pacific northwest fest
so, i am finally getting around to posting about my trip to seattle & vicinity w/ e.case...it's been hectic since i've been back, w/ all this thinking about luv & doing laundry & quitting my job (more on that later) & catching up on the past two weeks episodes of laguna beach (hee, hee) & so on. but i'm ready to sit down and dedicate a good 17.4 minutes to summarize possibly one of the BEST vacations i have ever taken! yay!
(side note: i've been writing this since september 13th - i am such a slacker! sorrrry.)
it's not that other vacations weren't fun - but this one was different b/c i was just kinda along for the ride & i had absolutely no expectations as to what we were going to do & we weren't under any sort of really strict time constraints & it was just gloooorious!
so, let's begin, shall we?
thursday - eric & i flew in to seattle-tacoma aeropuerto (on separate flights - long story, but damn you expedia.com!) & picked up our sweeeet ride - oh yeah baby, a pontiac grand am! and a white grand am at that! lord have mercy. unfortunately, our sweet ride didn't come equipped with a cassette player, so we had to go on an adventure to find a best buy, where we could quickly remedy the "iPod compatibility situation". so we did. and we did. check!
after another brief detour for lunch, we were on the road to leavenworth, washington - home of eric's cousin sarah & her husband joel and their FIVE dogs (avy, maya, ritter, riley, & nemo). to those of you who haven't been to leavenworth, you should know that it can also go by the name of "nazi disneyland on a 10-day crack binge", washington. uh, yeah.
leavenworth is a bavarian wunderland of sorts - and it's crazy! every shop in the entire town is all bavarian-styled out - the signage is even bavarian! even for big corporate entities such as starbucks or mcdonald's!!! check it. and while i have been informed that it is a popular weekend destination for young & old alike, i can't get over the complete bavarian-ness of it all. it's just too much.
okay, so on with the recap...thursday evening eric & i arrived at sarah & joel's and we all headed out for a lovely dinner at the local creperie - i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but i am amazed by the amount of creperies on the west coast. i don't think i had even seen a creperie before i moved out here. i swear they don't exist in the midwest. seriously. after dinner we hung out and watched calle 54, a really cool documentary about the latin jazz movement. i tried so hard to pay attention, but was fading fast b/c i am lame & didn't get much sleep the night before (as i traveled all the way to oakland to see hijack the disco/birdmonster. i'm a good friend. *wink*).
friday, sarah took eric & i to brunch at a quaint little neighborhood eatery (i cannot recall the name) that doubles as "the bar" at night, where we met one of the locals "creepy jim" (no joke!), who was quite entertaining & a bit of a dirty old man! gotta love small towns. after brunch, we headed out to tumwater for some rock climbing adventures in the enchantments - my first time climbing on an actual rock! i think i'm addicted to it now - i was such a little monkey, all scurrying up the rocks and shizz. LOVED IT! and i was surprisngly calm & comfortable with the whole setup - i mean, you're wearing a harness so it's not like you're going to plummet to your death at any given moment - it's such a rush & soooo much fun!!! if you haven't been, you HAVE to try to it out!
after rock climbing, we headed to the icicle river for a quick dip - it was soooo cold! but refreshing. *ahhhhh* after we were done freezing our arses off, we headed back to sarah's and cleaned up for dinner. sarah, joel, eric, & i all headed down to leavenworth for din-din - nothing too spectacular, but dessert was awesome - as we made our way over to my favorite - coldstone creamery! yummy. we also stopped to to visit the star goat of leavenworth - billy!
saturday morning we were all awoken to the sound of a helicopter buzzing sarah & joel's house! wtf, right? seriously, i was so confused - are we in a combat zone or something? nope, it was just the pear orchard next to their house dousing their trees with some random 'non-toxic' chemicals! how eff'd up is that?!? we decided that it was probably a good idea to get the heck out of dodge & not continue to breathe in the chemically-goodness. we breakfasted at the sleeping lady mountain retreat & then went off-roading up to punk rock.
i think i reawakened my inner tomboy on this trip, b/c i was all about climbing up on rocks & getting scraped up & dirty & stuff! i totally felt like i was a little kid exploring the woods in marietta again. although, we don't have magnificently majestic mountains like the enchantments in southern ohio.
after hanging out at punk rock for a bit, we grabbed lunch & found a sweet spot down by the river to picnic. we hiked for a bit & then stopped by the local grocery store for some dinner supplies - where we found out that fernando the llama was missing! gasp!!! for dinner we had tasty salmon hand rolls & fresh corn on the cob - yum! i haven't had corn on the cob in like, 3 years or something. seriously!
after some last minute travel planning on saturday night (thanks to my incomparable skills), eric & i made the trek to the san juan islands for grisha & rosa's wedding reception. you have to take a ferry there, which is pretty neat. but probably only entertaining for people who never take ferries. hmm. rosa's parents have several acres on san juan island & grish & rosa live in a little trailer on her parents' land - they even have an outhouse! and a garden! and llamas! their place is really cute & soooo grisha...
the reception was really fun & in addition to getting to see grisha's parents & grandmother (she's so cute!), we got to meet all sorts of new people - most of whom though eric & i were a couple! wtf? we were like, ummmm no. i guess traveling with a plantonic friend you've known for 20 years just invites assumptions like that! anyway, we played bocci (at which i'm surprisingly adept!) with some of rosa's college friends & had a little campfire and hung out and it was so relaxing. san juan island reminded me alot of marietta - quaint & friendly, everyone knows everyone & there's a real sense of community. however, while it was great to visit, i think i'd go bonkers out of boredom. i think i have city ADD or something - i have to have tons of options!
after brunch on monday morning, e & i headed back to the mainland and were off to seattle. i freakin' love seattle, by the way. it was my first time there, but it's alot like san francisco, but more open. if that makes sense. it's alot greener & it feels like there is more space. and apparently people wear sweatpants out at night?!? *at least that's what erik benson tells me.
since i've already rambled on for waaaay too long, i'll recap the seattle portion of the pacific northwest fest in as few words as possible...
monday: saw Grizzly Man (which was awesome! go see this NOW.)@ Guild 45 Theaters with e.case, e.benson, and e.benson's friend bethany; dinner @ lotus thai restaurant; kicked benson & bethany's butts in pool @ al's; finished up at moon temple, where i dazzled the patrons with my fine juke box selections. it's all about the music, man.
tuesday: hit the tourist traps pike place market, the space needle, and the experience music project & the architecturally phenomenal seattle public library; met up w/ the robots at the robot co-op offices & headed for some tasty beverages @ elysian brewing company; dinner @ el greco - yummy app's & blue walls; show ho'ing at the crocodile cafe (saw the kelly-clarkson-look-alike-fronted the catch & the highly entertaining & rockin' thunderbirds are now!); finished up at cyclops.
(*shout out to e.benson for his assistance in jogging my memory & providing such a concise synopsis for me to plagerize - er, paraphrase!)
oooh, and i don't want to leave this little nugget of joy out - but when eric & i were at the robot co-op, daniel spils & i realized that he knows my roommate - sort of. i guess a few months ago when leslie dragged (drug? drugged? wait, no. that's not right. dragged. yes.) me out to absinthe for brunchie mcbruncherson, it was daniel who suggested that she go there! and we were like, holy crap - that's awesome! and then we took a photo to commerate the event. i don't have this photo though. but if i did, that would be a good way to end this marathon blog post, huh?
the end.
(side note: i've been writing this since september 13th - i am such a slacker! sorrrry.)
it's not that other vacations weren't fun - but this one was different b/c i was just kinda along for the ride & i had absolutely no expectations as to what we were going to do & we weren't under any sort of really strict time constraints & it was just gloooorious!
so, let's begin, shall we?
thursday - eric & i flew in to seattle-tacoma aeropuerto (on separate flights - long story, but damn you expedia.com!) & picked up our sweeeet ride - oh yeah baby, a pontiac grand am! and a white grand am at that! lord have mercy. unfortunately, our sweet ride didn't come equipped with a cassette player, so we had to go on an adventure to find a best buy, where we could quickly remedy the "iPod compatibility situation". so we did. and we did. check!
after another brief detour for lunch, we were on the road to leavenworth, washington - home of eric's cousin sarah & her husband joel and their FIVE dogs (avy, maya, ritter, riley, & nemo). to those of you who haven't been to leavenworth, you should know that it can also go by the name of "nazi disneyland on a 10-day crack binge", washington. uh, yeah.
leavenworth is a bavarian wunderland of sorts - and it's crazy! every shop in the entire town is all bavarian-styled out - the signage is even bavarian! even for big corporate entities such as starbucks or mcdonald's!!! check it. and while i have been informed that it is a popular weekend destination for young & old alike, i can't get over the complete bavarian-ness of it all. it's just too much.
okay, so on with the recap...thursday evening eric & i arrived at sarah & joel's and we all headed out for a lovely dinner at the local creperie - i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but i am amazed by the amount of creperies on the west coast. i don't think i had even seen a creperie before i moved out here. i swear they don't exist in the midwest. seriously. after dinner we hung out and watched calle 54, a really cool documentary about the latin jazz movement. i tried so hard to pay attention, but was fading fast b/c i am lame & didn't get much sleep the night before (as i traveled all the way to oakland to see hijack the disco/birdmonster. i'm a good friend. *wink*).
friday, sarah took eric & i to brunch at a quaint little neighborhood eatery (i cannot recall the name) that doubles as "the bar" at night, where we met one of the locals "creepy jim" (no joke!), who was quite entertaining & a bit of a dirty old man! gotta love small towns. after brunch, we headed out to tumwater for some rock climbing adventures in the enchantments - my first time climbing on an actual rock! i think i'm addicted to it now - i was such a little monkey, all scurrying up the rocks and shizz. LOVED IT! and i was surprisngly calm & comfortable with the whole setup - i mean, you're wearing a harness so it's not like you're going to plummet to your death at any given moment - it's such a rush & soooo much fun!!! if you haven't been, you HAVE to try to it out!
after rock climbing, we headed to the icicle river for a quick dip - it was soooo cold! but refreshing. *ahhhhh* after we were done freezing our arses off, we headed back to sarah's and cleaned up for dinner. sarah, joel, eric, & i all headed down to leavenworth for din-din - nothing too spectacular, but dessert was awesome - as we made our way over to my favorite - coldstone creamery! yummy. we also stopped to to visit the star goat of leavenworth - billy!
saturday morning we were all awoken to the sound of a helicopter buzzing sarah & joel's house! wtf, right? seriously, i was so confused - are we in a combat zone or something? nope, it was just the pear orchard next to their house dousing their trees with some random 'non-toxic' chemicals! how eff'd up is that?!? we decided that it was probably a good idea to get the heck out of dodge & not continue to breathe in the chemically-goodness. we breakfasted at the sleeping lady mountain retreat & then went off-roading up to punk rock.
i think i reawakened my inner tomboy on this trip, b/c i was all about climbing up on rocks & getting scraped up & dirty & stuff! i totally felt like i was a little kid exploring the woods in marietta again. although, we don't have magnificently majestic mountains like the enchantments in southern ohio.
after hanging out at punk rock for a bit, we grabbed lunch & found a sweet spot down by the river to picnic. we hiked for a bit & then stopped by the local grocery store for some dinner supplies - where we found out that fernando the llama was missing! gasp!!! for dinner we had tasty salmon hand rolls & fresh corn on the cob - yum! i haven't had corn on the cob in like, 3 years or something. seriously!
after some last minute travel planning on saturday night (thanks to my incomparable skills), eric & i made the trek to the san juan islands for grisha & rosa's wedding reception. you have to take a ferry there, which is pretty neat. but probably only entertaining for people who never take ferries. hmm. rosa's parents have several acres on san juan island & grish & rosa live in a little trailer on her parents' land - they even have an outhouse! and a garden! and llamas! their place is really cute & soooo grisha...
the reception was really fun & in addition to getting to see grisha's parents & grandmother (she's so cute!), we got to meet all sorts of new people - most of whom though eric & i were a couple! wtf? we were like, ummmm no. i guess traveling with a plantonic friend you've known for 20 years just invites assumptions like that! anyway, we played bocci (at which i'm surprisingly adept!) with some of rosa's college friends & had a little campfire and hung out and it was so relaxing. san juan island reminded me alot of marietta - quaint & friendly, everyone knows everyone & there's a real sense of community. however, while it was great to visit, i think i'd go bonkers out of boredom. i think i have city ADD or something - i have to have tons of options!
after brunch on monday morning, e & i headed back to the mainland and were off to seattle. i freakin' love seattle, by the way. it was my first time there, but it's alot like san francisco, but more open. if that makes sense. it's alot greener & it feels like there is more space. and apparently people wear sweatpants out at night?!? *at least that's what erik benson tells me.
since i've already rambled on for waaaay too long, i'll recap the seattle portion of the pacific northwest fest in as few words as possible...
monday: saw Grizzly Man (which was awesome! go see this NOW.)@ Guild 45 Theaters with e.case, e.benson, and e.benson's friend bethany; dinner @ lotus thai restaurant; kicked benson & bethany's butts in pool @ al's; finished up at moon temple, where i dazzled the patrons with my fine juke box selections. it's all about the music, man.
tuesday: hit the tourist traps pike place market, the space needle, and the experience music project & the architecturally phenomenal seattle public library; met up w/ the robots at the robot co-op offices & headed for some tasty beverages @ elysian brewing company; dinner @ el greco - yummy app's & blue walls; show ho'ing at the crocodile cafe (saw the kelly-clarkson-look-alike-fronted the catch & the highly entertaining & rockin' thunderbirds are now!); finished up at cyclops.
(*shout out to e.benson for his assistance in jogging my memory & providing such a concise synopsis for me to plagerize - er, paraphrase!)
oooh, and i don't want to leave this little nugget of joy out - but when eric & i were at the robot co-op, daniel spils & i realized that he knows my roommate - sort of. i guess a few months ago when leslie dragged (drug? drugged? wait, no. that's not right. dragged. yes.) me out to absinthe for brunchie mcbruncherson, it was daniel who suggested that she go there! and we were like, holy crap - that's awesome! and then we took a photo to commerate the event. i don't have this photo though. but if i did, that would be a good way to end this marathon blog post, huh?
the end.
posted by ali. at 9:03 PM
1 Comments:
YAY!! You FINALLY blogged your adventure. Ali Watkins, your readers are happy. But when will you blog about fanny packs?
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