Business Trip Day II

“Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But . . . The artist with vision sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating what he has learned with his own experience, finally molds something distinctly personal.” ~Romare Howard Bearden

Lenin and I met in the hotel lobby to have breakfast at 7:10 that morning. We knew Lenin would be late, so we set the time back, thinking maybe he would arrive on time. The little dining area was full and all the tables were taken, so Lenin and I ate picnic style. There were two chairs with a table in between them. We put our drinks on that, he balanced his plate on this knees and I held my cereal bowl in my hand. Of course, we had the same thing for breakfast, raisin bran for me and 1 slice of French toast and a hard boiled egg for him. We’re pretty predictable.

Lenin had charged the GPS unit after we returned the previous night. We ran back to our rooms and grabbed our work stuff. He was faster than me. By the time I had returned to the lobby, he had the car pulled up out front of the hotel. As we drove to work, we thought about the people at the meeting. I kept thinking about one of the men that was leading the workshop. He reminded me of Dwight from The Office. I explained to Lenin why I felt the man was Dwight, but Lenin didn’t see it.

We parked and as we were walking in the building, we were talking about what our plans for the evening would be. I didn’t have any big thoughts, ideas or urgings. Lenin suggested we drive out to Snoqualmie Falls. I said it sounded like a good time.

We sat through the workshop, Lenin spoke up at the appropriate times and I gave off the appearance of paying attention. However the truth of the matter was, I was bored, daydreaming and looking forward to the next adventure we would embark on after work. Lunch was sandwiches and it made everyone tired afterwards. Lenin was having a very difficult time focusing. I had to chew gum because I was going to yawn and fall asleep if I didn’t.

We dropped our laptops back at the hotel, grabbed our cameras, jumped into the car, punched in the coordinates to Snoqualmie Falls and started the drive. As we drove, we talked about cars. Basically Lenin pointed out really cool cars and I asked about them. We discussed his opinions on certain cars and it was a one sided conversation. I know nothing about cars. We also discussed music, good bands, good songs, songs that are horrible and groups that are overrated.

Lenin had driven to Snoqualmie Falls previously when he was up here for work. Him and a man from the company we were doing business drove motorcycles out to the falls. Lenin has a motorcycle and rides with some frequency. I think motorcycles are terrifying and I’m not sure if I would ever get on one. However, Lenin and this man drove out to the falls from this man’s house the last time he was out there. He told me how much fun it was and I listened.

As we drove, we passed Issaquah. I lived in Issaquah when I was a little kid. I pointed it out to him as we passed it. He asked about our life when we lived here and I told him a bit about it. It was an incredible opportunity for my family and we viewed it as an adventure.

We reached Snoqualmie Falls and I remembered it from childhood. However, the memory I associated it with is blue bubblegum. We took photographs of the waterfalls and just took in the site. It was really beautiful. There is a hotel/spa that is located next to the falls. We were curious if there was a way to get closer on the other side of the hotel. We walked around it and it was fenced off. However, on the other side of the river that feeds into the falls is a little power station. Lenin thought maybe we could get better pictures from there.

We jump into the car and drive over there. This tract of land is not for public use and as we pass a sign that tells us that Lenin looks over at me and jokes, “If we get pulled over by the police, you are my sister with cancer and this is your dying wish.”

We turn around, and are following the GPS to a small restaurant when Lenin sees a small train museum. He says we have to stop and get a picture for Mickey in the office. Mickey, the older Italian man at work, loves trains. So Lenin pulls over to where there is an small drive and tells me to take the picture. Well, I pop out of the car and take off running to where the train is stationed. It’s a museum, so the train isn’t moving. However, I’m hauling tail because I don’t want to make Lenin wait. Mind you I’m running in a skirt and high heels. So I manage to snap a few pictures for Mickey and then run back to the car, where Lenin is waiting. As I get myself situated in the car Lenin looks at me, “I didn’t expect you to run down there and take a picture. I would have drive you down there.”
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have been able to get a good picture from where the car was. No worries.”
We drive towards the small town and realize that the eating options aren’t great and there are more options at the other end of the small town. We pick a restaurant from the list on the GPS unit at that end of town and as we are pulling into traffic to follow the GPS directions, Lenin’s phone rings. It’s not his personal cell, it’s work. It’s our boss.

Lenin pulls into a parking lot and we wait. Lenin talks to our boss and I sit and entertain myself. Our boss is a great guy, but he is rather long winded. Lenin and I both knew this would take a bit of time.

Twenty minutes later, Lenin and I are back on the road looking for dinner. There weren’t many options on that end of the town either, so we settled for a little diner. Only it wasn’t a diner, it was a bar. This bar sold jello shots for two dollars each. It reminded me of a place we would eat as a family when I was in high school. I told Lenin of the place it reminded me of and he knew it. He said him and his buddies used to go there because it was easy to underage drink there.

A little old man walks over with menus and looks closely at us. I ordered an iced tea and Lenin ordered the same thing. Then this little old man looks at Lenin, he looks at me and then he looks back at Lenin, “I have granddaughters her age. You guys keep picking them younger and younger.”

I about chocked on air and Lenin was a little surprised. We both smiled at the little old man and he walked off. We perused the menu and I decided on the chicken sandwich. Lenin chose the seafood feast and asked me if I would help him with it. Well, the little old man returned with our iced teas and informed us that the serving sizes were huge. If you ordered a burger, it was going to be 6 inches wide and very thick and that they were juicy. He then looked at me and as he said this, he turned to Lenin, “If she orders one, it’s going to drip down her front and you are going to have to lick it off of her.”

Oh sweet Nancy, that was mortifying. Lenin couldn’t even look at me and my cheeks bright red. The little old man was cracking himself up. He informed us that he would give us a little more time to decide what we wanted to order and he would be back.. After being informed that the serving sizes were huge, Lenin decided to get fish and chips and I decided to get the chicken sandwich.

As the man was taking my order, he stopped me, “Do you want onions on your sandwich?”
“No thank you.”
He turns to Lenin and nods in excitement, “She’s up for smooching tonight.”
Lenin and I are both just mortified and then the little man looks at Lenin again, “I think I’ve made her blush.”
Lenin responded, “I believe you have.”

The older man takes our orders and wanders off to cook them. Lenin and I didn’t really know where to take the conversation after that. We talked about vacations. He’s thinking about doing a marathon up in Victoria, Canada. I informed him if he had a DUI or a felony, he would not be welcomed into Canada, but the marathon sounds fun. We talked about movies and music, both safe topics. Then the little old man brought our dinners.

He proceeded to remind us that if my chicken sandwich dripped down my front, Lenin would have to lick it off. We enjoy our meal and talk about random things. I felt so bad about leaving the food that I couldn’t eat that I asked for a to go box. It wasn’t that I was going to be able to eat it, but the little old had made such a big deal about the serving sizes that I didn’t feel safe ordering anything. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to eat everything, but I didn’t want him to think that I was wasting food. So I put the food in a to go box and we walked to the car. Lenin told me I could put the to go box in the trunk, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, you can put it in the trunk.”
“It will fly all over the trunk and cause a huge mess.”
“No it won’t.”
“With the way you drive, I believe it would be safer to keep it with me.”
We had a good laugh and started the drive back to the hotel. He reminisced about when he drove the motorcycle through Snoqualmie Falls again and I listened.

It’s funny, he’s 43 and I’m 25. We get along pretty well. I would love to date him. I’m not sure how he feels about me. However, the little old man just assumed, like most people would, I guess. Well, there is more to tell, but I’ve got some other things to do.