Cirque de Adventure

Around 6:20 Dan and I set off on an adventure to go see Cirque de Soleil. Tickets in hand we headed for the bus stop just a block over from our hotel. Waited for about 10 minutes and boarded a bus headed for Redmond’s Marymoor Park. We were on the bus for about 40 minutes when I began to worry whether or not we were ever going to get there. It was fine since the show didn’t start until 8:00 but it seemed a long fucking way. It was a long fucking way really. Anyway, we finally got there and the bus driver gave us some information on how to get back. He didn’t charge us for actually riding. I now wonder if he wasn’t thinking, “You’ll need the cash I’m saving you for your cab fare.”

Off the bus and onto the sidewalk there was the tent just a block or so away. We begin walking. 10 minutes later. There it is. The tent. Just a block or so away. I’m not sure how the tent seemed closer than it actually was but it did and we ended up getting a good deal of exercise on our way to the tent. I’ve decided that tents are magical things. They can be farther away than they appear. They can hold more people than you’d expect. They make a child’s eyes gleam with wonder and excitement. And in last nights case they can try and make ordinary sized adults fit into seats designed for a 5 year old. Now maybe I’m just being a little bitchy here, but if I pay $80 a ticket for a seat to a show I want that seat to somewhat fit my ass. I’m not a big woman and I was SQUISHED!! I can only imagine how the 250 lbs woman next to Dan felt. It didn’t help my enjoyment of the show to be crammed into the seat like I was one of the acts. The show was entertaining and typical Cirque. Perhaps I need to be done with it because after the 5th show I’m starting to compare them and last night was no Quidam.

Now the adventurous part. The show was over. It was 10:45. The last bus was at 10:38. Uh... TAXI!!! We called a cab and dealt with the taxi nazi. Walked to the place that we had indicated we’d be and waited. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting. The wait was lovely. Cool but not cold night. Frogs croaking in the background. Cars zooming past as we wait, and wait, and wait. We call again and get a much nicer agent. As she’s talking to Dan a cab goes by slowly. He hangs up and the cab passes us. Slowly. It keeps going and then we are left. It begins to drizzle. Now at this point there really isn’t much to do but laugh about being stuck out in the boonies in the rain waiting for a cab. So, we do. Then the cab comes back with passengers. We call again. FINALLY!!! The cab shows up just as it begins to do a little more than drizzle.

Our cab driver was from Bulgaria and was very happy to see us. Somehow he seemed to feel responsible for our situation and was fairly apologetic that we were damp and in the cold. He offered us a lot of advice on good things to see in the city and discussed the weather, closing of bridges, and Paul Allen’s quirks. It was a fine ride back to the Hotel Max despite the weird smell of dung in the cab.

By the time we got back, I was starving having not eaten since lunch. We stopped in at the Red Fin to have some edamame, sushi (I didn’t eat this) and some teriyaki skirt steak. It was quite a lovely end to a little adventure that now doesn’t seem quite the adventure since writing it out.