PixieDusting
The Red-headed Pixie!
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
A little background. This was our 3rd trip to DL since April (and I think our 11th or 12th in 7 years), and was totally unplanned. DH's work sent him to Anaheim at the last minute in early August and he has been there since, flying home for very short weekends. BLEECH! This is not typical for him, and quite frankly we all were getting sick and tired of it SO, we took the bull by
the horns and decided to fly down and at least be able to spend part of the evenings with him.
The hotel and car were already paid for, and his boss agreed to pay for an extra night in the hotel, as well as the extra day for the car. We got a dirt cheap direct flight on Alaska
must have been cuz we booked so late? I suppose during the days DS and I should go to the parks...dontcha think?!?....so the only real cost we had was the park hopper and the plane. On with the report!
Tuesday 8/28. My mom was to pick us up at 8 am, flight was for 9:30 and with never knowing how bad rush hour in Seattle will be, I thought we had PLENTY of time. Not so.....read this:
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 01:01 p.m. Pacific
Woman in critical condition after jumping from Ship Canal Bridge
By Dave Birkland and Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporters
The woman who jumped from the west side of the Ship Canal Bridge on Interstate 5 this morning survived the jump and tied up traffic on the freeway for nearly four hours during rush hour.
The 28-year-old woman, whose identity wasn't available, was in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
She jumped shortly after 10 a.m. after halting traffic in several directions for several hours.
The traffic jam was so bad that vehicles were backed up from the bridge north to Shoreline, from I-5 east on State Route 520 to Kirkland and for several miles south to Boeing Field.
The woman jumped from a railing adjacent to the southbound lanes, but police were forced to shut down the northbound lanes because passing motorists were shouting encouragement for her to jump, police said.
Duane Fish, Seattle police spokesman, said while police negotiators were trying to develop a rapport with the woman, motorists heading north were shouting such things as, "jump," "get it over with," "just do it."
"Our crises people were out there trying to save a life. It made it extremely difficult for them," Fish said.
The northbound traffic also had to be halted because of the many near collisions by drivers looking at the woman, whose legs were dangling over the rail, police said.
When the woman jumped, she dropped 160 feet and hit the water on her backside, according to police diver Jackson Lone, who was the first person to reach the woman. She likely hit bottom in water that is 13-15 feet deep, he said.
When she surfaced, she was flaying and paddling weakly. Lone reached over the side of the boat he was in and grabbed her, but he fell in while doing so, he said. He brought her to another boat, which brought her to shore and waiting paramedics.
Lone and his colleagues said they were waiting below for more than three hours.
"We were amazed that she jumped," after all that time, said Lt. Richard Schweitzer. It's unusual for an individual to spend that much time talking to negotiators before leaping.
Usually, if they're going to do it, they do it right away, said Officer Pruitt, who was driving one of the boats.
The woman had been threatening to jump since about 6:15 a.m., and divers were in the water in case she did.
Traffic resumed in both directions on the freeway at about 10:20 a.m.
During the closure, the freeway was backed up from the bridge all the way to Shoreline and forced many commuters onto surface streets. Those street became clogged and made for a nasty commute in much of the area north of the bridge.
All traffic headed south on the regular lanes was shut down at 6:23 a.m. The southbound express lanes remained open, but traffic was moving slowly there, according to the State Patrol.
At 8 a.m., the northbound lanes also were shut down by Seattle police, but two of those lanes were subsequently reopened.
Seattle police officers and state troopers diverted southbound traffic at Northeast 50th Street.
Now, I had not turned on a radio or TV that morning, so I had NO idea this was going on. My mom is ALWAYS early, so when she wasn't here at 7:30-8, I started getting concerned. Called her, no answer, so we figured she'd just overslept and was on her way, so we waited. She got to our house at 8:10 in a complete frazzle, poor thing. She hadn't overslept, she'd gotten caught in the beginnings of that mess. Now, at that point the radio was only saying the freeways were closed due to "police activity" nothing more, so we didn't have a clear idea of how bad traffic was or why. We got about a mile from our house and saw one eantrance to the freeway backed up at least 1 1/2 miles, got near the freeway at another entrance(BTW my mom asked me to drive cuz she was so frazzled), realized that was a no go so I started taking surface streets (zigging and zagging down one block then another) to a smaller highway. What a mess.
To make a long story short when we got to the gate they were boarding our flight. Man oh man...I didn't think we were going to make it. Thank goodness I had checked us in online when I woke up! Poor mom (even after I went over it with her several times) couldn't figure out how to get back the way we came sooooo, she went home on the freeway and sat there for 3 hours. I owe her big time!
Anyhow, we got to SNA at 12 something, and had a nice leisurely lunch with Brett (DH). Colin (DS) and I dropped our things at the hotel and headed for DCA...it was about 2 by now. When we got to the entrance plaza we decided NOT to go into a park that day. It was the first (and probably last) time Colin will ever think that's a good idea! He was up until 1 the night before (and awake at 6:30). I had been up till about 2:30 and awake at 5:30 so we were pretty tired. We bought our park hoppers then went to DtD and wandered around, tried on lots of silly hats in WOD, then to the Disneyland Hotel to relax and have an iced latte for me and an iced mocha for Colin. I love that hotel and how relaxing it is!
About 4 Brett called us to let us know how late he'd have to work, which thankfully was only till about 6:30. Colin and I walked (first and last time...it's a bit of a hike when you're pooped) back to our hotel for a swim and Brett met us there. BTW, DH's work had put him up at the Residence Inn Anaheim for the month and I would recomend it for someone looking for large rooms, decent location, good price, clean and pretty well kept up. We had "studio" which consisted of 2 queens and a sleeper sofa, a full kitchen, ample counter space and closet space. We thought it was a good selection at the continental breakfast and the "happy hours" buffet from 5-7 in the evenings. All 3 of us went back to DtD and ate dinner at Y'arriba Y'arriba.. a tapas bar. First we were seated inside, and honestly could not even hear each other because the music was so loud :-( we asked to be moved outside, and though it was chilly, it was much quieter! We've been to several tapas bars and this was just "ok." The flavorings were just too bland for us, and the bill was awfully high. Oh well.
We headed back over to the Disneyland Hotel for some reason or another (cannot recall now) and heard the music playing for the Fantasy Waters show. I haven't seen it since a trip I took Colin on (just the two of us) when he was 5. We headed over there to watch it and I started thinking about that trip with just the 2 of us, how magical it was, and how wonderful it would be to have him 5 again (not that he's not wonderful at 11, he is...I just miss the "magic" of being with younger kids at Disney). Well, my eyes started watering a bit, then a bit more, and before I knew it I was bawling like a baby. I just couldn't stop. Colin asked me why I was crying and after I told him he just hugged me and hugged me while I cried and we watched the rest of it. BTW, this behaviour is NOT typical for me! I managed to pull myself together and we all made our way back to the hotel for the evening.
Well, this was going to be the short version, but I guess not....LOL! Day 2 next...
Lauren
All it takes is faith and trust and a little bit of Pixie Dust!
the horns and decided to fly down and at least be able to spend part of the evenings with him.
The hotel and car were already paid for, and his boss agreed to pay for an extra night in the hotel, as well as the extra day for the car. We got a dirt cheap direct flight on Alaska
must have been cuz we booked so late? I suppose during the days DS and I should go to the parks...dontcha think?!?....so the only real cost we had was the park hopper and the plane. On with the report!Tuesday 8/28. My mom was to pick us up at 8 am, flight was for 9:30 and with never knowing how bad rush hour in Seattle will be, I thought we had PLENTY of time. Not so.....read this:
Tuesday, August 28, 2001 - 01:01 p.m. Pacific
Woman in critical condition after jumping from Ship Canal Bridge
By Dave Birkland and Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporters
The woman who jumped from the west side of the Ship Canal Bridge on Interstate 5 this morning survived the jump and tied up traffic on the freeway for nearly four hours during rush hour.
The 28-year-old woman, whose identity wasn't available, was in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
She jumped shortly after 10 a.m. after halting traffic in several directions for several hours.
The traffic jam was so bad that vehicles were backed up from the bridge north to Shoreline, from I-5 east on State Route 520 to Kirkland and for several miles south to Boeing Field.
The woman jumped from a railing adjacent to the southbound lanes, but police were forced to shut down the northbound lanes because passing motorists were shouting encouragement for her to jump, police said.
Duane Fish, Seattle police spokesman, said while police negotiators were trying to develop a rapport with the woman, motorists heading north were shouting such things as, "jump," "get it over with," "just do it."
"Our crises people were out there trying to save a life. It made it extremely difficult for them," Fish said.
The northbound traffic also had to be halted because of the many near collisions by drivers looking at the woman, whose legs were dangling over the rail, police said.
When the woman jumped, she dropped 160 feet and hit the water on her backside, according to police diver Jackson Lone, who was the first person to reach the woman. She likely hit bottom in water that is 13-15 feet deep, he said.
When she surfaced, she was flaying and paddling weakly. Lone reached over the side of the boat he was in and grabbed her, but he fell in while doing so, he said. He brought her to another boat, which brought her to shore and waiting paramedics.
Lone and his colleagues said they were waiting below for more than three hours.
"We were amazed that she jumped," after all that time, said Lt. Richard Schweitzer. It's unusual for an individual to spend that much time talking to negotiators before leaping.
Usually, if they're going to do it, they do it right away, said Officer Pruitt, who was driving one of the boats.
The woman had been threatening to jump since about 6:15 a.m., and divers were in the water in case she did.
Traffic resumed in both directions on the freeway at about 10:20 a.m.
During the closure, the freeway was backed up from the bridge all the way to Shoreline and forced many commuters onto surface streets. Those street became clogged and made for a nasty commute in much of the area north of the bridge.
All traffic headed south on the regular lanes was shut down at 6:23 a.m. The southbound express lanes remained open, but traffic was moving slowly there, according to the State Patrol.
At 8 a.m., the northbound lanes also were shut down by Seattle police, but two of those lanes were subsequently reopened.
Seattle police officers and state troopers diverted southbound traffic at Northeast 50th Street.
Now, I had not turned on a radio or TV that morning, so I had NO idea this was going on. My mom is ALWAYS early, so when she wasn't here at 7:30-8, I started getting concerned. Called her, no answer, so we figured she'd just overslept and was on her way, so we waited. She got to our house at 8:10 in a complete frazzle, poor thing. She hadn't overslept, she'd gotten caught in the beginnings of that mess. Now, at that point the radio was only saying the freeways were closed due to "police activity" nothing more, so we didn't have a clear idea of how bad traffic was or why. We got about a mile from our house and saw one eantrance to the freeway backed up at least 1 1/2 miles, got near the freeway at another entrance(BTW my mom asked me to drive cuz she was so frazzled), realized that was a no go so I started taking surface streets (zigging and zagging down one block then another) to a smaller highway. What a mess.
To make a long story short when we got to the gate they were boarding our flight. Man oh man...I didn't think we were going to make it. Thank goodness I had checked us in online when I woke up! Poor mom (even after I went over it with her several times) couldn't figure out how to get back the way we came sooooo, she went home on the freeway and sat there for 3 hours. I owe her big time!
Anyhow, we got to SNA at 12 something, and had a nice leisurely lunch with Brett (DH). Colin (DS) and I dropped our things at the hotel and headed for DCA...it was about 2 by now. When we got to the entrance plaza we decided NOT to go into a park that day. It was the first (and probably last) time Colin will ever think that's a good idea! He was up until 1 the night before (and awake at 6:30). I had been up till about 2:30 and awake at 5:30 so we were pretty tired. We bought our park hoppers then went to DtD and wandered around, tried on lots of silly hats in WOD, then to the Disneyland Hotel to relax and have an iced latte for me and an iced mocha for Colin. I love that hotel and how relaxing it is!
About 4 Brett called us to let us know how late he'd have to work, which thankfully was only till about 6:30. Colin and I walked (first and last time...it's a bit of a hike when you're pooped) back to our hotel for a swim and Brett met us there. BTW, DH's work had put him up at the Residence Inn Anaheim for the month and I would recomend it for someone looking for large rooms, decent location, good price, clean and pretty well kept up. We had "studio" which consisted of 2 queens and a sleeper sofa, a full kitchen, ample counter space and closet space. We thought it was a good selection at the continental breakfast and the "happy hours" buffet from 5-7 in the evenings. All 3 of us went back to DtD and ate dinner at Y'arriba Y'arriba.. a tapas bar. First we were seated inside, and honestly could not even hear each other because the music was so loud :-( we asked to be moved outside, and though it was chilly, it was much quieter! We've been to several tapas bars and this was just "ok." The flavorings were just too bland for us, and the bill was awfully high. Oh well.
We headed back over to the Disneyland Hotel for some reason or another (cannot recall now) and heard the music playing for the Fantasy Waters show. I haven't seen it since a trip I took Colin on (just the two of us) when he was 5. We headed over there to watch it and I started thinking about that trip with just the 2 of us, how magical it was, and how wonderful it would be to have him 5 again (not that he's not wonderful at 11, he is...I just miss the "magic" of being with younger kids at Disney). Well, my eyes started watering a bit, then a bit more, and before I knew it I was bawling like a baby. I just couldn't stop. Colin asked me why I was crying and after I told him he just hugged me and hugged me while I cried and we watched the rest of it. BTW, this behaviour is NOT typical for me! I managed to pull myself together and we all made our way back to the hotel for the evening.
Well, this was going to be the short version, but I guess not....LOL! Day 2 next...
Lauren
All it takes is faith and trust and a little bit of Pixie Dust!
