Supposed To

Yesterday I set off on a quick weekend trip. The agenda was to hit Sandpoint, Idaho for a concert, stay in Spokane for the night and head back to Seattle sometime today.

Well, a lot of things were supposed to happen. But plans change.

I was supposed to leave on Thursday night with three friends. 

But I needed to be in town Thursday night so I decided to separate from the pack and head out on Friday.

I was supposed to leave on Friday morning with one friend. 

My designated buddy for the weekend decided he couldn't make it. And then my replacement buddy realized she she couldn't make it either.

I was supposed to leave Friday morning at 9:00 am alone. 

But I overslept [shocker].

And then I realized I had a work project to finish up.

And then I remembered that I actually needed to pack.

And then I discovered that I needed gas.

And then I was told that I-90 was closed for Sea Fair.

I didn't get on the road until 12:30pm.

I was supposed to meet up with L&P in Spokane before the show.

But I got detained getting onto I-90 from 405 [see previously mentioned Sea Fair issue].

I was also detained at the McDonald's in North Bend where I stopped to use the bathroom. My real mistake was when I decided that since I was already there I would get food. Well, no other customer but me spoke English [I'm not exaggerating. The cashier was asking if anyone could translate.] so it took at least 25 minutes to get one burger. However, I did find out that the location is in the Top Ten Busiest McDonald's in the country.

The sky turned blue as I was driving through the pass and I thought all was well, but then I hit inexplicable traffic. I went 63 miles in two hours.

I realized that things were not going as planned and that I would just have to make the drive to Idaho alone and meet L&P there.

I was supposed to make it to Sandpoint by 7:00pm (after the aforementioned delays).

But after passing through Spokane and seeing a sign for "Coeur d'Alene 14 miles", traffic came to a dead stop. It was a literal parking lot and once I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to move, I put the car in park, rolled down my windows, shut off the engine and caught up on the internet.

I was supposed to love the show.

But I just didn't.

I felt disconnected from the experience, almost as if I was watching something on TV.

My heart just wasn't in it.

I was supposed to head back to Seattle early Saturday afternoon.

But my attempt at a 30 minute nap turned into a 2 hour and 30 minute nap and my schedule was thrown off.

And so here I am. 

Saturday night in Spokane. 

Alone.

Thinking about how we can make plans in our minds for how things are supposed to go, but sometimes things just don't go according to plan. 

But that's okay.

Although it did not go as planned, this weekend afforded me the opportunity to:

escape Seattle, see beautiful scenery, sing at the top of my lungs, have a dance party in the car, take time to be alone and to think, see a beautiful sunset, smell the outdoors and be taken back to some childhood memories, arrive to the show exactly on time, clap, sing with a crowd of people, drive with the windows down and feel the cool night air, look up at the stars through the sun roof, sleep in, take a 2.5 hour nap, eat dinner on the deck, read a book, go to bed before midnight.

So...success.

This post was supposed to be a photo journal of random iPhone photos taken of the trip to this point. But in keeping with the theme, things didn't go as planned and lots of words just came out. Lots. Here are the photos anyway.

The part where I expressed gratitude for green things on this planet.

Right here I fell in love with Washington all over again. 

This was soon after the expression of gratitude noted above.

Not only was a grateful to be moving again after two hours of stop and go traffic, but I can't help loving nature when there is water involved. 

[I have a love/hate relationship with water.]

These windmills are still creepy.
My windshield is still dirty.

Bridges. I still just love them. I think this is near The Gorge.

Still near The Gorge.

Lovely sunset driving over Priest Lake into Sandpoint.

The show. Outdoors. Right on the water.

A little post-nap, pre-dinner reading on the deck.

I can't wait to see how tomorrow deviates from my plan. Let's just hope it doesn't deviate from the part of the plan where my car is supposed to make it back across the state without dying. Anything but that.