 meeting.

I'm too busy making phone calls and figuring out where the hell I am before I finally take in my surroundings.

To the west of me lies the Pacific Ocean, blinking, deeply blue, and shining in the early afternoon sun. To the right, overwhelmingly large pine trees sway in the breeze. Directly in front of me is traffic, but at this point, I don't care. I've finally arrived and I'm finally spending time in what I consider the only West Coast city I'd ever consider living in. And it's as beautiful as I imagined it in my head. For the first time all day, a grin crosses my face. I'm here!

The grin is quickly met by confusion. Where the hell am I?

The helpful map Avis gave me is not very helpful. I take a look at the map I purchased in NYC before getting here. Unfortunately, neither of them indicate the exits. So after finally getting a hold of my supervisor to let her know I'm late, I finally snake my way throught the traffic to get to the hotel. The Space Needle is now plainly in view and I'm trying hard not to get distracted by my surroundings as I figure out where the hell I'm going.

I finally get to the hotel, which gives me just enough time to dump my bags before heading to my orientation. P.S. I haven't eaten yet. Neeeeat.

But I get through my orientation, meet the team I'll be working with, and get the final details of what is about to happen to me - I'm being sent to Olympia tomorrow morning before heading out the Yakima Valley, central WA, until the primary. Very exciting stuff. So sure, I'm excited, but I'm tired as hell, want to unpack (only to pack for my week in Yakima), and here I am.

So that, in a very specific way, is the beginning of my journey out here. I intend to write something every day - no matter what is happening and no matter how tired I am. So we'll see what happens with this blog, but I am going to be as good as I can. I'm sure that I will have so many stories to share, this is a good way for anyone who wants to know what is going on with me - at their own leisure.

Yes, I am the blogger who cares about you.

So tune in tomorrow, same monkee time, same monkee channel. On the next "Tales from the Trail" - TRYING NOT TO GET LOST HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE DESERT.

Now, I must go and continue unpacking and packing, shower, and pass out. Have good nights all!

Cheers.