"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!