Never before had I enjoyed the opportunity to pair an out-of-town work obligation with a family trip. That changed this past weekend.

Our alumni office recently hosted its EWU Day at the Seattle Mariners this past weekend. The main event culminates in the baseball game on Sunday. However, the day before is devoted to a day-long alumni board meeting. The best university alumni director in the world, Kelsey Hatch-Brecek, asked me to speak to her board about my team’s marketing efforts. Of course I said “yes” and she told me my family could come along.

Since my speaking obligation was on Saturday morning, that gave my family the excuse to drive over to the west side on Friday. We rolled into Bellevue, a Seattle suburb where the alumni board meeting was taking place, just in time for check-in at the hotel. Once we got settled in our room, we went and did the #1 requirement of any Reser family trip: We ate at the Cheesecake Factory.

After we stuffed ourselves silly and checked out the nearby Bellevue Square Mall, we went back to the hotel and hit the pool. We then retreated back to our room and settled in for the night after a long day of travel.

I awoke on Saturday morning poised to complete the task I was brought to Seattle to do. I had a 10 a.m. presentation with the EWU Alumni Association Board of Directors.

The EWU Alumni Board is comprised of 24 members who live all over the state and even out-of-state as well. It was my intention to give the best presentation possible to this group of people who traveled far and sacrificed much to take part in the meeting—including listening to what I had to say.

Thanks in large part to an engaged and gracious audience, my talk went great as I had the opportunity to recap what our marketing team pulled off this past fiscal year and what we have planned for the next fiscal year. I gladly answered many excellent questions and I left the ballroom at the conclusion of my presentation feeling so honored and energized that I had the opportunity to speak with so many passionate and successful Eagles.

With the important and stressful part of the weekend out of the way, I joined my family back in the hotel room and then we walked to the Light Rail to begin our day of exploration.

We visited downtown Seattle and immediately hit up Pike Place Market. I think everyone was a bit overwhelmed by the people, shops, and smells but it was such a great learning opportunity to be in the midst of countless cultures and big city hustle and bustle.

After Pike Place, we found the gum wall, climbed on a super cool playground, ate lunch near the water, and engaged with a large animatronic sasquatch. We then made our way to the ferry station.

An item on Sidney’s to-do list was to visit Bainbridge Island. We purchased our ferry tickets and boarded the boat for a 35-minute ride across Puget Sound to the island. We stood on the top deck as we admired the Seattle skyline and the various surrounding mountains. When we landed on solid ground it didn’t take us long to find ice cream.

We also attended mass while on Bainbridge Island. We worshipped at St. Cecilia’s for the parish’s 5 p.m. Saturday vigil. The gospel centered on Jesus telling multiple parables, including the farmer who had an enemy sew weeds within his wheat harvest. The priest preached about the need to remain focused on cultivating good wheat as opposed to dwelling on the weeds.

Another highlight of our Bainbridge Island experience was touring the many shops in the community. Eventually we re-boarded the ferry. On the ride back to Seattle the four of us sat inside the ship around a table and chatted while enjoying beverages (soda for Sid and the kids…a beer for me). It was one of my favorite moments of the trip.

Back on the mainland I shared with Sloan and Beau my favorite Seattle location growing up: Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. For those who have never been, it is just a shop filled with odd and interesting items. The kids (and Sid) loved it just as much as me.

By the time we closed down the shop at 9 p.m., it was time for us to head back to our hotel. We caught the Light Rail and traveled to Bellevue. After picking up some hamburger we went to sleep looking forward to Sunday.

The main event of our trip was the Seattle Mariners vs. San Francisco Giants baseball game at T-Mobile Park on Sunday afternoon. This game was billed as EWU Day at the Seattle Mariners and served as another way to support the wonderful institution I work for.

We took the Light Rail to Seattle and scoped out all the vendors on Occidental Ave. before entering T-Mobile Park.

Once in the stadium, we walked around the outfield concourse for a bit. We then made our way up to the third deck for the EWU gathering. Once surrounded by fellow Eagles we picked up our EWU/Mariners co-branded jerseys and then entered the private area for the pre-game rally. After posing for a photo with Swoop, munching on kettle corn, and watching the kids take some batting practice we headed to our seats in section 146.

Despite the fact that it only reached 72 degrees in Seattle on Sunday afternoon, our seats were in the sun for majority of the game so it actually felt like 90 degrees. But the warm temperatures didn’t deter us at all as we had an absolute blast watching the Mariners come from behind to defeat the Giants.

Although the game was exciting, the best part was just sitting with my family and my EWU friends. Many people from my office were seated right next to us and even President McMahan and Athletic Director Tim Collins were in our row. It was relaxing and nice to enjoy a casual afternoon in Seattle with people who I usually only get to interact with in a professional environment.

Sloan and Beau loved the Mariner gameday experience. Sloan made the video board and Beau got the souvenir baseball he had his heart set on.

We stayed until the final out of the Mariners’ 6-3 victory over the Giants and then we made our way to the Light Rail. We returned to the parking lot of our hotel, used the restroom, jumped in our vehicle, and started the journey back to Spokane. We would arrive home around 10:30 p.m.

Again, what made this trip truly memorable was that I was able to infuse both work and family. At times it was exclusively work and at other times it was exclusively family but on Sunday afternoon I was able to infuse both…and that doesn’t happen very often. Don’t Blink.