Thursday, March 14, 2013

Home Again

Had a lovely time visiting with the sister in (surprisingly!) sunny Seattle.  It only rained the night I flew in and the evening I left.  Otherwise, it was either partly cloudy or out right sunny.  Everyone said I must have brought it with me - I just kept thinking, 'have you ever seen Ohio in winter?' 

We spent the majority of Saturday downtown Seattle.  We bummed around Pike's Market and saw the sunset from the top of the Space Needle.  It felt like everyone in Seattle was outdoors soaking up the sun.  We saw this guy when we were sitting in the park by Pike's Market.  He's rather blinding on a bright, sunny day.
 
 Concealed Carry was unobstructed, even downtown, it was so nice not to see 'no weapons' signs.  The only place I left the airweight in the car was when we visited the Space Needle.  While I didn't find anything saying I couldn't carry, there was a security guard checking all bags.  Mind you, I'm not sure what he was looking for as I could've been carrying a 1911 and he'd have missed it in my 'purse'.  I "borrowed" Heath's Crossfire & he *might* not be getting it back.  If I'd have realized it earlier in the trip, I would've gone to Tactical Tailor's retail location in Lakewood and gotten him a replacement - or me a new one ;-)

In general, it was nice to get to kick back with my sister again.  I've missed being able to hang out with her - even calls are tricky with the time difference.  We spent a lot of time watching favorite movies and bringing up old inside jokes.  Wish I could say I could make the trip again soon, but that's a helluva distance.

The flights, overall, were interesting but uneventful.  I had window seats on all 4 flights, didn't have anyone in the middle seat on 3 of them and scored a row to myself on the last one.  On the Red-Eye home (Seattle - Chicago) there were 6+ babies, but I had new, noise-cancelling earbuds so I didn't hear a thing. :-D 

Checking the gun through Cleveland was easy; TSA didn't even bother to open the case.  Checking it back through Seattle was more amusing.  I swear the counter agent thought it was going to come through the case and hold her hostage, the TSA guy couldn't grasp how to work the case clasps and didn't touch the gun or speed-loaders but made a point to check inside the ammo box - beats me why.

I do wish there was a more standardized pick-up procedure for firearms.  When Heath & I flew into Houston, we had to go to the baggage claim office and show our claim ticket.  In Seattle, I assumed it would be similar but they just waived me off to the over-sized luggage with minimal scrutiny.  In Cleveland, the case came in with the standard luggage and I just walked off with it.  I guess it shouldn't matter - it'd just be nice to know what to expect. 

Always fun to go visiting but it sure felt nice to get home!

6 comments:

Old NFO said...

Glad the trip went well, and you encountered the disparity of TSA/Customer service reactions to guns in luggage... And no it's NOT standardized, and I doubt it ever will be. I always 'start' at baggage claim (FWIW)... :-)

Chasing Freedom said...

Yep, never know what to expect with airports. It was worth it though - I felt so much more comfortable sight-seeing knowing that I was carrying around my own 'force-equalization agency' ;-)

Old NFO said...

Good point Lady!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but great
topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more.

Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this information for my mission.


Feel free to surf to my blog: security guards Pietermaritzburg

Anonymous said...

I am no longer sure where you're getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time finding out more or understanding more. Thanks for great info I used to be in search of this info for my mission.

Review my web blog: construction plumbing Gauteng

Anonymous said...

Hey, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!


Also visit my site: kids party packs Johannesburg