Seattle

Our trip to Seattle was good, if exhausting. The Wiz has decided he likes the hospital, even if he's mad about having two blood draws. (More on that later.)

We drove through the desert and saw Yakima. We saw Ellensburg. Then we went over the mountains. The Wiz was impressed. The mountains here are quite impressive. Then we went down and then we went up, and all of sudden we saw TREES! The Wiz thought that was good. He knew that other people thought that Washington was wet and forested, but he didn't understand why. Now he does.

We made it into Seattle at around 5:30. Exactly the wrong time to arrive. The traffic was horrendous. It's quite confusing, too, because you need to be in the left lane now then all the way across 5 lanes to reach the next exit or interchange. However, we made it with only one wrong turn, and that was because Google maps didn't actually say which way to turn off of the interstate.

We made it to our hotel, and went for dinner. I'd forgotten how busy it is around the University. There were all sorts of restaurants--unfortunately, most of them were Chinese or Japanese, so I couldn't eat there. We found a place to eat, and went back to our hotel.

This is what the Wiz thought of the hotel.:
We eventually went to sleep. The next morning, we got breakfast and went to the hospital. Seattle Children's is also a really great hospital. There is a lot of PacNW art in the hospital, and it's quite kid friendly. The Wiz thought the waiting areas weren't as good though.

We met the new Hem and we like her. She wants us to also see an immunologist, an endocrinologist, and a neurologist. I can't say that I'm thrilled, but I am happy that she is thorough. He also got his flu shot. He had to have it in his leg, because he's too small now for the arm.

We met someone I know from online who has sort of moved to the Seattle area. It was good to meet her and to meet her sleepy daughter.

Then we got his blood drawn. You know you are in for a bad one when there is concern that he doesn't weigh enough to draw all the blood needed for all the labs. For the first time ever, The Wiz REALLY freaked. I've never seen him do this before. He screamed and tensed and blew the first vein. So the phlebotomist had to use a different one. This time, we had him blow bubbles while drawing the blood because you can't scream and hold your breath if you are blowing bubbles.

We took pictures on the pig bench.

Then we started home. The trip back had two delays: a wreck in Seattle at the I5-I90 interchange and at the eastern Pass in Snoqualmie for helicopter testing. Helicopter testing is for avalanche control, if you don't know, which I did not.

It was a good trip, because I feel that he'll be in good hands here. It helps with my stress levels. :)