After driving 1322 miles for 20 hours, I safely arrived at the hotel I would spend the next week in.
And I got pretty good gas mileage considering what I was driving!
Why only a week? Well, because after my first week at my new job, I would be flying to San Francisco for a work conference, and then back up to Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con.
I selected a hotel that was close to work, and one that had a kitchen. On a previous work trip, I had stayed at a Hilton House, and it had everything I would want. Comfortable bed, sitting area with TV, and a nice bathroom. Plus it being about 2 miles from work was a nice treat. Commence short commutes!
If you look closely – those Starbucks bags contain Starbucks mugs . . . because I have a problem.
I know that I said it earlier, but it’s still amazing to think about the fact I moved to Colorado. K even said something to that effect the other day – thanking me for taking a chance on my career and for taking care of the ladies. 🙂
So how does one celebrate being in Colorado for a year? By waking up at 3am of course!
My brother wasn’t able to make the opening match of the 2020 Sounders season, so he offered me his tickets if I could figure out how to get there in time for the match.
And so a plan was hatched.
I would wake up at 3am so I could get my run done, and then I would catch a 7am flight to Seattle, which was the perfect time for the noon kickoff.
Even though it would be a long day, I managed a 1.5 mile run, got randomly selected for extra security at the airport, and spied a familiar face in the Alaska magazine.
It’s really funny to think about the fact that today was the first day in weeks that it wasn’t raining in Seattle, but it was raining in Broomfield (with snow on the forecast later that evening just to make things more Colorado-like.)
Since I had two tickets to use, I invited my friend Brandon (who also went with me to MLS Cup last November.) He was kind enough to pick me up from the airport, and buy me a beer to wash down my nachos.
Since it was not only the opening match, but also the unveiling of the 2019 MLS Cup Champion banner, ECS pulled off an impressive tifo that commemorated the 2019 playoff run.
I was planning on snagging the new Sounders jersey, and to get it personalized since I love the new font for this year, but sadly they didn’t have my size, but I was still able to add a little embellishment to my nightfall jersey.
The day ended up going as well as it could. I got my star, snagged an extra championship banner for my brother, bought a new scarf and some new books. Yes, I was beyond exhausted when I finally got home (I wasn’t even taking a day off on Monday!) it was completely worth it. (I later confirmed that the guy I saw at the airport was a co-worker, and strangest of all, my next door neighbor was on my flight back to Colorado.)
Not sure how many games I’ll catch this year, but I’m glad that I was able to get this one in this year.
#scarvesup