I was so looking forward to writing this post. For a long time I'd imagined coming back from my trip and writing a blog post about how insanely awesome Seattle was and what a fantastic time I'd had there, and unfortunately, that's not the post I'm going to write.
It has nothing to do with Seattle. I actually really loved Seattle, and I definitely felt a deep soul kind of connection to the PNW. I definitely still want to move there.
But. I got sick right before we left, and spent my entire vacation just getting sicker. I felt like total shit most of the time we were there; there was one day where I felt mostly OK. So yeah. Definitely not the trip I'd imagined and definitely not how I wanted my first impression of Seattle to be, and I'm still pretty effing disappointed. But what can you do, right?
We left on a Tuesday. The Sunday before that Tuesday, I woke up with a really, really sore throat. Ever the optimist, I told myself it was nothing and that I'd just slept with my mouth open and/or too close to my fan or something like that. But I was really tired all day too. The next morning (the day before we left) I had a sore throat, ear pain, chest congestion, and a runny nose. Lovely.
I definitely wasn't going to skip the trip, though, so we got up at the butt crack of dawn on Tuesday and made our way to Las Vegas. We stopped in Kingman and dropped the dogs off with my mom and sister, they were thrilled to be there! They seriously love my mom, I think they'd live with her if they could. We also stopped in to see Jerbs' parents, they are very not happy about this move, but that's for another post.
We got to the airport a little behind schedule, but then checking our bags and getting through security went waaaaay faster than we'd expected. We had time to chill at the airport and eat breakfast and that was actually really nice. I bought cough drops at the airport too, because my throat was killing me. Our flight left on time, I let Jerbs have the window seat for the trip and I was in the middle of the row. The guy next to me took off his shoes which was disgusting, but other than that it was a good flight. It was Jerbs' first ever flight and she did great with it! I was proud of her. The only bad part of the flight (other than the barefoot guy) was how my ears felt when we landed. They already hurt since I was sick, so the popping as we descended felt absolutely awful, I legit almost cried. And to top it off, my left ear never unpopped, I couldn't hear out of it until Saturday. That was awesome.
But we made it to Seattle. I teared up when we were off the plane, because I was just so overwhelmed that we were FINALLY there. This was a trip that had been put off and postponed so many times because of all the bullshit that went on in my life, and I just felt so good to have overcome that. As soon as we were off the plane, even when we were inside the airport, we could just feel water in the air. That was nice. We got our rental car and drove to our hotel, which ended up being not nearly as nice as expected, so that was disappointing. It was definitely NOT worth what I paid for it. And since I was sick I was even grumpier about it than I would have been. We had dinner at a restaurant next to the hotel, then found a Rite Aid not far from where we were staying so I could buy cold medicine and Vicks. After we got back to the hotel Jerbs fell asleep and I watched the finale of DWTS (because even vacation couldn't stop me from watching Nyle win! I called that shit from night one!). I didn't sleep well that night.
On Wednesday we did touristy stuff. We went to the Space Needle, which I actually thought was really cool. Maybe because it is such a touristy place, I was expecting it to be a little underwhelming, but it was awesome. The views are just incredible, and I had the best Italian soda ever at the little cafe at the observation deck. My purse broke while we were there, though, which, combined with being sick, made me think maybe Seattle just didn't want me in it. I am not exactly rational when sick and away from home. I definitely want to go to the Space Needle again, and this time I want to do it at night. After the Space Needle we had lunch at a pizza/biscuit place in downtown Seattle, and it was delicious but overpriced. Then we made our way to Pike's Place Market, which is about when I started to just . . . fade. I felt so sick and yucky. But we explored the market, and I got this amazing hazelnut pastry at a place called Piroshky Piroshky. Seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten, it was incredible. There was also one of those living statue guys and he tried to grab me as I passed him, and I was so out of it I didn't react. He was disappointed haha. I think at this point I was running a fever and I was exhausted, so Jerbs and I walked to a Target on the next block and I bought Nyquil so I could sleep. That night I took Nyquil as soon as we got to the hotel (or maybe when we got in the car to leave Pike's, I don't remember) and just PTFO'd. It was glorious.
The next day, Thursday, we drove to Tacoma, ostensibly to look at some apartments. Right off the bat, Tacoma didn't give us a great vibe. Not necessarily a bad vibe but . . . I don't know, it didn't feel very homey. It didn't feel like somewhere we could live. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant we'd heard about before our trip, called Pacific South. I'd been looking forward to their biscuits and gravy, and then the gravy just tasted like onions, so that wasn't great. Then we went to one of the complexes we'd liked there, and the woman in the leasing office was extremely rude to us and impatient with us, and that was kind of the last straw for Tacoma. I'm sure it's a lovely place but after that, I kind of said to Jerbs that I wasn't really feeling it. She agreed. We'd planned to spend the whole day there, exploring and getting a feel for the town, but I really wanted to see Olympia. So we drove to Olympia. We explored a little park on the waterfront there and then just drove around, looking at the city. And we really liked it, and we really thought it seemed like somewhere we could live. We went back to Seattle and went to Ikea, because we were right near it and I love Ikea and we want to get new furniture when we move. Also I love those meatballs. Then we went to a sushi place, because Jerbs wanted sushi. She liked the place we tried, I just got stir fry and it wasn't bad. Then we went back to our hotel. I think this was the night that I had a minor freak out about being sick and decided I wanted to go home. I just like to be home when I'm sick, and I wanted to be in my own bed with my dogs, so I definitely had an I don't care how much it costs I am leaving right now moment. Jerbs talked me down. The Nyquil helped.
The next day, Friday, we went to Olympia. Olympia is 65 miles south of Seattle, but it took 3 hours to get there. The highway was just packed, presumably with people heading out of town for the long weekend. Finally got to Olympia, went to the complex we really liked, and actually met the manager and everything. She was great. The complex was full so she wasn't able to show us an actual apartment, but we saw the clubhouse, and she said it's pretty much the same flooring/appliances/cabinetry as the apartments, so we have a good idea of what it feels like. We really liked this place, and it's very reasonably priced, so it's our first choice. Since we got there so late that was the only place we got to go to, but we did have dinner at this pizza place called Vic's and it was amazing. While we were there, after we'd ordered, this couple came in with their daughter. They approached us and said they'd never been there and asked how to order, and I think being mistaken as a local is a good sign we can live in Olympia!
On Saturday, I actually felt OK enough to do something. We started with brunch at this place called the Wandering Goose, seriously incredible biscuits and gravy. They're known for their biscuits, and for good reason. Then we went back to Pike's. It was much more crowded on a Saturday than Wednesday (not surprising) but I was happy to be there without being miserable. Jerbs wanted a Piroshky, and the line was super long, so while she waited I went to a little souvenir kind of shop and got stuff for my family. (I pretty much got everyone mugs, I got Jillian a bag, and I got Austin and my dad Seattle shirts. I also got Dad a can coozy with the skyline on it, and I got Austin a Seahawks pennant). After we wandered some more, we went to the pier and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. That was actually my favorite part of the trip, it was so much fun to be out on the water. It was cold and cloudy and windy but Jerbs and I sat on the deck the whole time. On the island, we went for a walk on the Waterfront Trail, which was beautiful, and then we explored the downtown area. We got pastries at a bakery and then ice cream at this awesome little ice cream store, it was so tasty. Then we took the ferry back to Seattle, and the view of the city skyline under the grey sky as you're approaching it was just unbelievable. One of the prettiest things I've ever seen. I was so happy. After the ferry we had dinner at a Mexican place in Renton, because I wanted to try at least one Mexican restaurant while we were there. It was delicious. Then it was back to the hotel to pack.
On Sunday we headed for the airport. We had a mild moment of panic because since the airline we were flying on was so new to the area, they did not have a dedicated customer service counter. So we had no idea where to go to check our bags. That was a really shitty feeling but we did eventually figure it out and got our bags checked and all that. Security was pretty quick too, which was nice, and then we found a Sbarro's right near our gate, so we had pizza for lunch. (The Sbarro's in Flag closed quite awhile ago and we--especially Jerbs--miss it). Then we flew home, and I got the window seat, but luckily for Jerbs, the person on the aisle was much better than the guy on our first flight. She was a nice lady and she'd brought a coloring book, so definitely our kind of people! This flight was a little less smooth, I had fallen asleep and we hit turbulence bad enough to wake me up and make us have to put our seat belts back on. The lady next to us was fascinated by the desert, she was talking about how she hadn't been to Vegas since she was 21 and eloped there, and we were telling her about living in AZ. She really was lovely.
We got off the plane, got our bags, got the car (and paid the outrageous fee for parking at the airport for 5 days), and headed home. We stopped in Kingman and picked up the dogs, then went to my dad's and then to Jerbs' parents. (And OMG her parents were just terrible about the whole thing, her mom was going on and on about how she just can't see us living in Washington and do we know the cost of utilities and groceries and it was just ridiculous). Eventually we got back to Flagstaff, Hollie was very happy to be home and the cats were happy to see us. It felt so nice to sleep in my own bed!
So that's that, our trip to Seattle. Like I said, not the trip I'd been dreaming of but still fun. And really, not long from now we'll live an hour away from Seattle and we'll be able to visit whenever we want, so I'm not too worried about all the stuff I didn't get to do on this trip!
