Pacific Wonderland

  Out of all the days, this one was least like the way I had planned it which made it one of my favorites. Pro-tip: Even if you're a type-A, planner, organized person, leave some room for surprises.  It also turned out to be one of the most photogenic days. After a delicious breakfast in the sunroom at our host home, we headed off to Multonomah Falls. My parents had hiked here a year or two ago and told us that it was a 'must do' type of thing. There were a few options for the hike which consisted of: 1. See the falls (0.2 miles) 2. Hike to the bridge for a selfie (0.8 miles) 3. Hike to the top and feel good about yourself (2.5 miles) or 4. Hike around the falls and see everything else (5-6ish miles). We were looking for an actual hike, but our hips, thighs, calves, and gluteus maximuseseses were feeling like we had hiked up a mountain the day before (we had). Pro-tip: If you take this trip, maybe don't plan your two hikes on back to back days. Therefore, we decided to hike to the top of the falls and back down. Multonomah Falls is the second tallest waterfall in the United States (I think this is only counting year-round falls. You can check me on that.) The falls were absolutely gorgeous and so impressive. It's the type of thing that makes you look up and just shake your head because nothing that I could create could possibly look that good and this thing happened naturally (or with the Creator's help). The trail up to the top consisted of more switchbacks which helped loosen up our hips, thighs, calves, and gluteus maximuseses very quickly. We had arrived pretty early, so it wasn't too hot or too crowded.

I'm going to skip ahead in the story, but the next pictures are still from the falls. However, if I asked a formatting expert, they'd probably tell me to break up the pictures with some words to keep the audience engaged and avoid boredom. Pro-tip: Bloggers want to keep their audiences engaged. My original plan for the rest of the day was to take a biking tour or rent bikes and ride through the city of Portland. (There was an option for a foodie tour where they'd stop and have you sample the famous foods in the city- a bit pricey but sounded fun). Due to our experience in Portland the night before, we weren't keen on spending a ton more time in the city on bikes. On the recommendation of our hosts from the night before, we decided to drive further down the Colombia River Gorge to a town called Hood River. The Colombia River flows into the Pacific ocean and the drive through the gorge is absolutely gorgeous.

View from the top of the falls

So anyway, down the road we went. On the way there, we completed one of my family's road trip traditions. For a reason that's way to long explain right now, we have every traveler state three things that they like and three things that they dislike and compile a list. Most of them are supposed to be related to the trip or traveling. Here's our lists.

Caroline
Likes: Donuts, AirBnb, and
adventure.
Dislikes: Hertz car rentals,
traffic, and sore hips

Rachel
Likes: Mountains, blueberries,
and cozy beds
Dislikes: Staying a hotel that
night instead of AirBnb,
being tired, and hiking
in the snow

Nikki
Likes: Moutains, water, and mountains
and water together
Dislikes: Thinking of dislikes, seeing a
mountain that she can't summit, and
mountain goat heads on the wall. 

               


 Our expected drive was about 40 minutes. If you'll remember back to day #2, I had asked both Nikki and Rachel to come up with something that they wanted to do. Nikki had suggested a fish ladder, and I had basically told her that we couldn't.  Pro-tip: Try not to be too controlling when planning a trip. On our way to Hood River, we saw a sign for Bonneville Dam and fish ladder. It was one of those should we? shouldn't we? things where we decided to swerve off the exit at the last minute. Turned out to be really cool! I got a stamp! Totally wasn't expecting that, but it was a stop on the Lewis and Clark historic trail. We learned about fish ladders and how the salmon swim upstream to spawn. They (don't have any clue who 'they' are) want to get an accurate count of salmon so there is literally a human being who volunteers for 8 hours a day to count how many fish swim by a window. There was also some history there about the building of the dam. And Nikki got to see fish. A random stop turned out to be a home run. Pro-tip: Making unplanned stops are sometimes the best memories.  I also picked up a lesson from the docent at the visitor's center: "The salmon swim up the Colombia River from spending four years in the Pacific Ocean. They swim up the river and hit our concrete wall and they say, "Oh! Dam!"

   

    Hood River was really cute, but not a lot to report. We ate from food carts which is apparently a necessity in Oregon. It was good. We walked around and had delicious ice cream. It was the kind of ice-cream-after-walking-around-in-90-degree-weather-in-an-unfamiliar-city-and-you're-really-thirsty-but-your-water-is-really-warm-kind of ice cream. Which is the best kind.
 
 




   Our next stop the was the International Rose Test Garden- or the international roast garden if you're Nikki or Rachel. There are over 550 varieties of roses including many experimental types. Pro-tip: I have no pro advice here. I honestly don't know how a rose can be experimental. However, I think I would be incredibly good at coming up with new rose names: The Derrick, Rose to the Occasion,  Rose upon Rows, etc. I have never been a huge fan of roses. I didn't think they really smelled that sweet and were too pricey for my taste. However, I was a big fan of this place. They really smelled wonderful. There was also a variety of smells- some were very flowery (no, duh!) while others smelled fruitier or more like a perfume. I am a jerk and forgot to ask the others which their favorite flower was. Mine was the first purple one pictured right below. Nikki has a great camera and took a bunch of pictures. Here's just a few.

They look like they're in time-out

 We didn't stay in an AirBnb that night. I had gotten a great deal on a Courtyard Marriott, so we ended up on the west side of Portland to get us close to the coast for day #5. We had pb&j in our hotel room with a little time that evening to watch some quality HGTV and to go to the pool/ hot tub. I think that night we were night owls. In bed by 9:30!

Breakdown of Day 4:
Best moment: Unexpected stamp! Not really, probably the 'wow' moment looking at the falls
Worst moment: Right before the first lick of ice cream
Bonding moment: Hot tub talks- sounds like a soap opera
Breakdown of Costs:

• Food Cart $7.50
• Ice Cream $2.50
• Parking in Hood River and Rose Garden $5

Thanks for sticking with me! Day 5 was the unanimously picked favorite, so stay tuned!
-C-

"49"

Day #3

    For the next couple of days, there will probably be a larger amount of pictures because what we saw and experienced deserves that. All of the ones posted here are taken by Nikki and Rachel. I don't own an actual camera, and my phone camera is the quality of velveeta cheese. Also, I'm lazy and don't like taking pictures. All of the credit goes to them.

    I'd like to let you know that my Bible reading for these days were in the last few chapters of Job. If you don't know the story, Job and his not so helpful buddies were arguing about sin and God's mercy. In short, they were both wrong. God starts talking to Job in the last couple of chapters and puts him in his place. There are sentences like this, "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer me." Then God talks about His incredible power. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" "Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its' place?" This goes on for quite a few chapters. Reading this right before climbing an incredible mountain gives you a little different perspective.

   So anyway, our goals for the day were to hike Mt. Rainier and start discovering Portland. We started out early. That's because we woke up early because we went to bed early because we were exhausted by 8pm. We were only 7 miles away from the entrance to the park, but that doesn't matter because the park is huge. We drove as far as we could up to Paradise where I planned to do a hike. I had read about the incredible wild flowers that gave the place its name. The elevation of Paradise was about 6100 ft, so when we got there, it was covered in snow. Whoops. No wildflowers for us- just feet and feet of snow. The road beyond the visitor's center was still blocked due to snow. The it was about 9:20 am at this point, and the visitor center didn't open til 10am. Inside that visitor center was a stamp (see previous post). I needed the stamp. So what did we do? We hiked in the snow. Pro-tip: If you want to see wildflowers, apparently July is the month to go. Paradise has one of the highest snowfalls in the country. Anywhere from 50-70ft a year. 
     We could see a sort of path-like thing (basically a bunch of footprints), so we decided we'd start there. I'd like to add that in the parking lot, there were a couple of groups who appeared to be starting a serious hike. Backpacks, hiking poles, hiking boots, fancy jackets, etc... They had guides who were explaining the hike to them, but we walked past them all and headed up the mountain in our t-shirts and sneakers. Pro-tip: We are not pros. Do not copy us if you want to climb a mountain in the snow.  Our goal wasn't to get very high- we just wanted to pass the time til I could get my stamp. We took a couple of pictures where we depicted what our attitudes were concerning the hike.

I'm thrilled. Rachel not so much.

Nikki loves mountains. A lot. 

   This was not an easy hike. It was slippery and rough and snow got in my shoes, but it was one of my favorite parts of the day. On the way down, I found a track made by something non-human that provided an excellent slide. I pushed myself forward a little, and then proceeded to slide down. Nobody would follow me.

We're actually throwing snow in the air in attempts to be artsy, but I think this is a better representation of how Rachel felt at this point.

   Finally the visitor's center opened, and I got my stamp. A very helpful park ranger recommended a different hike farther down the mountain that didn't include any snow. This hike was marvelous. And strenuous. The ranger mentioned that "there are a couple of switchbacks" but she failed to mention that nearly the entire hike was switchbacks straight up the mountain. Just think climbing stairs for 1.7 miles in the 80 degree weather. The trail we hiked was the Rampart Ridge Trail up to the Longmire viewpoint. The trail itself was gorgeous. Huge trees made me feel like I was in Narnia. 

   Along the way we picked up a friend. We forget her name, but she was hiking alone and thought she might have heard a bear. Pro-tip: Travel in groups. Then if a bear attacks you, maybe one of you will make it out alive ;)    My friends were troopers. It took a while to get to the viewpoint where we stopped and had our packed lunch. Peanut butter and jelly has never tasted so good. There is a moral to be learned here: I'm not sure exactly what it is. Something like hard work makes the simple things in life taste better? You can extract your own moral here. 

    After this we headed back down. Pro-tip: Galloping down the mountain is significantly easier than walking. We reunited with James and started making our way to Portland. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive, so we had some bonding time in the car. Pro-tip: Don't try to engage your friends in a game that requires a lot of brain power when you've already worn them and their hips out on a strenuous hike. Oregon= state #49!!!!! 

   

    Our first stop was Powell's Bookstore- the largest bookstore in the U.S. It takes up an entire city block and is 3 stories tall. There is a rare books room, a place where you can publish your own book, and stack and stacks of books. Somehow, we didn't take any pictures of Powell's, so this one is from the internet. Here is something really neat. When I go into a bookstore, I hardly ever have an idea of what I want to read. I might pick up something I've already read or something on the best seller list. At Powell's they had a great way of engaging people. In the bookshelves, there were these little cards that might read 'staffer's pick', 'kid's pick', 'if you liked Hunger Games, try this series', 'local author', 'award winner'. These cards made me want to read a bunch of new books. Barnes and Nobles should try this. Pro-tip: If you end up here, spend plenty of time in the children's section. It's precious. 

     At this point, we had already accomplished everything on our list, and it was only around 5pm. We made an impromptu stop at Voodoo's donuts which is a place that apparently people drive hours to partake. It might be famous, and it might be delicious, but it was also not necessarily a family friendly place. Some of the donuts have profane names. Just a Pro-tip.  Pictured is some sort of caramel donut and their famous cream filled donut. They also have weird donuts called Mango Tango, The Loop (with fruit loops), Captain my Captain (with Captain crunch), Memphis Mafia, Arnold Palmer, Voodoo Bubble (with bubble gum), and the No Name donut. 

   Our first impression of Portland was that it was weird. Anything goes. A little too weird for three young women from the midwest. There was also heavy traffic, so Portland was not our very favorite. Another Pro-tip: In Oregon, you don't pump your own gas. It's actually against the law ( which I might have accidentally broken). People come out and pump your gas for you, and you don't have to tip them. Stay in your car, lean back, and relax. It was awkward at first, but I'm sure that's wonderful in the winter. 

    Our AirBnb that night was in Gresham on the east side of Portland. It was Nikki and Rachel's favorite place- mainly due to our hosts. They had a wonderful, sweet dog named Emma, and we talked to them more than any of our other hosts. They were super friendly and welcoming. 

Sleeping Beauty

Breakdown of Day #3:

Favorite moment: Reaching the lookout point and eating lunch

Least favorite moment: Rush hour traffic in Portland

Quote of the day: *After 2 hikes for many hours, driving, and Powell's bookstore* 

Caroline "It's only 5, and I don't have anything else. Sorry I didn't plan enough"

Rachel *in total disbelief* "FOR TODAY?!?!?!?!" 

Bonding moment: Hiking with snow in our shoes

Breakdown of Costs:

•  Entrance to Mt. Rainier $20
• Gas pumped by Caroline (whoops) $20
• Parking downtown Portland $5

Day 4 will be coming soon! 

One Short Day in the Emerald City

Day 2!!!!! Have you guys seen/heard/stalked/obsessively listened to Wicked? Did you know that Seattle's nickname is Emerald City? Do you know how fitting it is for this blog? I don't know if this link will work, but if it does, you can play the song to put you in the right mood.
*crosses fingers* https://open.spotify.com/track/0fH5j1WldIZXbycGSnHA9h or maybe try this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKJyURMuxds

Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you that we named our car for the week. His name is James. He's a white chevrolet spark that was very easy to parallel park due to his size, but had a hard time driving up mountains.

♪ ♫ One short day in the Emerald City, one short day full of so much to do ♪ ♫ 

    I started the day by figuring out that taking a bus downtown would save a bunch of money on parking and that everything we wanted to do that day would be within walking distance. Our goals were to hit Pike's maket, the piers, Klondike gold rush national historic site, and the underground tour.      Thanks to Rachel's handy-dandy ipad, we figured out bus lines and all that stuff and headed out the door, lunch packed into my backpack, to downtown Seattle. Pro-tip: I thought I'd be fine figuring things out on my phone. However, the iPad was really helpful when things got complicated and wasn't as big or bulky as a computer. Thanks Rach! Our first stop was La Paniere on the north side of Pike's market. We all bough a chocolate croissant and a drink of our choice. It turned out to be Nikki's favorite meal and some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. 

♪ ♫ Every way that you look in the city, there's something exquisite that you'll want to visit ♪ 

    For those of you who don't know, Pike's place market is the most eclectic and bizarre farmer's market you can imagine. It's open every day and has tons of visitors. "It" is basically multiple blocks of stores and stalls that has no rhyme or reason. Pro-tip: You can't walk straight through- you are required to wander. Let yourself get a little lost. There are multiple levels and multiple layers. You can buy flowers, fresh fish, fruit, fashion items, food, fotographs, and a bunch of other things that don't start with 'F'. Seriously, it's a ridiculously cool/weird place. The very first Starbucks is there, so we stopped in and took a picture with a weird little golden plaque thing. We stopped at the gum wall which was probably the highlight of my day. Here's a picture of me contributing to it! How cool/gross is that?! 

 

♪ ♫ There are buildings tall as quoxwood trees........museums a hundred strong ♪ ♫

We walked along the piers that have some neat restaurants and if we'd had more time, we could have taken a boat cruise. It's a beautiful area. Before I talk about our next stop, I need to explain something. When I was 0 years old, my parents bought me a passport at Independence Hall in Pennsylvania. In this passport, I collect stamps from different national parks and historic sites. We have been all over the country (explaining why I've been to 49 states) collecting stamps from different places. As I've grown up, I actually enjoy learning about the park or site instead of just being excited about the stamp. I have over 150 stamps. Since I don't know the next time I'll be in the pacific northwest, I dragged my friends along with me to a couple of places to get another stamp. Pro-tip: If you want to travel all over the place, a passport is a great way to give you an excuse to go everywhere. You learn something new, you see something new, and you can feel accomplished.They were very understanding and patient with my strange hobby. In this particular instance, we went to Klondike Gold Rush National Park. Seattle was a stop for people who were heading north for the gold rush, so we got some learnin' and more importantly, I got a stamp. 

♪ ♫ It's all grand and it's all green! ♪ ♫

Can I just say that everything I've heard about Seattle being cold and rainy is a lie? It was 75 degrees and sunny the entire time we were there. Also, I mentioned yesterday that it's a very green city with trees on every street and all of the balconies on tall buildings have things growing. Also, we found out that there is a fine for people if they don't recycle and compost. Anyway, we stopped for lunch in this courtyard we found that had cute tables and chairs with food carts surrounding it. There was live music playing, and there was this area that had a giant version of jenga and chess, a book cart for people to pick up a book to read during lunch, and a couple of sculptures that made a great photo op. I wandered into a bookstore that had a rolling ladder. It's on my bucket list to swing on a rolling ladder in a bookstore like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. However, the person in charge was grumpy and the sign said employees only. I almost asked him if I could just to check it off my list, but I chickened out.

♪ ♫We're three good friends, sharing one wonderful one, short daaaaaaaayyyyyy!♪ ♫

 The next stop was the underground tour which was recommended to us by a couple of different people. It's located in the park's historic business district. The tour covers about three city blocks of underground passageways. The whole tour is the story of how these were formed and why. Here's my very very very abridged version: The whole city was built on sea level which didn't work because the sewage would be poured into Puget Sound and then be dumped back in the city during high tide. There was a huge fire that destroyed 33 city blocks of buildings. The buildings were rebuilt quickly. The city then decided to raise the entire city up by one story. They filled in the streets so now the ground level was basement level. The buildings still owned the sidewalks, so underground passageways were formed. Prostitutes basically funded it.

Tada!!!! If you want to hear the whole fascinating story, check it out the next time you head to Seattle. Totally worth it. Shout out to Betsy our tour guide. After this, we headed back to James (our car if you forgot) and started to head south. We met a friend of Rachel's for dinner at a restaurant called Wildfin. I was very glad because I had almost left Seattle without eating any seafood, but I redeemed myself with some seafood fettuccine alfredo. 

Our next AirBnb was 7 miles outside of Mt. Rainier National Park. It was an adorable bed and breakfast that had snacks for us and breakfast packed in our fridge. We also ground our own coffee beans. You should stay here. We almost took advantage of the hot tub, but once again, we were wiped out. Once again, we went to bed before the sun set. 

Breakdown of Day #2

Favorite moment: Contributing to the gum wall

Bonding moment: Laughing hysterically while slap happy when playing cards right before bed

Scariest moment: When driving to our AirBnb, Rachel, sitting shotgun, gasped when Mt. Rainier came into view. I seriously thought I was about to run over a small child or something equally terrible. 

Breakdown of costs:

• Bus tickets $2.75 each way
• Chocolate croissant and coffee $5.50
• Underground tour $15
• Dinner $25ish

I will be posting day #3 soon. Another great day coming up!

"48"

Hey peeps,
   I have some good news and some bad news. Actually it's the same news, it just depends on how you see it. For the next week or so, I'm turning this into a travel blog. Last week, I took an 8 day vacation to the Pacific Northwest with two of my best friends. We visited Washington, Oregon, and California. It was fantastic. To be very honest, I think everybody should go on the exact same vacation with the exact same people at almost the exact same time. Too bad you can't because it was pretty perfect. I'm going to blog about each day and hopefully attach some pictures, advice, pro-tips, stories etc...  I'm not actually a pro so I can't really give you a pro-tip, but I can share what I've learned from my mistakes  and success stories. This is my first time attempting to do a travel blog so please bear with me for at least days 2 and 5 (because those were the best!)

   This post is entitled "48" because the beginning purpose of the trip was for me to visit Washington and Oregon to check of my 48th and 49th states. (Hawaii is the only one left!) This was quite an eventful day, but before we get there, I'm going to backtrack just a little bit so that I can brag about my research/planning skills. Here's what I've learned

• Buy plane tickets about 6 weeks before you fly in the country. They're the cheapest.
• Buy them on a Tuesday afternoon.
• Sign up for cheapair.com to give you updates on when flights are cheaper.
• Fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays if at all possible.
• Use general sites like travelocity or expedia to compare flights, but book them through the actual airline.
• AirBnb is one of the best things ever, but you have to do your research. It's basically staying in people's basements/homes/bed and breakfasts for a cheaper price. It can save you a ton of money and provide unique experiences that are much better than a boring/expensive hotel. (More on researching this in later posts)
• Do not trust Hertz Rentals.

    More pro-tips to come! Anyway, day 1 started out at 4:00am. Yes, you read that right. AM. We left the house around 4:35 to head to O'Hare airport OHMYGOODNESS I forgot to introduce my 2 friendies who were the very best travel buddies. Nikki and Rachel are their names and fun and adventures are their games. If you think that sentence is stupid, read it out loud. It rhymes. I've been friends with both of them for a very long time, and both Rachel and I are standing up in Nikki's wedding in T-2ish months. 

   Back to the actual story. We left the house at an hour before the birds got up and headed to the airport for our flight that left at 7:30am. Rachel's parents drove us to save on parking (Thank you!)  What usually is an hour long drive turned into a 2 1/2 hour drive because of a terrible accident on the highway. For miles we were inching through traffic watching the minutes tick by. I think we acted very bravely given the circumstances, but inside I was trying not to have a meltdown. Our plane was boarding from 6:54- 7:14 and we arrived at the airport in a frenzy at 6:48. We got into the security line and watched as our future flashed before our eyes. The line was moving, but it was very close to torture to watch 7:00 go by, 7:05 go by and still be stuck in line. I don't know the minute because I might have been slightly hysterical, but very late in the game, Nikki asked a few people in front of us if we could cut them in line so we could get through. Pro-tip. If you're in the airport and have some extra time and a few sleepy, panic stricken young adults ask you if they can cut, let them. Have pity. They let us cut and we dashed through security. 

    We started to run. Our gate was C-30. I will never forget it. The C terminal is not attached to the building we were in. We were required to run down a hallway, go down some escalators to an underground walkway, up more escalators, and our gate was the very last one at the end of the terminal. I wish someone had filmed us because the panic in our eyes would have made a great America's Funniest Video. We didn't check any of our luggage, so we were carrying everything we needed for the next week, sprinting down the terminals, dodging innocent bystanders, and hitting ourselves in the knees and hips with our bulky luggage. We made it to the gate at 7:16 am- out of breath and bruised. The gate was open. *Insert hallelujah chorus* The flight attendants were very kind and let us on the plane, but closed the doors right after us. We got to our seats- still out of breath- and sat there for a minute hardly believing that we made it.

   I lost my belt in security, but otherwise the flight went smoothly. United Airlines provides free stroopwaffles for morning flights, so we all felt much better after getting our coffee and stroopwaffles. We arrived in Seattle around 9:30 am (Seattle is 2 hours earlier than central time). We took the Lite Rail to pick up our rental car for the week Pro-tip: If you rent a car from a place outside the airport rentals, you can save a LOT of money. We saved about 75 dollars by heading 10 miles north. The worst part of the trip for me came next. I messed up. I had done a ton of research into car rentals and saving money. I rented through Hertz because the quote didn't include an underage driving fee like every other company did. However, apparently in the small print it tells you that they'll charge you once you get there. Thus my pro-tip to never trust Hertz. We got to the rental area were charged 220 dollars more because I was under 25 years old. And they gave me an empty gas tank. We had to fill up right away. GRRRRRR...... I'm still bitter. 

    After our eventful morning, the trip started to go smoothly. We ate lunch at Paseo sandwiches- it was supposed to be famous, but I thought it was just 'eh'. I had heard good things, but wouldn't say you have to go there. Our next stop was Theo Chocolate Factory. Fan.Tas.Tic. Their store has so many samples it almost destroys the point of it being a store because you can just eat it all. We took a $10 tour which provided more samples- it was worth it in the chocolate we ate. The tour was good, and it smelled like I dream heaven will smell. Pro-tip: my favorite sample was a chocolate that had jasmine tea infused into it. Sounds weird- tastes delicious. And apparently you can get Theo chocolates at WholeFoods. I'd highly recommend it. 

   The next couple of hours were spent walking around Seattle. We went grocery shopping for some basic staples so we didn't have to eat out every meal. It's a very hipster friendly, eco-friendly type of place. Lots of unique stores where you can buy 8 dollar smoothies and do fancy yoga workouts. There are tons of places to hike and bike. It was 75 degrees and sunny, so we saw tons of people outside on trails or in parks. It's a city, but there is green stuff everywhere. It doesn't feel like a busy city. There are lots of Starbucks. Pro-tip: California actually has the most Starbucks at 2,010. Texas is next, but Washington has 559. Indiana is 19th with 140. We ended up walking around the Space Needle, Chihuly glass museum, and the EMP museum.

Admission to all of these places seemed very steep, so we passed. We stopped and ate dinner at the International Fountain with a perfect view of the Space Needle. We were close to the water, so we found a path right by Puget Sound that gave great views and good picture taking opportunities. At this point, we were wiped out. It had already been a long and eventful day. 

  

    For our first AirBnb stop, I was really nervous. Like- really nervous. It's convenient because the hosts can message you and it goes straight to your phone. I was communicating with our host, and she said she wouldn't be there but she'd leave a garage door opener hidden. We pulled up to this house and walked around the back. I found the garage door opener and said a prayer. I felt super sketchy- like we were sneaking into this person's house through her garage. Then we opened the door and it was adorable!!!!! Super cute space with a chalkboard sign to welcome us, snacks, Seattle brochures, movies, and games. There were parrots upstairs that we could hear and some chickens outside. A great first AirBnb experience. It was only 8pm Seattle time and still fully light outside, but we were beyond tired, so we went to bed. 

Breakdown of Day #1
Casualties: My belt and my pride for not reading the fine print
My favorite moment: Sprinting down the terminal (NOT! But it's the most memorable for sure), probably tasting yummy chocolate
Bonding moment: The selfie we took on the airplane right after we sat down. Victory!!!
Breakdown of costs: 

• United flight $98
• Lite rail $2.75
• Hertz car rental- don't want to talk about it
• Paseo sandwich $10ish
• Theo chocolate tour $10
• Fill up gas $20
• Groceries $25
• Parking in Seattle $7

Stay tuned for day #2!

WANTED: A Nurse

WANTED: NURSE

Qualifications

Required: 

• A caring heart
• Humility
• Openness to learning
• Bladder of steel
• More patience than thought possible
• Performing nearly any task with one hand
• A strong support system

Preferred but not required:

• Poor/absent sense of smell
• Absent gag reflex
• Warm hands
• Hands resistant to constant scrubbing
• Ability to eat a full meal in 4 minutes
• Twisted sense of humor
• Stealth/ninja skills- especially on night shift
• Night vision
• Impenetrable immune system
• A fashion sense not bothered by wearing pajamas everyday
• Spidey-sense (also known as instinct)
• Can multitask like a boss
• Can untangle the Gordian knot of multiple lines
• Learns how to function while sleep deprived 
• OR learns to fall asleep under any circumstance
• MacGyver sense of innovation when necessary
• Can make a phone call while on hold with another phone call

If these apply to you, you should be a nurse. If not, you can still be a nurse :)

-C-