Last stand in WA

So I go to Vancouver, BC, Canada one last time to visit relatives and a friend. My friend and I had decided to climb the Grouse Grind, a straight-up trail to the top of Grouse Mountain. Rather than take the lame tram to the top, we decided to walk it. I figured I had done a lot of walking in WA where there's a lot of hills but that was a molehill compared to the Grind. I don't know the distance up the side of the mountain but it seemed to have go on forever. We did it in a little over an hour. What was disheartening was that you can see on a screen inside the chalet what times people have completed it. There were senior citizens who climbed it faster than we did! I partially attributed it to having an upset stomach and lightheadedness part way up. Lame, I know, but hey, gotta have some excuse.! Next time we'll kick its butt instead of the other way around. Anyways, after that we were tired to go out dancing as we had initially planned but rather just had dinner and relaxed at her house.

The following night, my cousin, her boyfriend and mother went to this open market where there plenty of booths selling cheap knock-offs and food stalls. Reminscent of markets in Asia. It was great to see them all, especially since I won't see them again for awhile.

My last week of work...well, it involved trying to orient and mentor the new therapist as much as possible, trying to cook up all the frozen food (to which the staff at the clinic benefited) and visiting with my friends before I head out of town. I met with an ex-CA roommate who is from and now lives again in Seattle, a friend who moved to Portland with her husband and child and was visiting family in Olympia about 45 minutes south of Tacoma and had dinner with one of the therapists at work. It seemed like every night there was something planned, not that I minded, but I still had packing to do! It's a good thing I had started with my clothes the previous week but there's always trying to fit it all into my vehicle. I did have the Friday night off and all day Saturday, wheww, which allowed me to pack up a lot of stuff. But I also had last minute errands...there never seemed to be enough time in the day. Saturday night, a friend and I went to this dueling piano bar/comedy club which was fun. The comedy was funny at all but the piano playing was great.

The next day I hit the road.

windy Oregon

Labour Day weekend was definitely not laborious. It was fun, whirlwind and definitely windy. I went to visit friends that I knew from CA, actually, I worked with her and met her husband before they left to live in OR. Since that move, they've had 2 beautiful boys. They live in the Columbia Gorge area, where windsurfers and kiteboarders are aplenty due to the high winds that go through that area. Where they live is also the beginning of the high desert, so the landscape becomes more barren and brown. From their house, you can see the tip of Mt. Adams in WA and just up the street atop a hill, Mt. Hood can be seen. The sky is bluer and clearer than further west. It's definitely not a thriving metropolis but you can certainly buy a huge house for a decent price.

On my way there, I took the scenic Columbia River byway and stopped at a few vista points to get a better view of the area. We saw the international gravity sport association (IGSA) championships which were basically grown men and women longobarding (like a luge) or skateboarding down this hill that's curvy and somewhat steep. Talk about the need for speed! The day I left to return to WA, we drove to this lodge that is up high on the mountain where the air was cold, the cloud cover hid the summit and there was snow on the ground. It was pretty cool to see people skiing in Sept.

This was my only trip to OR. I had originally planned to see the area around Bend, OR and coastal OR but I think after all the travelling I've done, I need to stay at home to get a few things done and relax a bit. I started packing up and organizing things to get ready for my next move. I'm trying to get in touch with people along the way out to NC. You know, places to go, people to see and all that jazz!

Visiting friends

My friends from Chicago were in Seattle for the day before flying back home. They went to a small town in north-central WA near the Canadian border to visit his father. We hung out near the waterfront, again at Pike's Market since they hadn't been there before, had lunch and just enjoyed the nice weather and each other's company. Later that day, I met up with a friend from San Diego who was up in Seattle helping a friend's engineering company. We went to the newly renovated SouthCenter mall which was very busy. Walked around the mall and then had dinner. We had thought about going to a movie but I was getting tired and I needed to still pack, do laundry, etc for my week vacation with my family in upstate NY. Believe it or not, they still have a few drive-ins in WA which I would like to go to if I have the time...that would be so cool!

I spent the last week in a small town north of Syracuse, NY. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and I stayed at a rented cottage by the lake. We went shopping, to the state fair, drove around and basically just hung out. My nephew is growing up, talking a lot more, so much that I feel that he's so smart. He does things that makes me go "wow" but maybe most kids his age are like that. I had to leave earlier than the rest of them to make it back for a friend's wedding.

I landed, picked up my luggage, then my car in off-airport parking, went to the shopping center to change and get made up in order to make it to the wedding just in time. It was a mixture of western and eastern traditions. They sat me at the singles table and I was the only friend of the bride in the group. A group of us clicked and went to a local music bar afterwards and hung out which was nice.

It's now the day after the wedding and I'm trying to catch up on all the little things that have gone to the wayside since I've been away. I'm going to North Carolina for my next assignment so I need to get my license. I'll take a week to drive across and visit friends along the way. I was hoping to slowly make my way across but I've had to be flexible since I decided that I wanted to try and stick to outpatient jobs. So now I have four full weeks left and a lot more planned in that time. I'm sure time will fly by!

Seattle

During Dasha's last weekend, we took a day trip into Seattle. There's an express bus from a nearby park and ride that takes us right downtown, much easier than trying to drive and find parking there. We walked around Pike's Public Market where it's like one big gigantic farmer's market. There's the infamous fish throwing, only when someone buys a big fish though. I had a sample of two types of smoked salmon. My gosh, they were yummy. I bought some to bring to my family in a couple of weeks (it lasts as long as it stays in the fridge). We walked around Seattle to the original, huge REI store and then the ex-officio store which closed shortly before we got there. Bummer! All in all, it was a great day.

The next weekend, I drove to Vancouver to spend time with my aunt and to meet up with a friend from L.A., Midori, an O.T. I used to work with. My aunt took me to Grouse Mountain for a hike, that ended up being like a trek through the jungle. Should have brought my machete to cut through the branches/bushes as the people I was with seemed to have lost the trail. Grouse mountain was cool though, it had a lumberjack show, two orphaned grizzlies that the park has been raising for the last several years, a free ride on the ski lift from which you can see Vancouver below. The tram that brings us up/down gave us some pretty good views of the city as well. There's a trail from the parking lot below to the top of Grouse mountain, called Grouse Grind, which you can walk/run, timed if you want. Maybe next time!

I met my friend, Midori, the next day. Wouldn't you know it, my phone battery died and I didn't bring a charger. Fortunately, the coffee place was nice enough to let me use their phone...do you know how hard it is to find a pay phone anymore! Midori lives in downtown Vancouver, in a great apartment with a huge deck, only a 20 minute walk to Granville Island, on a pathway that runs along the waterfront. I saw people biking, running, walking on the pathway. Granville Island has alot of local artist shops, a farmer's market and places to eat. Midori took me to a renowned fish and chips place which lived up to its reputation. Later, she drove us to Stanley Park where we could see Canada Place across the water, see Lions Bay bridge, the native totem poles and just outside the park, one of the 2010 Olympic symbols. As expensive as it is, Vancouver is definitely a great place to live. There's so much to do and see there.

Mt. Rainier/Leavenworth

So the ultimate mountain attraction in the WA area is Mt. Rainier. On my way to work, on clear days, I have a fantastic view of the mountain in all its glory. The weather has been decently warm and clear. So, of course, I'm thinking that is going to be the case when we go there. But nooooo, it has to be sunny with clouds which means that the higher we go, the less of a view there is. We wanted to go to this less populated hike on the far side of Mt. Rainier to be able to hike to see a glacier. Well, we got a late start and then Dasha wanted to go to the Northwest Trek which is like a wildlife refuge. We saw bears, wildcats, birds, mountain goats, bison and all sorts of wild animals. From there, we drove to the trailhead to the glacier. We got to the end of the trail and then went a little further to get a better view of the glacier. It was definitely colder but unfortunately, there was low cloud cover such that we could only see the bottom tip of the glacier. Dasha had never seen a glacier before and I think she was expecting something more spectacular. We saw people hiking down with skies and we could see trails coming down the glacier. People were actually camping at the top, in what was probably low 40 degree weather during the day.

From there, we drove to Leavenworth, a quaint Bavarian town, with cute little shops and wine tasting. We went into a store that had a lot of different kinds of cheese and salami. After tasting it, I bought this porter ale cheese and Italian salami, again I'm bringing it to my family. It's in central WA which is part of the vast wine producing area. So, of course, I had to taste a little of the local culture! We had a Bavarian lunch, including sauerkraut and pork served by men in their liederhosen. It was much hotter and sunnier there than the mountains and the coast, usually being 15-20 deg F hotter. As we were driving back towards Tacoma, we could tell the weather was getting cooler and more overcast. Another successful and amazing adventure!

Olympic National Park

Weekdays are pretty much the same. Work, gym (if I feel like it), eat and go to bed. I've been trying to get up early to do some walking around the house since there's plenty of hills to challenge me. Some days are more successful than others.

Dasha and I went to the Olympic peninsula for the weekend. Her boss had a trailer in a park which was nice with a clubhouse that had a shower. We went for two hikes. The first one was at the Staircase (used to have a staircase many moons ago) where we did a 12 mile hike (roundtrip) for what seemed straight up. It brought us to this pair of lakes up so high that the water was very cold! Dasha was brave enough to dive in but I chickened out. Just putting my feet in for a few seconds made them numb! The view was beautiful...blue water, green trees and snow in patches on the way up. We were pretty tired afterwards and glad to be able to shower at the clubhouse.

The second day we went to Hurricane Ridge. We drove to the top and from there did a short hike. The view was amazing...the sun was shining and there were very few clouds. It was so clear that we could see Victoria, Canada across the strait. There were also deer roaming around near the cars and buildings. We left early to be able to get home and relax. It was a busy weekend.

Independence

Well, folks, it's been awhile. Sorry about that but life has a way of taken over. I've been busy trying to experience the northwest as much as possible. After a couple of weeks of work where I've had the lulls of not having a full caseload, it has gotten better. The other therapist was away for about 2 weeks on vacation which made things busier for me. Then came the holiday weekend, Fourth of July. The people in the house had a terrific bbq and we could see the fireworks in the distance of the various towns north along the coast, all the way up towards Seattle. There was a tall ships festival here during the weekend and a fair as well. I was somewhat disappointed as the ships were not as tall as I expected. Also, it was overcast and a little rainy...shocker, I know! The good news was that I won a glass blown paper weight which is quite heavy and pretty.

The weekend before we went to this Geyser State Park. I guess I expected too much as far as the geyser goes. There were two but one looked like a perpetual small flame and the other only bubbled greyish silt. Nothing compared to Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone Park, that's for sure!