Today I learned an important and powerful travel lesson. It was a mostly chill-out morning with a little drizzle and we sat around the house for awhile. These past few days I've been anxious to go to Victoria as a pre-birthday trip but Brian said we're going to Microsoft. I was thinking "bloody hell" I don't care to go to Microsoft! I sneered at the idea and I was reluctant. Bree's father Doug works for Microsoft and had offered the other day to give us a VIP tour, so that's what we did. Driving with Bobbi, Brian, and Bree through Redmond, WA we passed the Nintendo of America headquarters with its classic Nintendo sign. We had some trouble finding a parking space but upon entering it was pure glamour. Brian dreams of meeting Bill Gates and on this journey he's mentioned his name as much as I mentioned "Pudgey" in Arizona, but we didn't meet him though. Microsoft is extremely clean and there are a million different restaurants to choose from at heavily subsidized prices. I had trouble choosing between pizza, fish & chips, Mongolian BBQ, Mexican, vegan, Italian, and so forth. Refrigerators full of drinks line the hallways and all are free! Seriously, you can walk down the hall and just grab whatever drink you want. When we checked in at the front desk earlier we were each given a personalized tag with our names on it. In addition to a plethora of restaurants are many different shops, including a bike shop.
Whilst I wasn't up for a shopping spree I enjoyed being here far greater than I expected. As I gazed around the cozy coloured furniture it was all Windows computers; bringing a Mac into Microsoft would probably land you a dirty look or an ass kicking depending on who sees you. A giant elephant model overshadowed me; something I wouldn't expect in Microsoft.
Doug advised us to eat since most of the places close at around 2 PM. Bree opted for vegan, Brian get Italian, and I opted for Mongolian, and after our feast we were shown all these state-of-the-art computers. There's a computer that's actually a table with a touch screen where you can play games and so forth! Bobbi and I were playing this Tetris-like game except it's shaped like a pie and up to six people can play. Fun! Doug is so awesome for bringing us, and I'll tell you why this is an important travel lesson for me! At first I might be itching to go to Pikes Place Market or to the first Starbucks, but it's often the unexpected things that are the real highlight! They don't say "expect the unexpected" for nothing. Had I not met Bree and had her father not been willing to bring us to Microsoft I wouldn't have seen it and wouldn't have even thought of it. I'm sure Doug won't do this for just anyone so we were VIPs today at Microsoft (Bill Gates not included).
After our Microsoft VIP excursion I got my wish of getting a photo in front of the Nintendo of America headquarters. Being in front of it wasn't enough; I had to be a kid again and climb up on the sign.
For the rest of the day we just couldn't stop smiling and talking about Microsoft! The food alone would make me go again, as would the important lesson I learned today.
