Returning Home

Around 8 in the morning we got up today, gathered our stuff, and checked out of the hotel.  By 9:30 or so we arrived at the Essential Bakery near Gasworks, where we ate breakfast.  Afterwards, Benja, Jen and Nicole drove to Fremont to walk around a bit, while I stayed at the bakery and did some work for my chaplaincy course.

Close to noontime they returned, and shortly after that we went on our way, northbound on the I5, stopping in at the outlet mall in Tulalip about an hour later.  I always enjoy going here.  Today I bought a couple Benetton ts, as well as some boxers, shorts and a s/s polo from Banana Republic.  I was actually looking for some dressier stuff - button shirts, pants - but neither of the stores had the size I was looking for.  Actually, the selection at both stores was rather disappointing this time around.  I usually go to the Adidas store also, but today didn't have time.

We noticed an Olive Garden restaurant near the mall, so we decided to eat an early dinner there, rather than drive home and stop along the way.  My goodness, I know some people think the Olive Garden is lame, but I like it, I really like it.  I had grilled shrimp caprese (no meats 'til Easter!).  I'm not a fan of seafood, but these grilled shrimps were really tasty.  My only complaint with the Olive Garden is that their food is too saucy.  Everything's drenched in sauce; too drenched.  But I think that's my complaint of restaurants in general, not just the Garden.  The unanimous highlight (at least as far as Benja and I are concerned) of the meal was the desert: italian donuts, or zeppoli, as they're known in Italian.  The order came with about 10 "donuts", of which Benja and I finished 8 (Jen and Nicole only wanted 1 each - I'll never understand that).  I would go back to the Garden even if the only item they have on the menu is the zeppolies! 

We got home at close to 10pm, quite tired.  I turned in almost immediately.  As usual, I pretty much just dropped everything on the floor, to be cleaned up over the next week or two.  Strange.  It takes me less than 2 hours to pack my luggage for a trip, and then it takes me about 2 weeks to unpack upon my return.  I'm not sure why that is: maybe because deep inside I'm sad that the "vacation" is over and I need to get back to real life....