High School Reunion Featuring Def Leppard & Poison

Several months ago I saw that Def Leppard would be performing in Seattle in June and that Poison would be joining them on tour.  Justin and I saw Def Leppard back in 2011 and the concert was awesome.  Poison sings my self proclaimed song “Every Rose Has it’s Thorn” and so it was a no brainer that I had to go and see them LIVE.  I immediately sent a text to Chrystie, my high school friend and fellow 80’s rock and roll fan to see if she’d be interested in flying up from Utah to join me.  I was super stoked that she was and we asked a couple other high school friends to join us.  Sandy, now living in Alaska was game; however, unfortunately, Somer wasn’t feeling able to commit to it.  Here’s the four of us on our Senior Trip to Yellowstone a mere 22 years ago.

Somer, Sandy, Chrystie and Me

Chrystie and I have kept in touch by following each other’s blogs and social media accounts over the years but I think the last time we saw each other was when we were in Utah for Christmas in 2010.  Sandy and I have probably only see each other once since I moved to Seattle over 16 years ago and our only other contact has been the Christmas card I send each year.  A reunion was overdue.

They flew in on Friday morning, June 9 – I thought we’d head straight into Seattle for the day, but Sandy had brought a whole box of frozen fish with her from Alaska so we took a detour to my house to get those fish on ice :)

I’d asked several friends for recommendations on what to do and eat while they were here.  We brunched at Lola – a cute Mediterranean restaurant downtown – it was delish.  Then we strolled through Pikes Place (picking up a couple fresh bags of donuts from the Daily Dozen) on our way to the Great Wheel of Seattle. 

We’ve haven’t aged at all have we?

After the Wheel we walked over to Seattle Center to check out Chihuly Garden & Glass. 

It was beautiful!

It took FOREVER to get out of Seattle and to the concert in Auburn.  We joked that someone from Waze was laughing at us following all their crazy directions.  We ended up pulling into the wrong lane as we neared the venue parking lot but thanks to some sweet-talking and bribery a parking attendant moved some cones and slipped us in.  We didn’t even have time to stop for food so we grabbed some Beecher’s cheese sandwiches at the amphitheatre and called it good.

Both Poison and Def Leppard were amazing.  Really an awesome concert.  They both played everything I would have wanted and more.  Def Leppard made the comment that this year marks their 40th year touring – so fitting for these ladies turned or turning 40 this year – yikes!

Justin asked how it was and I had to admit it was even better than the first time I’d seen Def Leppard perform.  He asked it was because of who it was with and for sure that made it even that more awesome.  We danced.  We sang.  Good times.

Getting out of the concert parking lot was another traffic nightmare, but we found plenty of entertainment watching all the intoxicated and otherwise influenced concertgoer’s roam (and fall) around in search of their cars.  It was a late night albeit very entertaining!

Sandy and Chrystie slept in until late, late morning on Saturday.  We ate breakfast and Justin had the bikes loaded up on the van ready to drop us off to ride nearly 20-miles down the John Wayne trail to Rattlesnake Lake.  It’s been on my bucket list ever since we moved here and I was excited to finally do it – even if the weather was looking a little iffy.  As we adjusted the bikes in the parking lot at the start of the trail we spotted a black bear just meandering on by – just to add to the whole welcome to the PNW experience.

Here we are ready to head into the 2-mile pitch dark and freezing cold tunnel.   We’re smiling cause we didn’t know just how cold we were about to be.

Here we are smiling once again after surviving the ride through the tunnel.    

The ride was so beautiful!  There were several bridges, countless waterfalls, and so much greenery that I love about the PNW.

I originally thought we could paddleboard when we got to the lake, but it was already so late in the afternoon and we were too tired and hungry to bother.  Instead we headed back to the house to shower and clean up to go out to dinner.  We took advantage of Justin’s BOGO prime card and ate at Pogacha in Issaquah and then it was back to Snoqualmie to catch the sunset at Snoqualmie Falls.

We picked up a disturbing movie at Redbox for the evening – next time I’ll be more insistent that we go the chick flick route instead.

They were both heading home on Sunday and we decided they needed to experience the views from Rattlesnake Ledge before leaving.  Never disappoints.

I hate this picture of me, but love the view (and Chrystie looks cute too!)

I’d never seen so many people at the top before – seriously, I blame social media for spreading the word about just how lovely it is up there.

We had just enough time for one more venture – Franklin Falls.

I was surprised how much snow was still there

Before we knew it it was time to get these two to the airport to send them back to their families.  Such a fun weekend!